Night sight, only on the front?

[42769vette]

Im not pistol expert, but I know a lot of you guys speak the language well.

What are your thoughts on only putting a front night sight on a pistol? Not long ago I got a pistol out that had 3 dot night sights. I had never actually tried them at night, and thought I probably should. The thing that bothered me about what I thought was a pretty good setup, is all 3 dots were the same color/size. It was hard to tell which was the front a couple times (by hard I mean took an extra .5 second). I had a set on another pistol that glowed a diffrent color, so I swapped the front sights, and problem solved.

This got me to thinking, why even have rear night sights. This got me to researching, and I found it to be a highly debated topic. I don't frequent the pistol section of the sight often, but did a search and found nothing, so I thought I would pose the question here and see what folks thought.

 

[bigcraig]

I use a nightsight on the front only, have for years. I found the 3 dot set too cluttered, even with differing colors on the front and rear.

Yes, this debate has gone on for years.

Pick the way YOU like and roll with.

 

[lewisjt]

I see the value of tritium in the rear sight for sight alignment at night, otherwise you may find the front sight with no rear sight.
If this happens you'll most likely be proper left to right with your natural pointing of the gun, but could be aiming high.
I use I dot pros on my duty and cc guns. I also have xs big dots on an ankle gun. Tritium front and back on all.
In short I like a single tritium reference point in the rear sight.

 

[VERT]

As I get older I find myself taking the sharpie and blacking out the rear dots. If you sharpie over the tritium tubes they still shine through at night.

 

[magic man]

I use a nightsight on the front only, have for years. I found the 3 dot set too cluttered, even with differing colors on the front and rear.

Yes, this debate has gone on for years.

Pick the way YOU like and roll with.

Same here. I prefer a plain black rear notch with a front night sight.

 

[Bfish]

I have shot some with the Wilson Combat night sights that are a rear u notch and only have tritium in the front. I didn't find it to be an issue at all. I have strait 8's though or how ever you want to call the set up on my main carry gun (I-Dot pros). Not only is it easy to tell the difference of the two dots, with strait 8's the whole issue is solved. If the dots are stacked you're good to go, you can't do it wrong. I really think that kind of solves the issue, and they're especially nice once you get used to them.

 

[ScouT6a]

I definitely believe in front and rear on the night sights. If having only a front night sight was the best set up, why not just have a front sight for daylight shooting? The sighting radius is short enough on a pistol, why cut the equation in half?
When I put night sights on a pistol, I normally put red on the rear sight and green on the front. That combo works well for my eyes.

 

[8th SPS USAF]

If possible I would like the front NS only. I tried to buy TFO front sights from TG, but they would not sell they that way

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Heinie Straight 8. Problem solved.

 

[Cemetery-man]

I have 2 handguns that have a 3 tritium setup and 1 other that has only a front tritium NS. I will say that in total darkness and when I don't have my glasses on, the 3 light setup is far easier for me to get on target with. The single night sight is the only reason I decided not to use my .45 NightGuard for home defense.

 

[craigkim]

Im not pistol expert, but I know a lot of you guys speak the language well.

What are your thoughts on only putting a front night sight on a pistol? Not long ago I got a pistol out that had 3 dot night sights. I had never actually tried them at night, and thought I probably should. The thing that bothered me about what I thought was a pretty good setup, is all 3 dots were the same color/size. It was hard to tell which was the front a couple times (by hard I mean took an extra .5 second). I had a set on another pistol that glowed a diffrent color, so I swapped the front sights, and problem solved.

This got me to thinking, why even have rear night sights. This got me to researching, and I found it to be a highly debated topic. I don't frequent the pistol section of the sight often, but did a search and found nothing, so I thought I would pose the question here and see what folks thought.

I want night sights on the front only for a self defense or home defense firearm. A "tactical" or offensive pistol to be used at night would probably need all three dots in order to allow accuracy at longer ranges, but I am not an LE or in the military, so that isn't applicable to me. I suppose if you wanted to target shoot at night it would be helpful too?To me, my applicable ranges will be 20 feet or less and I only need the front sight for that distance for my roles. I don't want any distraction from my eyes referencing the front sight and I don't want to waste any time discerning front/rear sight dots.

If if you really dab on the sharpie, it'll make the rears very dim or you can use a dot of black enamel paint. Sharpie wipes off with alcohol and paint will come off with a very small amount of enamel brush cleaner.

 

[60Driver]

Some thoughts on Trits on pistols:

People think you have to have them on a home defense pistol....IF it is black they line up and you can hit....BUT if it is pitch black how do you PID bad guy, how do you even see BG??? Now when I turn on x300 or SF handheld or other Stupid Bright light to PID bad guy AMAZING even all black target sights show up. No issue with them but know what they are good for.

Now for .MIL offensive stuff:

1. Use Carbine
2. Use Carbine
3. If you shoot badguys as .MIL at night, WITH a pistol you are probably wearing GPNVG18's, PVS-14, or some other type of NOD and are a really serious carnivore, who has temporarily misplaced your real weapon! Guess what, Trit on NOD not so much. This is one of a few places where a laser is VERY useful (reference CTC making IR laser grips for SIG 226). You can shoot BG in order to get back to your SCAR, MK18, 416.

I have no issues with Trits, they may help speed up alignment in low light but PLEASE as a civ have a good light and know how to use it. I prefer single Trit front for my old eyes but have serious social guns with 3 Dot set and shoot them with no complaints.

Humble

 

[lovemachine]

I switched ALL the sights on my handguns to the AmeriGlo Hackathorn sights. It made a HUGE improvement for me. The 3 dot sights just had too much going on for me.

 

[cedartop]

I definitely believe in front and rear on the night sights. If having only a front night sight was the best set up, why not just have a front sight for daylight shooting? The sighting radius is short enough on a pistol, why cut the equation in half?
When I put night sights on a pistol, I normally put red on the rear sight and green on the front. That combo works well for my eyes.

I am interested in Red night sights. I didn't know Tritium glows in any color other than Green. Tell me more.

 

[craigkim]

Some thoughts on Trits on pistols:

People think you have to have them on a home defense pistol....IF it is black they line up and you can hit....BUT if it is pitch black how do you PID bad guy, how do you even see BG??? Now when I turn on x300 or SF handheld or other Stupid Bright light to PID bad guy AMAZING even all black target sights show up. No issue with them but know what they are good for.

Now for .MIL offensive stuff:

1. Use Carbine
2. Use Carbine
3. If you shoot badguys as .MIL at night, WITH a pistol you are probably wearing GPNVG18's, PVS-14, or some other type of NOD and are a really serious carnivore, who has temporarily misplaced your real weapon! Guess what, Trit on NOD not so much. This is one of a few places where a laser is VERY useful (reference CTC making IR laser grips for SIG 226). You can shoot BG in order to get back to your SCAR, MK18, 416.

I have no issues with Trits, they may help speed up alignment in low light but PLEASE as a civ have a good light and know how to use it. I prefer single Trit front for my old eyes but have serious social guns with 3 Dot set and shoot them with no complaints.

Humble

Let me clarify that I am in no way arguing with what anyone has said. I am trying to learn this too and have definitely debated rear tritium sights. I have an X300 on my home defense firearm. The post above makes a lot of sense. I think that having a light is a lot more important than the night sights, but I definitely think the night sights aid in low light shooting. If it is pitch black though, I am not going to run my light constant on as I walk around my house. I have no training in this, but intend to some day. Here is my intent: I am going to flash my light with the momentary switch to search and then for a PID, but I am not going to leave the light on to fire. I am going to use the night sights to aim and fire at the threat that I have identified in combination with movement, then light on to reassess. Not hijacking the thread, I think the original post fits right into this discussion. ?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Some thoughts on Trits on pistols:

People think you have to have them on a home defense pistol....IF it is black they line up and you can hit....BUT if it is pitch black how do you PID bad guy, how do you even see BG???

Target backlit while you are in the dark? Easy to do in my house. We leave a central light burning. If I'm in the bedroom, down the hall, in the sun room, etc. I can be in total darkness and the intruder be backlit. No need to give away my presence until I press the trigger.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I am interested in Red night sights. I didn't know Tritium glows in any color other than Green. Tell me more.

https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/support/faq_BNTNS.php

Yes, Trijicon offers the choice of yellow or orange lamps in the rear sight only. We always keep the front sight green because it is the brightest and longest lasting of the colored tritium. It is also the color with the most contrast from muzzle flash. Green and yellow sights are warranted for 12 years. The orange lamp only carries a 5 year warranty.

 

[Hopper]

Heinie Straight 8. Problem solved.

This ^^^. I have these on a DW V-Bob, and was amazed at how quickly I took to them. Less clutter, and it's as easy as dotting the "i". The rear night sight is small enough that during daylight hours, I don't get distracted by it, I just use the blackout rear notch to line up the front sight. When it's dark, you just put the front dot on top of the rear dot. Very straightforward. It works.

 

[cedartop]

https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/support/faq_BNTNS.php

Thanks. That is interesting. I would like to try a set of those out in varying light conditions.

 

[SMiller]

I never would have thought about using only a front night sight until I bought a Vickers G19+G17, they have a night sight front with a U-shape rear, I have NEVER used a faster sight!