Night sights, single front vs both for Glock 43 any thoughts?

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  • Hopper

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    I had a single night sight (XS Big Dot) on my S&W 640 J-Frame. Different gun, I know, but the idea is the same. I found the single night sight up front was quick and easy to acquire. But with no point of reference with a rear sight in dim or dark conditions, it requires a bit of experience, and maybe some guesswork, to know if you're truly on target or not. I would prefer, and recommend, having both front and rear sights.
     
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    Hoosier45

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    I like the Ameriglo CAP sights. There is enough on the rear sight to get a sight picture lined up without distracting my eye from focusing on the front sight.
     

    throttletony

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    I have some heinie straight 8 ledge night sights on my 1911.
    I like them... I think I'll like them more if I dim the rear (black marker lightly over the vial) a bit.
    The front is quite a bit brighter, and green, but I want a dimmer rear as a reference. I still prefer this to not having any rear reference - other than tipping the gun down and losing the front sight from view
     

    lovemachine

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    On my sights, I like a blacked out rear. I have the Ameri-Glo Hackathorns on all my Glocks. 3-dot sights just confuse the crap out of me.
     

    bwframe

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    Big orange Ameriglo/Trijicon tritium dot on the front with black serrated sight rear. I run this setup on all of my handguns.

    Actually found this carry sight combination faster to acquire than a fiber optic front site in competitions. For my middle aged eyes anyway.

    I like the orange dot for daytime use and the tritium is a handy way to find the gun in the dark. I put less and less worth in the tritium for night shooting. When you light your target to properly identify it, with a weapon light or handheld, the sights are just black.

    There is only a tiny bit of middle ground where you have some light for target ID and some tritium showing. That actually makes one wonder if training to that condition is asking for failure?

    Lotta research to be done on this subject:

    https://revolverscience.com/2016/04/01/low-light-red-sights-and-tom-givens-glock-35/

    5.jpg

    This is about as bad a view as I could get with the sights.
    The thing is, even with tritium vials, when you aim in on a
    BRIGHT target, with dark behind you, the sights get
    washed out, and just look like a black bump on the slide,
    whether they have tritium or not. Something to think about.


    Rangemaster Newsletter - Functioning in Low Light

    Do you think tritium sights are overrated?
     
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    obijohn

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    Burl brings up a good point. If you need the insert in your sights to see them, it is doubtful if you can properly identify your target. Proper use of a hand held light and a mounted light pretty much negate the use of night sights.

    Try a low light class with your pistol and see for yourself if the night sights are needed.
     

    Ithaca45

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    Night sight in front and plain or blacked out dots in back is what I have on all my carry handguns. This set-up is very easy to acquire and my Night/Low Visibility qualification scores went up when I went to this sight configuration. When I get a pistol with 3 dot night sights like on my new G17 I just use a magic marker and black out the rear dots.
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    I like the orange dot for daytime use and the tritium is a handy way to find the gun in the dark. I put less and less worth in the tritium for night shooting. When you light your target to properly identify it, with a weapon light or handheld, the sights are just black.

    I think this is largely true, particularly for the role a Glock 43 is likely to fill. For a criminal to target you while you are out and about, they have to see you. Unless you are walking down the proverbial dark alley at night (which, thanks to Pokemon Go some folks have...) it's highly unlikely there will be enough darkness to really use tritium. For a house gun, you can set yourself up for success ahead of time by leaving lights on in areas an intruder would have to cross to get to your bedroom or wherever you envision making your stand. In that scenario, you could be in the dark yourself but have enough light on the target to verify it's an intruder.

    I will note that depending on how much back splash you get, you *can* light up a fiber optic with your own light. If that's useful or not is another matter. What you're really looking for is contrast, and the black sights against a heavily illuminated (so very light) background will stand out without needing any additional contrast.

    For me, I find something like the Trijicon HD to be the fastest to acquire (and track under recoil) that incorporates a night sight. The orange dot up front, fairly generous rear sight cut out, and plain rear make it fast in most lighting conditions. If you do find yourself in the dark, the 3 dot tritium helps verify aim. A pure fiber optic and black rear, like Dawson precision, is also quick to acquire in most lighting conditions.

    I do have a front white dot/tritium on my LCR. In pure dark it's slower than a 3 dot set up as you may need more time to truly verify it, but in most lighting conditions it's really quick.
     
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