Co witness sights.

[usmc1974]

I picked up my first carry Optics gun and I was wondering about putting Co witness sights on it. does anybody use them what are the pros and cons

Thx B

[CClassForLife]

There are two reasons I hear for putting co-witness sights:

1. Backup in case the red dot fails
2. More consistent index allowing for faster red dot acquisition

Personally, I think both reasons are wrong or at least not convincing enough for me to put them on. If you choose a durable optic (trijicon, holosun, etc.), then you should feel confident that it will work when you need it to work. In my experience of competition shooting, I've seen iron sights fail as much as red dots (front sight getting loose, rear sight drifting) so does that mean I should put a backup red dot? No as that would be silly.

 

As for point #2, those who complain about red dot sight acquisition don't train enough with it. Either they're too accustomed to front sight focusing; therefore, they are not used to focusing on the target, or they're trying to locate the dot before focusing on their target. Either way, their visual processing is the opposite of how red dots should be used.

 

As time goes on and red dots become more ubiquitous, I believe that the general consensus will shift towards not needing co-witness sights.

[usmc1974]

I forgot to add my gun is a Glock 19 Gen 5 MOS my sight is a Halo Sun 507c. I thoroughly degreased the slide, mounting plate   I used blue Loctite on both so it is very secure.

[race1911]

I totally agree with the post above by CClassForLife.............also check out the post "Help/Hindrance of Cowitness Sights?" answered by Cha-Lee in the section titled USPSA/IPSC Shooting

Edited June 10, 2020 by race1911

[MadBomber]

You never hear of OPEN shooters wish they had back up iron sights.  We've been using red dots for over 20 years.  For a carry/duty gun it's probably a good idea.  For competition, forget about it.  One the first things I did to my X5 was drift off the front sight post.