Does anyone else hate white 3-dot sights?

[BLUTO]

I had an older gentleman at the range the other day suggest that I open my rear sights a bit with a file. He said the open space was important to accurately sight in on the target. Any response.

Not a good idea in my experience. I think the same old guy told me that years ago and I got out the file. End result - after missing everything as result I bought new sights. Thanks Gramps

[GrumpyOne]

I had an older gentleman at the range the other day suggest that I open my rear sights a bit with a file. He said the open space was important to accurately sight in on the target. Any response.

Not a good idea in my experience. I think the same old guy told me that years ago and I got out the file. End result - after missing everything as result I bought new sights. Thanks Gramps

These things probably need to be in the "Gun shop experts and their quotes" forum....

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84089&st=0

[K37]

Has anyone ever tried black rear with a tritium front during the day in competition? If so, does it aid in front sight acquisition during the day kinda like a less visible white dot?

[FLSlim]

My eyes have aged enough that dots/no dots don't make much difference--especially in low light I just look over the barrel and squeeze the trigger...seems to work. I envy you shooters who can actually get a clear sight picture.

[Singlestack]

My eyes have aged enough that dots/no dots don't make much difference--especially in low light I just look over the barrel and squeeze the trigger...seems to work. I envy you shooters who can actually get a clear sight picture.

You can get a clear sight picture too. Its not cheap. Buy a pair of shooting glasses (I use Rudy Project Rydon's) and get the prescription inserts. Take your pistol to the Optometrist and tell him what you want the glasses for. AFTER he/she understands, he will probably let you sit in the chair holding your pistol while he does the lens flip thing. When you can see the serrations on your FS with your dominate eye you got it! Set the other eye up for infinity.

[smoo95]

I'm with all the Sharpie guys. I became more accurate with the stock Novaks on my M&P after blacking out the huge white dots.

[rlv65]

Painted over my front sight dot with Testors yellow model paint - provides a good contrast against white steel, cardboard and in low light (indoor range). If it fades or scratches, remove with an exacto knife and re-apply.

No dots on the rear sight.

Edited July 8, 2010 by rlv65

[blawson]

I prefer an all black rear sight, with a green FO front. It just seems to me that they come up faster on target than the 3 dot system. Also the green FO is great for outdoor shooting during the day.

[Field]

i pulled the fiber off my front sight and filled in the hole with some JB weld and painted black. the rear is also black.

...black on black makes me shoot....more carefully which i think is a good thing, something to do with making sure my light bars look good before i shoot instead of ripping a shot off when i see the shiny red dot in my vision.

i opted very recently to paint the front sight red colored. im going to try this out for a bit, i feel this might be a very good medium between 'shooting carefully' and 'ripping off shots when i see the shiny red orb'

[2011BLDR]

Black on black and a narrow front blade.

Out.

2011BLDR

[Team Amish 1]

Just try a 6 MOA red 1-dot...

[Cold Absolute Zero]

I can't stand 3 dot sights. Thats the first thing to go whenever I buy a new gun. I like FO front and plain rear. This 6 MOA red dot of which you speak is intriguing though...

[Team Amish 1]

Try it - you'll like it.

[Singlestack]

6 is good but 12 is better!

[G-ManBart]

6 is good but 12 is better!

Amen

And I meant that in a totally clean, shooting-related, Christian sense

Edited September 16, 2010 by G-ManBart

[Team Amish 1]

6 is good but 12 is better!

Amen

And I meant that in a totally clean, shooting-related, Christian sense

sounds rather tempting, though...

[redbird1976]

I hate the three dot system. A quirk of my eyesight is that my eyes tend to focus on the rear dots rather than the front dot. I either switch the rear sight or black out the back dots. Oddly enough the white outline rear sight with the front dot is fine.

[Kyle O]

Yes, hate them.

[M1911]

I had an older gentleman at the range the other day suggest that I open my rear sights a bit with a file. He said the open space was important to accurately sight in on the target. Any response.

It's a matter of taste. I prefer a fair bit of light to be visible on either side of the front sight post, but I wouldn't use a file to get there.

And I agree with the general hatred of three-dot sights. Basic black with a slanted, serrated rear sight works best for me.

I can not stand Novak rear sights -- it is very busy, so it attracts my eye, and all the curves in its shape ensure that it will reflect light back at you no matter where the light is coming from.

Edited January 25, 2011 by M1911

[oxohhotxo]

I had the 3 white dots... and I couldnt focus on the front site. I got sevigny fiber optic sites and that helped a whole lot... what helped more, was opening BOTH of my eyes. I always closed one, now.... I keep them both open....and shoot so much better. Yay for improvement

[Steven Cline]

I've shot a lot of different guns that students bring to classes- I hate the three white dot sights the most. I run a red FO on the front and flat black rear, works really well.

I find I like a thinner front sight to rear sight notch. Works well for me. I would never filed the inside of rear sight, sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[IL-SIG]

Black rear - red FO front.

My experience with green FO front is that sometime it really blends into the background, while red never does.

[redmanfixit]

Outdoors, in sunlight, 3 dots may not be the best for quickness. There are variations between us humans and how we process information that aren't obvious. Visual information is right on top in this category, we're all a little different. Brian's observations on visual training are some of the most astute I've ever seen as far as this sport is concerned. Some of the "newest" ideas in quick sights are in fact old. The "U" notch rear for example can be found on old German handguns, if you look around a bit. I see lots of problems with sight pictures because people insist on shooting with tinted lenses in front of their eyes. It's a MUCH bigger deal for an older shooter but it matters for younger shooters as well. Physical optics offers an explanation for this. A tinted lens reduces the brightness of the scene, which is desirable to a certain extent. The response of the eye is predictable though. Your pupil will open up in response to this situation to let in more light. This reduces the "apparent depth of field" in your visual system. That in turn reduces the sharpness of the image you produce on the retina, at exactly the distance from your eye that you end up holding the gun at as you present it to the target. Add to that, that many people think "they don't need prescription lenses" for distance vision when in fact they have need for what is called 1st division sphereo/cylinder corrective lenses for distance vision sharpness. These are fairly low corrections that add sharpness and many of us get by pretty well without them as most people are nearsighted and most of the critical visual stuff we do is in the near range. So you get by OK. Think "pinhole effect" you begin using a greater percentage of a lens system with aberration in it. Add stress though (shooting quickly and accurately) and the speed at which you can process information about critical alignment begins to be a factor. Try it in low light and it's even worse. (Read some of the stage descriptions and people's response to them when the stage is shot in the dark). It is not ALL photo receptor adaptive lag. The best thing to do is experiment. Select a sight system that allows you to get accuracy without a "sharp" sight picture. For all around, TFO sights are great, because in the widest array of conditions, there's SOMETHING for the eye to grab on the front sight, especially if it's the right color. I've found that the XS sight system works great for me with tritium glow for the dark. These are on a couple of my carry guns. I'm just about 60 and wear progressive bi-focals. I NEVER wear tinted lenses to shoot. On several of my competition guns, I have a yellow/green front and red rear fiber and it works pretty well for me. In a 3 dot configuration. The Y/G front color is a good choice because the peak sensitivity of the retina is right around there for most humans. Faster information processing because you can find it fast.

Don't forget to be very critical of the optical quality of your lenses. I see many shooters with areas of aberration in the optics of the protective lenses they use that are EXACTLY in line of sight when they are lining up to break a shot. Not very noticeable at all just walking around but troublesome when the timer goes off!

[oldtrooper]

I had an older gentleman at the range the other day suggest that I open my rear sights a bit with a file. He said the open space was important to accurately sight in on the target. Any response.

I know where he is coming from. When you reach your senior years you will find that you need more light on each side of the front sight. Don't ask me how I know I'm sensitive about my age.

[oldtrooper]

I failed to mention that painting the front post sight red is a big help for me, and in addition make it a fiber optic and remove the fiber optic and possibly open the hole up slightly. This will give you a white spot in the red or black front sight when you are on a popper or plates. All this also helps you to focus on the front sight.