Are tritium "NIGHT SIGHTS" really a tactical necessity or just an expensive toy?

C

CassandraComplex

New member
It seems to makes sense that: If you can't see your sights then you probably can't see your target and should not be shooting it.
Some people use that argument to say that night sights are a waste of money. Maybe they are correct....without going to extremes, I cannot think of a reasonable situation where night sights will help me shoot a BG in a good shoot.

Are night sights just a hoax...a gimmick...for tactical wannabes?
Do they do anything that a set of normal sights with white dots on it will not do in low light? (In most dim light, it is not dark enough to use the tritium anyway).

What do you all think? Besides the fact that they are a fun $100 toy, are they really a tactical necessity?

As well as what you all think, what do most of the "expert" teachers think, like the guys who write books and teach schools?
 
One moonlit night while wandering outside in my rural back yard, I wondered that too. I could certainly see everything around me, certainly well enough to identify and deal with someone. I thought about meeting a mugger in such conditions; no question I could clearly see & identify & evaluate him under that dim light. I drew (nobody & nothing around but grass & crickets) and tried to sight in on something...couldn't see the white-dot sights at all. Question answered.

Try it yourself some time: under deep twilight conditions, barely light enough that you can generally function in, draw and sight. You'll be ordering tritium sights quick.

Finally got around to installing the sights (send Glock slide to factory with credit card number, and they'll install & check them for about $85)...no problem seeing them under any conditions.

[This message has been edited by ctdonath (edited August 31, 2000).]
 
What I'm about to say does not obviously apply to everybody because everyone's shooting skills are different and everybody's particular situation is also not the same as mine.

Speaking for myself, I can usually hit the X-ring at 25 feet a majority of the time when using my sights. By point shooting alone I can still keep most of the bullets in the black but my accuracy is obviously not as good when compared to using my sights.

Some may argue that I should practise on improving my point shooting skills but to that statement, I have to ask: "Then why have any sights at all if you're not going to use them and just depend on point-shooting alone?" Gun makers put sights on guns for a reason: by using them, they improve your ability to hit your target with greater accuracy and they are intended to be used. That said, consider the following ...

Presently my entire family is sleeping in the master bedroom as we just recently moved our daughter's crib out of her bedroom back into our bedroom for reasons which are not impotant to this discussion but which I'm willing to discuss if anyone is interested.

If I hear a noise in another part of the house and my wife and child are in the room with me, I know that if another person is in the house, they have no legimate reason to be there and their intentions are less than honorable to say the least.

My house is outfitted with various nightlights & sensor lights (mostly because of the baby) which will provide enough light to identify a shape but not really enough light for regular sight to be useable. Nightsights will help me place a bullet in the center of mass of the target that I am shooting at -- without them, I would have to relie on point shooting which might be okay against a stationary target but might be lacking against a moving target.

Again, everyone is different. Others may have better skills where they point shoot at 25 feet as well as if they used their sights. Additionally, because of living arrangements, they might need to take greater steps in identifing their target -- they may teenagers or other adults living with them that will require more positive identification.

But in my particular situation, I can definitely see a need for them. Just my $0.02 worth.

FUD
fudflag.gif
Share what you know & learn what you don't
 
One advantage I can see to night sights besides some of those already mentioned is the ability to FIND your gun in darkness. I keep a loaded pistol on the nightstand (with nightsights) and it is comforting to peek over to my side and see 3 glowing green orbs. Sometimes when I wake suddenly, I'm groggy and my vision and depth perception is fuzzy. If some dude was in my house, I'd hate to grope around clumsily, feeling for my pistol that didn't have nightsights.
 
necessity? no. but I use and recommend them.

a flashlight such as the surefire 6z is highly recommended also.
 
as bk40 said a flashlight like a 6Z or a weapon mounted light is very usefull in night shooting to identify your target. but the light shines towards the target and not on the sights so the white dots will not be visible even though the target is. night sights would help in this situation.

i have meprolight night sights on my glocks that i use for defense. i find their sight picture during the day is better than the sights that came with the gun. after i installed them i was dry firing the gun in my basement which has lots of dark areas. i stood in the light looking at the sights which i could see clearly and walked towards a darker area of the room. as i aproched the white outlines around the tritium tubes became less visible and the green glow of the tritium became more visible. so in any type of light from light to completely dark you can always see the dots.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bk40:
necessity? no. but I use and recommend them.

a flashlight such as the surefire 6z is highly recommended also.[/quote]

I'm gonna go one more on this one BK... The nite sites ARE great to have, I also highly recommend them, but as for the flashlight... IMHO, it IS a neccessity.

Unless you're FUD and can shoot anything in your house that ain't still in that one bed because you can take a quick headcount. :cool:

Anyway... As I have said before, I have a set of meprolites on my HK USP 45, and I feel so much more secure with them on it that I put a set on my wife's MK9 as well. But since I can't attach a UTL to her MK9 like I can my USP, I got her a Streamlite Scorpion to keep with the Kahr at all times. She thinks they're pretty, and I know she can hit the BG in the dark, but won't shoot me if I catch an early flight home because the afternoon meeting got cancelled.

Oh yeah, I also just ordered a Kahr P9 for daily carry, with a set of meprolites to go along with it.
 
Night sites and tactical lights are a total waste of time, unless you need them. Should you not have them at that time...well, what do you do? Do they hurt..NO..Do they help.. well, only if you have a BG at night. Should you never encounter this situation, then they are a total waste of money and I would hope that you would save your money.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gary H: ... Night sites and tactical lights are a total waste of time, unless you need them.[/quote]Guns are also a waste of time & money unless you need them. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gary H: ... Do they help? well, only if you have a BG at night. Should you never encounter this situation, then they are a total waste of money and I would hope that you would save your money ...[/quote]Owning a home defense gun or a CCW and regularily practising with it is also a total waste of money if you never have to use it for defensive purposes.

Gary, with all due respect, I don't follow your reasoning. Are you saying that shooting in low light occurrs very infrequently and special consideration does not have to be given to that situation? Or are you driving at sometime else. Please expand on this.
 
I've already said how I feel about 'em. Realistically, I'll probably get a tritium front sight eventually. However, I maintain that if you dry-fire enough, your hands will eventually align your sights for you. Now something to depend on all the time, but it will surprise you how accurate you can be. I could probably take the sights off my pistol and shoot "combat sized groups" really quickly. Nights sights are nice, yes, but necessary? Not if you practice enough.
 
Fud:

No, I'm saying that you buy a gun for a reason. It is to defend yourself and family. When it comes time to use it you had better have the right stuff, or you are in trouble. Night sights and tactical lights can be very useful at night. Why discuss if they are needed? Get them and then use them if needed. If you don't and you need a light, or a night sight.. well, it is too late. If you are going to buy a gun then train and buy all else that you might need. The chances of needing any of it are slim, but if you need and you don't have..your friends can say nice things at your funeral. I prefer to write in a less forward fashion. Sorry for the confusion.
 
For me, they are truly a necessity.

I wouldn't have a chance of locating my sights in low light. While I must still identify the threat, once identified, I will still want to use my sights if possible.

Regards from AZ
 
Yes, they are a "tactical" necessity. They help in locating the sights in darkness.

If you think otherwise, take a gun that doesn't have night sights, unload it, go outside and sit in your car at night.

The inside of your car is dark, yet there may be enough light outside your car to see down the street. Take your gun at try to find the sights. I rest my case.

Although you can see outside your car and identify whats going on around you, you don't have enough light inside the car to find the sights.

With night sights, you can easily locate the dots and align them. The available light outside the car is enough to identify your target without the aid of a Surefire.
 
I shoot at a private indoor range, so there are times I'm by myself. I've turned out the range lights and took my surefire light and engaged targets with my 226 with no nitesights. Really tough at 50'. It was much easier with the 220 that has the nitesights.

The only thing I can say is try it yourself. It's one thing to walk around in the dark pointing your pistol at thing and saying to yourself "yeah, I can hit that" and actually shooting at a target in the dark.
 
i was shooting a buddies Kimber .45 at an indoor range at a target 25 feet away. I could not resolve my sight picture, when the sights were over the black center of the target. I had to align the sights on the white area and track then into the black to get good shot placement. The range lights were not that bright in that situation, but they were on.

This gun had a black front post and a black rear sight. White nail polish would of helped.

I have tritium on my Luminox watch.
It's amazingly bright at night.

I have been pricing tritium sights at Brownells...

The Bar-Dot Milletts seem pretty nice but are pricey at $145. http://www.brownells.com/Product/productDetail.asp?ProductID=601030099&CategoryID=0

Non trit Milletts are $72 for a set http://www.brownells.com/Product/productDetail.asp?ProductID=601022182&CategoryID=0

Not to go cheap on the concept, but would a tritium front sight and a white lined rear sight be good enough?

dZ
 
Originally posted by CassandraComplex:

It seems to makes sense that: If you can't see your sights then you probably can't see your target and should not be shooting it.
Some people use that argument to say that night sights are a waste of money. Maybe they are correct....without going to extremes, I cannot think of a reasonable situation where night sights will help me shoot a BG in a good shoot.

Are night sights just a hoax...a gimmick...for tactical wannabes?
Do they do anything that a set of normal sights with white dots on it will not do in low light? (In most dim light, it is not dark enough to use the tritium anyway).

What do you all think? Besides the fact that they are a fun $100 toy, are they really a tactical necessity?

As well as what you all think, what do most of the "expert" teachers think, like the guys who write books and teach schools?

Anyone who doesn't have luminous inserts on all of his defensive guns is simply not serious.
Click to expand...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CassandraComplex:

It seems to makes sense that: If you can't see your sights then you probably can't see your target and should not be shooting it.
Some people use that argument to say that night sights are a waste of money. Maybe they are correct....without going to extremes, I cannot think of a reasonable situation where night sights will help me shoot a BG in a good shoot.

Are night sights just a hoax...a gimmick...for tactical wannabes?
Do they do anything that a set of normal sights with white dots on it will not do in low light? (In most dim light, it is not dark enough to use the tritium anyway).

What do you all think? Besides the fact that they are a fun $100 toy, are they really a tactical necessity?

As well as what you all think, what do most of the "expert" teachers think, like the guys who write books and teach schools?


[/quote]

Anyone who doesn't have luminous inserts on all of his defensive guns just isn't very serious about being effective.
 
It's been covered pretty well, but I haven't seen the magic words used to explain it to me:

there's a certain level of light (or a certain time window twice a day) where you can see well enough to see and identify your target, but not well enough to see the sights. That's when they're indispensible.

I've also said in another thread, if you have a Glock, they're a must, because the factory sights are plastic, whereas night sight housings are steel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top