Long term... is / are tritium sights the best option ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I don't know if I've seen this question before, but...

In the pre or early Clinton era, I bought into the "buy all the stuff before it gets banned paranoia"... maxing out a couple credit cards buying all I could, & outfitting the stuff with lazers & what have you...

.... now many years later, I still have most of those guns, however there are now better lazers at 25% of what I paid for the ones mounted on those guns... Tritium seems to be the "hot sight media" right now... but what happens to those combat type guns that sit in my lockers for 10-12 years ( like most of what I bought in the early / pre Cinton era )???

I just began outfitting some of my hunting handguns with fiber optic ghost ring rear bases, & I really like them... I'm thinking they would work good on a couple combat handguns??? granted they are not self ilumnating, but if used with a tac light I think they light up enough to be functional... I think I could get my local smith to custom install a few sets... once set up, they should be good for a lifetime of shooting or "at ready"

I guess I'm not talking about your daily carry gun, but do you think that tritium is the best option for those "tricked out" combat handguns you may keep in your lockers ready for "someday", or do you think that a fiber optic sight set up is better for "that type" of gun, or maybe some other type of sight, like the glow in the dark painted dots, that require charging up before use after log term storage ???

BTW... this is the rear sight I just mounted on one of my hunting hand guns... I think it would work great on a combat style handgun as well...

your thoughts ???

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I could... the current one is mounted on a custom 10" Contender barrel in 45 Colt, the rear is green, the front fiber optic dot is red... I just havent taken a pic yet, as the barrel is still in the white...

I think either mounted on a wide flat slide, or on a combat revolver would work fine ???

BTW... it's a Williams sight, & I just like that pic, because the angle shows the "U" bent tube, which gathers more light & is more recoil stabil than 2 shorter tubes
 
A friend of mine just had "Tritium" AND fiber optic sights put on his XD pistol. These sights have "both". Interesting.

EDIT: I have many with Trijicon. (yes they fade after a while) I prefer all black though.
 
Tritium over fiber optic sights any time. Yes, tritium sights are worth the expense. I have a set of Meprosights on my Glock that are well over 16 years old and they are still visible in the dark.
 
I think the tritium is like at 1/2 life in something like 10 years... then they don't just go dark, but have gradually faded to 1/2 the brightness over that 1st 10 years... if the 2nd 1/2 life is still like 10 years, they should still be at 1/4 briteness in like 20 years...

Tritium / fiber optic seems like a good option in theory... but I haven't tried or got the chance to play with any...

the CT laser grips also seem like a good option, I always worried about the batterys, but I have some old "day light" lasers that I had stored as "ready" with the batterys in them ( I know... not a good practice ), but they still worked like 10 years later, though the batterys had no longivity, but they did still work...
 
It all depends on what you're using them for. Fiber optics is fine for some things but Tritium is my choice for any self defense pistol. But I accept that tritium sights need to have their inserts replaced every 12-15 years. That's affordable with Trijicon at right around $60 shipped. I have no clue if Mepro offers a similar service - they seem to be impossible to contact. I doubt that Trijicon is going out of business anytime soon.
 
The fiber optic sights are neat but rely on ambient light to glow. If it's really dark, tritium is going to work better. On the downside, if it's so dark that you need tritium to see your sights, you'll probably need a light to see your target.

Here's some discussion on low light shooting.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323334

Tritium sights do fade after years, but some of the better companies have programs to replace them either at low or no cost when that happens.
 
I'm with JohnK on the tritium issue. I've used both the tritium and fiber optic. Here's my take. There are some tritium products out there that have bright white (perhaps even flourescent) rings around the tritium inserts that are usable in daylight and low light. My experience with tritium sights in low to bright light is that they are barely visible and are marginally better than plain iron sights. And if you need them in a really dark environment, you will, likely, not be able to see your target.

I use fiber optic, too. But it's limitation is that it dulls and become less effective if exposed to cleaning solvents over time. Not a really big deal if you change them out periodlically. They are inexpesive to replace. Some colors are more effective than others too. I personally find yellow to be, all around most effective, but I think the green ones collect light better at dusk and dawn.

Truth be known, I'm still searching for the perfect combination, but my overall favorite for a grab and go defensive or carry weapon is a straight 8 configuration in a highly reflective or flourescent paint.

I can say it because I've paid the price for tritium, but I can't help but feel that the concept is rather a gimmick, because, frankly, if used in conjunction with a supplemental light in order to positively identify your target, plain iron sights would work about as well.
 
John...thanks for the link, & interesting post...

when we did our CCW qualification, it was done in a low light situation, basically point shooting to qualify... having operable sights are great for shoting at targets, though I point shoot enough, that in a self defense situation, I bet I wouldn't even register that I looked at the sights :confused:

however for that tricked out combat handgun... sure we want the best sights... I haven't got the chance to try a gun mounted light with fiber optic sights, but would expect at least "some" illumination ???

I also wonder how the fiber optic ghost ring would fair in a fast shoot situation... I know I really like the set up I installed on my 10" Contender for moving deer... if I mounted the same set up on a revolver or auto, I'd guess the results would also be positive ( the 10" Contender equals in practical length about a 6" revolver ), so the set up may not work as well on a 4-5" auto, or a 2-3" revolver ???

kind of maybe a strange question, but what about "headlights" ??? I have several different styles that I use on occasion when hunting ( for going in & out in the dark )... are we afraid that mounting a head light makes us more of a target ??? or is there any real reason why a head band light wouldn't make a good light source for handguns that don't have a mounted light, rather than holding a flashlight while shooting ???
 
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