Which night sights?

[Revopop]

So I got a G17 that I plan to use as a bedside self defense gun, maybe occasionally carry and for shooting Production. I abhor stock Glock sights, and I'm trying to decide what I want to replace them with. I've looked at as many sights as I could get my hands on at matches, and I like the sight picture of the Sevigny black rear/ FO front, but for a defensive gun I want night sights.

Problem is, I friggin' hate a "busy" sight picture, and I'm not a fan of 3 dot sights. I also prefer a very thin front sight so that I don't feel like I'm covering the target with the sights. The Heinie straight 8s look like a good option, anybody ever used them? I've also considered just a black rear and a night sight on the front. Has anybody actually tried this?

Any wisdom from those wiser than me would be appreciated.

[badchad]

Heinie Straight 8?

[gamingoddess]

I purchased the Heinie Straight Eight Night Sight SlantPro set for a Glock 34 awhile back and I wasn't disappointed at all with the new sights. I couldn't stand the Glock rear sights (got distracted by the white outlines) myself. Later I did replace the front sight with a Dawson Red FO sight for competition purposes...my eyes can find the red FO much faster than anything else. Of course since you are purchasing this for self-defense purposes, just getting the set would be perfect. You can clearly see all three dots without "mixing" them together (I have a problem with this myself). I say see if someone else has the Heine night sights installed and test for yourself to see how well your eyes adjust to them at night.

[HoMiE]

Straight 8's are not that busy, work well in low light. I prefer those over 3-dot sights.

Edited June 13, 2008 by HoMiE

[atmar]

you can also checkout sevigny carry sights. it also has 2dots and the positive things about it are that it uses the thinest tritium front sight and the rear lamp is colored orange so its easier to pick out the front sight at night.

Edited June 15, 2008 by atmar

[chrisa006]

I shot straight 8s on my 34 for years.

[Madcap Magician]

Warren Tactical Tritium Front with plain rear.

[Jay870]

I use Sevigny Carry with tritium front and plain rear on my carry gun(19), and Sevigny Comps with plain front & plain rear on my game gun (17)

[Nik Habicht]

My carry guns are running either Sevigny's or Heinie's straight eights --- and I really can't tell the difference between them without two guns in front of me.....

[Pstmstr]

My carry guns are running either Sevigny's or Heinie's straight eights --- and I really can't tell the difference between them without two guns in front of me.....

The Dawson plain fixed rear with front night sight are also very good for both carry and competition.

[rugerp89ipsc]

I have dawson fully adjustable night sights on my g22 that I carry for duty and that my wife uses for steel matches. They work well, but the finish is starting to look bad from the rough work environment. I love my truglows on my g27/23.

I will try to post up pics.

[chp5]

I love my TFO sights. They may be too busy for your tastes however.

[M ammo]

I don’t answer your question. As you asked it.

For a nightstand gun. Put a $100 light on your gun. There are many good ones on the market. Don’t worry about your night sights.

If cost is not an issue buy both, but go with the light first.

My Glock 34 and 35, are My competition/ Carry/ nightstand guns.

A Light is more important than night sights.

Just my un-humble experience.

[Revopop]

I don't disagree, M ammo, and I've already got a light/laser for the gun. As a defensive weapon in my apartment, the furthest distance I'd ever be able to shoot it is a little less than 10 yards, so I can deal with the stock sights. However, I must have different sights if I'm ever going to shoot matches with it, so if I'm changing the sights anyway, I might as well put night sights on there.

As of right now, I'm pretty evenly split between the Sevigny carry 2 dots and the Heinie Straight 8s, with a slight edge to the Sevignys because practically everyone I shoot with who runs a Glock runs them, so I've been able to see them firsthand which I have not done with the Heinies. I think I'm going to go to my local shop tomorrow and see if they can get both and if the prices would be any different. They order most of their stuff through Brownells and Brownells doesn't carry the Sevigny 2 dots, but they do carry the Heinies. They're also kind enough to install sights for free.

Thanks for all the help, y'all!

[dsb45acp]

Since you're from Iowa, maybe you better install a periscope on your pistol . I've noticied that since I have a little senority (age 40+) I don't focus a quickly as I used to when I first get up in the morning. If this is an issue for you, consider XS "Big Dot" Express sights; they are supposed to be good for rapid sight alingment/picture. I completely agree with M ammo. Get a light first because of rule #3: Be sure of your target and backstop. Stay dry and I hope and pray your family and friends are doing well up there (I went to Paramedic school in Iowa city)!

[AWLAZS]

you can also checkout sevigny carry sights. it also has 2dots and the positive things about it are that it uses the thinest tritium front sight and the rear lamp is colored orange so its easier to pick out the front sight at night.

I like the sevigny carry sights better then my Dawson sights.

[HighVelocity]

I have Heinie Straight 8's on my G21 and 23 and Sevigny carry sights on my 34. I can't decide which I like better because both are great.

[whiskey1]

I have the plain black Sevigny rear with the night sight up front on both my G-34 (set up for "outlaw non-PF" 3 gun matches) and my issued G35 SWAT duty/Limited class USPSA gun. Sights are always a trade off. The night sight up front is not as visible as a FO front in bright sun and gets lost easier when shooting at targets in the shadows. They are the thing for shooting steel painted white (since they appear to be solid black when going fast in daylight). They are also much more durable than most FO (including the Truglo hybrid style sights). Having a single tritium dot up front provides more than enough accuracy for shooting up close and personal in very dim light- the only time night sights matter since if you have a weapon mounted light slower shooting at longer ranges in the dark can be accomplished nicely with any decent sights.

I like these sights so much that I recently equipped our entire 26 man team with them. Reports from my guys have been very positive as well.

I tried the straight eights (the Warren/Sevigny version) also and found it difficult to hold consistent evelvation with them since you can never figure exactly how high the front dot should be over the rear one (in the dark). I also found it to be irrelevant for close fast stuff. Seemed like all I accomplished with a rear dot was slowing myself down worrying about elevation when it did not matter.

FWIW, I am not a paid spokesman and paid the same for my sights as anyone else would, but I do know Dave pretty well and have met Scott Warren. Both of them are stand up guys. Dave's record speaks for itself and Scott (besides having great USPSA credentials) also has quite a bit of real world experience to go with it.

[needknees]

I'm a huge fan of Warren Tactical Sevigny sights. I've got the front lamp only carry version on my G23 and like them quite a bit. It's a real simple sight picture, and the front lamp really gets your attention at night. It's a nice sight picture for competition too since the front post is quite thin for one with a tritium lamp.

You may have checked them out already but I'll bring it with me to the steel match this week if you'd like to look them over again.

[Revopop]

I think that's the one Glock you have that I haven't handled. I'll be there Wednesday, so I'll check them out.

[blownhemi]

I bought my production gun second hand so it already had straight eights on it. I wasn't that fond of them at first for competition but when I took them into a dark room for the first time I really discovered what all the fuss was about.

However in Australia we can't own guns for self defense so it's kinda silly to set them up that was so more recently I've put a HiViz fibre up front and left the Heinie Slant Pro rear on the back. Now I'm happy with the gun for competition but the gun is useless in a dark room because the fibre is invisible in the dark.

Personally I'd set up a second gun. Glocks are cheap over there. Buy one for home and self defense, set up another for competition work.

Looking at some of those pictures of sights I don't see a point having a defense sight unless it's got tritium front and rear. You need both to accurately aim the gun in the dark. Having said that I would definitely set up a SD gun with a laser at least and possibly a light too if it wasn't going to be holster carried.

Good luck with your decision.

[PLINK]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I have few questions on carry sights.

I am looking for some carry sights for a G19. I think I like the look of the Warren Tacticals (not Sevigny carry). I noticed that a few posters in this thread only have the front night sight and a plain rear. Is there a particular reason to get the lamp on the front only and not the rear? Can you still line up the front and rear sights in the dark with only the front lamp? I was considering the two lamp system until I started my research.

TIA.

Edited October 11, 2008 by PLINK

[revchuck]

Plink - I've got several guns set up with night sights in different configurations - traditional one dot front, two dot rear, one dot front with a plain rear, and recently put the Warren Tactical one dot front, one dot rear set on my .40 M&P.

The problem with the traditional two dot rear night sight is that it tends to overpower the single front dot. The Wilson Combat set tries to mitigate this by using yellow dots on the rear, which to your eyes don't seem as bright as the green. The reason many people use the front-only setup is that the front sight is the more important, and if you have any kind of built-in index (as most experienced shooters do) it works well at defensive distances.

IMO, the WTS setup I have on my M&P is the best of both worlds. It has a single yellow dot under the notch on the rear sight, and a standard green one in the front. In the dark, there's no doubt which is which. In daylight, the sight picture is a plain rear with a white dot up front...and that big fargin' notch in the rear sight. I'm going to set up my other two M&Ps with them, and wish Warren offered them for Berettas and CZs.

[G-ManBart]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I have few questions on carry sights.

I am looking for some carry sights for a G19. I think I like the look of the Warren Tacticals (not Sevigny carry). I noticed that a few posters in this thread only have the front night sight and a plain rear. Is there a particular reason to get the lamp on the front only and not the rear? Can you still line up the front and rear sights in the dark with only the front lamp? I was considering the two lamp system until I started my research.

TIA.

With the traditional 3-dot setup, some people find that they spend time trying to sort out which dot is the front. It's harder to explain that experience....bring the gun up then "which one should I be looking at?". If you only have a tritium insert in the front dot, the only one you'll see is the one you want to see. If you put that dot on the target and press the trigger you might be a bit high (more common) or low, but you should be pretty close left to right, which is good enough for the intended use.

There are other solutions to this, like one dot front and one dot rear (Straight 8) where you simply line up the two dot one on top of the other. Different colors front and rear is another popular choice. I recently had a D&L Sports put a set of night sights on my wife's carry S&W 640 and that setup has smaller dots on the rear as well as slightly different colors (combo of green and almost white)....seems to work nicely, but it was nearly $400 since it's a totally custom job...ouch! R,

[Revopop]

Funny this is brought back up, because I finally got new sights installed on my G17 today!

I went ahead and just got the fiber optic front and plain black rear. I wanted to buy them from my local shop to give them a little business and because they'd install them for free. They ordered them from Brownells, and Brownells only has all black, black rear/FO front, or 3 dot night sights.

I figured for what I'm going to use it for, that was the best way to go. 90% of it's use is going to be USPSA Production, 5% nightstand gun where it'll have a light on it if I need it (God forbid), and 5% carry gun. I just thought it was a compromise I could live with.

If I were to carry it more, I'd definitely get at least a front night sight.