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

I want to thank all the posters to this thread. I do not have night sights installed on any of my sidearms. I suspect this is an error, particularly for the two revolvers and the two semiautomatics I regularly use for concealed carry and "by-the-bed" protection.

Any experiences with the "paint on" stuff? Generally I've learned you get what you pay for, so I suspect it's decidedly second-rate.

Thanks again
 
Cassandra,
I wondered if I really needed night sights on my G27. I finally decided to have them installed. It was worth the price just to be able to look at the bed side table in a dark motel room and see my Glock looking back. It's highly comforting to know exactly where my pistol is.
By the way, I chose Trijicons.

Will
 
The paint on stuff doesnt work worth a hoot. A set of Meprolights are only around $60 depending on model. Money well spent.
 
My two main carrying weapons are both equipped with trijicons, and I believe they definitely afford an edge under low light.

THe only downside I've heard is that if you can see them, so can BG. May be true, but if he's behind you, you had a problem anyway.

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Panzerführer

Die Wahrheit ist eine Perle. Werfen sie nicht vor die Säue.

Those that beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those that don't.
 
I got front night sight for P11 and like it...helps to focus ont he front sight in low light. Got full set of hight lights for the P9 and intend to retrofit the Glocks eventually. Worth having, IMO.

Same way that truglo sight for the shotgun helped tremendously over the plain bead. I dislike adding extras to guns but tritiums seem like a must-have to me.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Any experiences with the "paint on" stuff? Generally I've learned you get what you pay for, so I suspect it's decidedly second-rate.

Thanks again[/B][/quote]

Used some in college to paint white dots on the sights of my BHP - since I couldn't afford anything else and a friend had already bought the paint. It was worthless (except for the white dots during the day).

Actual night sights use tritium, a radioactive (but harmless) substance that gives off a glow as it decays. Becuase of the long time to decay, tritium sights will last for ten years or more.

The "glow-in-the-dark" paint simply "charges" when it is exposed to the light and releases that "charge" as a glow. If you are like most people, you probably don't store your gun where light can reflect off the sights easily - meaning that the sights won't glow when you grab the gun.

In the event you did alter your storage to "charge up" the sights, the glow on them rarely lasts more than a couple of hours - meaning that it would be iffy whether the sights would work when you needed them.

Recommend you save the money and put it towards some good quality night sights.
 
Anyone have experience with or comments on the Hesco Metropro night sites for a S&W 586 (L frame) revolver with a red ramp front site. Are they easy to install? Do they work as well as trijicons?
 
One of these nights, go to a room in your house that allows some moonlight to shine through. You can faintly see outlines.

Now draw a gun with no night sites. Then draw a gun with night sights. After that exercise, you'll be putting night sights on your carry/house gun.
 
Necessity? As has been said, depends on the conditions. But, I'm sold on night sights, and plan to have them installed on my remaining carry guns that do not have them. What convinced me was the following exercise. Dark range, with silhouette target at seven yards. Sure-Fire 6P used in conjunction with a Glock 23 wearing Trijicons. Harries (sp?) technique. As the flashlight is parallel to the gun, it fully illuminates the target, but the sights are in shadow. With the night sights, still able to shoot a nice, tight group. Tried same exercise with a friends Glock 17 with stock sights, and couldn't resolve the sight picture as well.

Other comments about being able to find the gun at night are also true. But for me, being able to pick out the sights is most important. And it is quite possible to be in a situation where the target is illuminated and the sights are shadowed, making the sight picture more difficult to determine, even when the sights are being superimposed on a lighted target.
 
Without a doubt, as has been expressed most eloquently in the above, tritium night sights are a must for a weapon meant to defend your life and wellbeing.

Obviously that Ruger MkII I'll be purchasing soon won't need glowing sights, but my 1911 is definitely getting some Ashley Express hardware just as soon as I can work the bugs out of the gun.

I'm amazed that these companies tout their guns as defensive weapons but don't make tritium sights mandatory. It has actually come to the point that I will not purchase anything advertised as a combat/home-defense/ccw pistol that comes standard with black-on-black sights and fancy rosewood grips! That's just ignorant.

Get tritium...and get it now!!!

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When Reason Fails.....
 
Night sights are nice, not necessary.

The last night shoot I attended produced satisfactory results using both a pistol with night sights and one without. The grouping was smaller with the night sights. Without the night sights, the groups were adequate and on target at 15 yards and in. (15 yards is a long way in the dark.)

If money is a concern, buy a flashlight first, then start saving up for night sights.

[This message has been edited by Erik (edited September 01, 2000).]
 
Haven't had the chance to do night shooting since '68...most of the time, your night vision was 'wasted' by muzzle flash.
I have had no experience with tritium sights...doesn't muzzle flash cause enough disruption to your night vision to make the tritium sights almost useless? Until your night vision returns?
 
No, because you are using your surefire on the target anyway. Your target will be illuminated, but you won't have a sight picture. Just go out in the dark ( and I mean dark, not dusk) and try it.


[This message has been edited by Nukem (edited September 01, 2000).]
 
not that we have to worry about this wrinkle but, i have heard that 3rd generation night vision can easily read your face just from the reflected light from tritium sights

dZ
 
I think night sights are great, but I agree with some posters that they may or may not help depending on the conditions. Billy Dale suggested that if you can see the BG, you can probably see your sights. This is probably true, unless you are in the shadows, then you can't see your sights. To shoot at night, you need to know exactly where your sights are to aim the gun (night sights can help). Point shooting is fine if you really are that good, but I for one am not for any distance over 5 yards. Also, you need to see what you are shooting at. Hence the need also for a flashlight or other light source. I have both for that reason.

The way I see it, chances are that night sights are not going to be a factor if I end of in a defensive situation. The situation is probably going to be point-blank distance and while it may be at night, there will probably be street lights and what not. Then again, chances are I will never be in a gun fight, period. Should I need them, however, the night sights are there and they will offer a decreased time to line up my sights in the dark over not having night sights. The way I see it, that little bit of time may be what saves my life.

Oh, and I definitely can find my gun in the night, next to my bed, in a drawer, etc. without ever turning on any lights. I do like that as well.
 
If I were carrying a duty-gun, I would insist on luminous sights - since you can find yourself in circumstances where these sights can save your life.

Since I'm not a law enforcement person, and would only carry or use my pistol for self defense, I think that routine regular practice establishes a feel for weapon alignment that will suffice for self defense (up close and personal distances).
 
Any CCW pistol of mine must have tritium sights. One of those cases where if you've got 'em and don't need 'em--they don't hurt you. If you need 'em and don't have them--you may not survive to put a pair on your weapon.

I don't know about the NVG goggles being able to see the users face from the sight illumination. However, given what I've seen of the Third Generation series of NVGs, they don't need any extra help in seeing your face anyway.

LawDog

[This message has been edited by LawDog (edited September 02, 2000).]
 
Whatever happened to flashlights? ;)

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"Facts are meaningless. You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true."
Homer Simpson... but attributed to Algore.
 
I've wondered about flashlights. Gun mounted types would give away (torso) position, no? For regular flashlight, would you hold gun one-handed and light away from body?
 
Anyone here who has questions about low light shooting, I suggest you read Andy Stanford's excellent book "Fight at Night: Tools, Techniques, Tactics, and Training for Combat in Low Light and Darkness." You can order it from Paladin Press.

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/s/ Shawn Dodson
Firearms Tactical Institute
http://www.firearmstactical.com
 
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