Fiber Optic Front Sight

D

DDS

New member
Does anyone have a FO front sight installed on their pistol? Is it alot faster at sight acquisition than white dot sights? Is it stabile and durable? Is it good in low light conditions? Is it solvent/lube safe? Which colored insert works best...green?

I was considering replacing my Novak dovetailed front sight on my 1911 Commander.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Dave
 
To me - I think those FO sights are garbage.
They glow nice when its light out... but in the evening at night, anywhere its dark - they dont gather enough light to help you.
I find them completely unacceptable.

If you want a nice front sight that will give you good and fast front sight aquisition... Ashley Express Big Dots.
 
George, I respectfully disagree with you. I replaced the standard post on my Kimber Stainless Target with a fiberoptic front post from Advanced Combat Pistols.

View


I find that it is a lot brighter and more accurate than white dot sights. I have never had a problem with it. I shoot quite a bit of IDPA with this gun so it sees a lot of pounding. As a matter of fact I am using this very gun at the IDPA Nationals next week. If I was worried about it, I would not be going to the Nationals with it.

I have seen the Ashley big dot but I have no experience with it. Of those I know who have tried it, say it is great to about 15 to 20 yards. After that the dot is so big it covers up the target. Accurate shooting from 25 and out was not easy.

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John

[This message has been edited by John Forsyth (edited September 09, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by John Forsyth (edited September 09, 2000).]
 
Thanks for feedback guys.
John do you have contact information for Advanced Combat Pistols? It looks like a nicer sight than the one I have seen. I like a serrarted front post and the enclosure appears to be more secure.

Thanks!

Dave
 
George,
I have to agree and disagre with you. I agree that they do no good when it's dark. However, for a bullseye or plain ole' plinking, they are great. My Les Baer has a FO installed and I definitely shoot much better with it.

I also agree the Ashley big dots are great sights. They are exceptional when it's dusk or dark. However, for daytime shooting, the FO is the clear cut winner.
 
Have had a fiber optic front on my gov.
model for six months now. Shoot IDPA
twice a month and have taken three multi-
day clases with it. NO DOUBT for my fifty
three year old eyes it has helped signifi-
cantly. I do shoot Mepros on my Glock. Like
them too. At my age (eyesight), a quickly
obtainable sight picture is greatly helped
by something really obvious at the end of
the slide.

As for your specific questions, I've used
green and red. Currently use red but like
green better. Both glow. Green seems to glow
brighter. Better than white dot?..Not
really in my experience...but just as good.
Solvent friendly...mine seems to be.

If you are concerned about low light shoot-
ing situations fiber optics may not be for
you. If you want a front sight that will be
EXTREMELY visible in all other lighting
conditions they work very well.

As for tritiums being better in low light..
no argument. They are. Most of my shooting,
however, is done in daylight. I don't feel
handicapped because I've chosen
fiber optics.

[This message has been edited by Sport (edited September 09, 2000).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by George Hill:
They glow nice when its light out... but in the evening at night, anywhere its dark - they dont gather enough light to help you.
I find them completely unacceptable.[/quote]

George, I'm going to disagree with your premise. They are designed precicely to work nice when it is light and in the evening or darkness, they are every bit as good as a standard iron sight. They aren't tritium but work well for their designed purpose.

------------------
God made us in his own image.
Thomas Jefferson made us free.
John Browning made us equal.

Without Browning, we might not know about the other two...
 
My Norinco 1911's slide is in Dlask's, having a red fibre-optic front sight installed. I was dubious of their worth until I actually fired a gun with one installed. It was early evening at the IPSC practice range, the light was starting to fail, and I fired a few magazine-fulls from a Para-Ord that had a red FO sight...no contest compared to my Bomar iron front sight. It was almost like cheating..<g>
Even in the low light, the front sight still gathered enough light to be effective.
Red or green or blue or yellow? Personal taste and choice, IMO. Blue seems to stand out best against an IPSC classic (brown) target, but red seems more 'natural' to me, and probably a good compromise for 'various' situations.
 
I hear mixed responses. Personally I go with the Triji's or Mepro's.

------------------
"Get rid of that nickel plated sissy pistol and get yourself a Glock" - Tommy Lee Jones
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by UZI:
I hear mixed responses. Personally I go with the Triji's or Mepro's.
[/quote]

For nighttime use, I'd agree. However, the Tritium sites are only good at night and, like the fiber optics at night, are merely iron sights during the daytime. It's a trade either way.
 
I recently put a HIVIZ front sight on my P95 along with a Ashley express rear; the two combine to make a very quick acquisition. I use the smallest green pipe and the dot really jumps out at you even at dusk.
 
MikeM brought to mind another reason I'm
sold on fiber optics. The "dot" doesn't
have to be large. Because of its light gathering ability, I can use a smaller fiber
optic front sight and still pick it up .
The arrangement gives me a fast acquisition
plus more potential aiming precision.
 
For a carry gun go with night sights like Mepro's. For a competition gun it just depends on what you want. For bullseye shooting a set of Bomar sights is hard to beat. The IDPA and IPSC guys I shoot with love the fiber optic though. I am still using Bomars and I can hold my own, but I think I'll give them a try.
 
I am still waffling on adding them to handguns but the green glotube on my 20ga shotgun made trap shooting easy. A real winner for trap and HD, IMO. More durable than I expected it to be.

------------------
Oleg "peacemonger" Volk

http://dd-b.net/RKBA
 
What about the sights with the tritum dot surrounded by the fiber optic light pipe? I can't remember where I saw this, but it sounded cool.
 
Batman, I believe you're refering to the Aro-tek "Tri-Light" Sight. It does consist of a green tritium tube, surrounded by a red fiber optic element. The front sight comes by itself or with a Novak-type rear sight with yellow tritium tubes.

This sight set-up looks and sounds impressive. Has anyone used one before? I'm thinking about getting one for my off-duty gun, a Glock 27.

Can this possibly be the 'Holy Grail' of shot deliverance?... a true day/night sight.
 
"Batman, I believe you're refering to the Aro-tek "Tri-Light" Sight....Has anyone used one before?"

I have one on my G30 and am not terribly impressed. It seems to have limited light gathering ability. I prefer Heinie 8's or MMC with bright paint around the tritium insert of the front sight.

ljlc
 
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