How many here tried Heinie sights and just do NOT like them? How many disagree?

C

CassandraComplex

New member
I went for the hype and bought Heinie sights. At first, I liked them a lot! They seemed so very professional and serious looking. They looked "all business" and they just looked like sights for "serious shooters".
But, upon using them a lot, I just don't like them.
I got the Slant Pro Straight Eight night sights.
They are good for target work, but I seriously question their use for defense.
The reason being, they are totally inferior for speed shooting and low light shooting.
The inserts have no white outline, and while they glow in the dark, I can't pick them up very fast in dim light against a dark target.

The way I see it, %80 of shootings happen in low light (not dark necessarily, just low light), and most bad guys wear dark clothing.
So, the odds are that these all-black sights are exactly the wrong kind for self defense shooting.
Just like while I am at the range and have trouble picking up the Heinie night sights against a black target, I could see myself pulling my gun in a dim light situation against a perp in dark clothing and not being able to find my sights, needing to just point shoot.

I mean, I have been trying to convince myself for quite a while that I could learn to pick them up fast, and that the tritium was bright enough to work, and etc etc etc, but the fact is I think I am selling myself short. In a moment of dire stress when getting a fast shot off is the difference between living and dying, I think these sights could be a serious handicap compared to other sights with bright white dots on them. More than once I have had to spend a half second or more looking for that thin, flat-black front sight when shooting a black target. A half second can turn into an eternity in a real shooting, and under stress it will be even harder to find that sight than at the range.

So, I think I like the Meprolight night sights or even Trijicons are better with the nice bright white outlines around the tritium inserts. I pick them up much faster in dim light.

Anyone else have this same experience?

Everyone raves about how cool Heinie sights are, so I am wondering if I am missing something?

Anyone disagree with me? Are Heinie sights really the best thing around and I am just not noticing their strong points?

What are the strong and weak points of these sights according to your opinions?






[This message has been edited by CassandraComplex (edited August 30, 2000).]
 
All eyes are different.

I can't tolerate 'night sights', and I have trouble focusing on black front blades, and Bomar notches are too narrow, etc...

Get the sights that work for you, and carry a good flashlight (SureFire).

I like MMC rear and BrightSight yellow-painted fronts on my autos (but settle for Bomar/LPA/Caspian/MecGar rears), and Millett orange-ramp front blades on my wheels.

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
I have the same set you purchased; on a Glock M-20. I have had no problems you state and for thier price think there very good sites.

[This message has been edited by 12-34hom (edited August 30, 2000).]
 
Funny. I've always found dot sights to be more distracting. I can align my sights much faster if they are plain old black sights. Nights sights are a different matter. If you have non-plain sights that are not tritium, you're still very unlikely to be able to align them in low light conditions.
 
I love the Heinie's, after experimenting with numerous other sights. In fact, I prefer them because I do NOT like the thick white outline around the tritium vial that some sights have. I find that very distracting in all but the lowest light, and I don't even like tritium dots or white dots/outlines on rear sights, so I have Heinie SlantPros with the all-black rear and tritium front on all my Glocks. I have done a lot of low light shooting and dry-fire work, testing to see how easily i can align the front sights in low light against a dark target with no problem. Btw, I use them for all my IDPA shooting, and some of the best guys I shoot with don't use night sights at all... just all-black BoMars. For carry too.

Your eyes may not pick up contrast in low light, or the Heinies just don't suit you for other reasons. Sights, almost more that anything on a handgun, are highly subjective, imo. Also, if you're practicing your draw and stance consistently and often, you should be able to get the gun on target reasonably well at combat range before even seeing the sights. It goes without saying that if you're point shooting, you're not using them (i'm not a point shooting fan except at very close range).

MMC has some nice options, with bar-dot combos, alternate colors, etc.

I also like the shape of the Heinies... easy on the hand when doing malfunction clearances, and good shape for carry guns.

[This message has been edited by Covert Mission (edited August 30, 2000).]
 
I usually go with whatever works best for me at the range. If the bad guy is wearing black and the lighting is dim that's no problem. As a regular part of my training routine, I practice a LOT of point shooting. I started out kind of slow at first, but now am able to quickly and effectively keep all shots within the kill zone(usually) of a B-34 (or is it B-36?) target at 7 yards with my glock 27. I'm not yet quite so good with my S&W 642 snubnose revolver. This I'm pretty sure is due to the different ergonomics of that gun combined with the long heavy DA trigger pull.

Good shooting.
 
Personally I do not care for the 'stacked' systems of sighting, be they a dot-dot like the Heinie or the bar-dot used on Walther and SIG's. I prefer 3 dots. I use Novaks with P-T orange green inserts. The capsules are in white PVC tubes and the ends of the tubes show as a faint white ring in daylight. I tried an interesting combo this weekend. A small Ashley dot front with an Aerotek rear (this was on a Glock). The front sight is fast and accurate on dark targets, but on a white target the dot disappears.
 
I had a set of Straight 8s on a Glock 30 and was underwhelmed at their usefulness especially when compared to my other (PT) three dot styles.

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Make mine lean, mean, and 9x19!
 
Love my Heinie's! One thing you can do is get some fingernail polish-white, red, whatever color you like, and paint the top portion of the front sight to give you the contrast you desire.

regards,

olazul
 
Cassandra, personally,I think the whole "night-sight" think is total bunk. If you dry-fire enough (correctly)then when you shoot, you'll find that your sights are already aligned, without looking at them. I shot my fist couple of IDPA matches without even seeing the front sights, and scored very good targets. Just a thought.
 
If you like a big, bold, front sight, you should take Mr. Pub's advice and try the Ashley Express big dot. Against a dark target, it stands out like a ping pong ball on a black pillow. ;)

BTW, I like plain black sights for target shooting but like you, I've never been able to pick them up well when the lighting and target aren't favorable.
 
I am really happy with the Heine Slant-Pro Straight-8s on my Glock 20c. The sight picture is alot more precise than the stock sights (or most aftermarket sights) and they are way more rugged.

Heinie GOOOD.

C.B.
 
I took some white modeling paint (by Testers) and painted the portion around the dot white. The paint naturally got into the tritium area a little, so I took a toothpick and wiped it out, and it all came out clean. So now, my Heinie Straight Eights have a band halfway up with bright white paint. It really catches my eye when I draw and brings my eye right to the front sight, and the sight right to the target.
(I see no need to have nice sights if I cam going to point shoot anyway....use your sights!)

I am very happy now.
The ribbed surface of the sights allowed me to put paint on the sight, and it made a perfect line across the sight.
I have lost no precision, but gained a lot of speed in dim light against darker targets.
I am very happy for now! I will have to give it a month or so of shooting and see if it lasts.

Thanks for the help.
 
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