Night Sights for home defense gun?

M

Mitchum

New member
Who has installed fiber optic night sights for their home defense pistol? I have a Ruger SR45 for home defense and have considered installing them.

In the concealed carry class I took recently, when we were attempting to practice our draw with some speed, the instructor turned out the lights! This was an indoor range and it was pretty dark with the lights out. We waited for the eyes to settle so we could see the sights on our pistols, and the target, but it took some time and I still couldn't really see the sights on mine. My concealed gun has white-dot font/rear sights. Our instructor strongly recommended night sights.

The instructor passed around a pistol to try with the fiber optic night sights and this was a big improvement. I'm thinking for home defense it's a good idea. Who uses night sights on guns they use for home defense? I suppose this would also be a good idea for concealed carry too.
 
I've thought about those a lot, but never gotten them.

What it boils down to for me is this; if I can't see who I'm shooting at or what's behind them... I'm not going to pull the trigger.
It could mean my demise, I'll accept that over an unintended target
 
My Glock 26 carry gun has Tritium night sights and at night with a Glock 17 magazine switched for the standard 10 round mag.....it becomes my home defense gun.

I'd recommend the Tritium sights for everyone. You may not need them, but then again, there may be that one time when you need them very, very much.
 
What it boils down to for me is this; if I can't see who I'm shooting at or what's behind them... I'm not going to pull the trigger.
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No one is suggesting they will enable you to shoot in total darkness

There are lots of situations where you can see the target but not see the sights well enough for alignment

You can shine a flashlight on a target and still not be able to see your sights clearly if the light is forward of the gun itself
 
I do agree to the advantages of hi vis sights, just if there's doubt I won't shoot. The sights can reduce the doubt as sight alignment would be one of the variables. A traumatic situation would benefit from one less hindrance.
 
Mitchum said:
Who has installed fiber optic night sights for their home defense pistol? I have a Ruger SR45 for home defense and have considered installing them.

In the concealed carry class I took recently, when we were attempting to practice our draw with some speed, the instructor turned out the lights!
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Fiber optic sights are terrible in low light; I'm guessing you're thinking of night sights that use tritium. Unless you're referring to the Tru-Glo sights that use both fiber optic and tritium; the fiber optic part is for daylight and the tritium is for low light.

I pick sights that have a great daylight sight picture and just happen to have tritium inserts; for me the tritium is just a bonus. Tritium inserts are of limited use; you can't see the glow in normal light, so they're only good for low light situations where it's dark enough that you can't see your sights clearly but its light enough that you can still clearly identify your target. Also, they're useful for telling which way your gun is oriented on the nightstand. But in extremely dark situations they're mostly useless; if it's too dark to see your target then you should be using a flashlight to positively identify whether your target is truly a threat, and once you turn on a flashlight then you're not going to see the tritium at all.

Basically what I'm saying is that you should pick your sights based on how they look in daylight situations, and then consider the tritium as a bonus.
 
Fiber optic sights are terrible in low light; I'm guessing you're thinking of night sights that use tritium. Unless you're referring to the Tru-Glo sights that use both fiber optic and tritium; the fiber optic part is for daylight and the tritium is for low light.
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I'm learning as I go and did not know the difference so thanks for sharing! I understand what you mean. I suppose I would be more interested in tritium for low light. For me this will primarily be for the gun I use for home defense. Even at home when it's dark it's not pitch black so I assume the tritium night sights would help.
 
Even at home when it's dark it's not pitch black so I assume the tritium night sights would help.
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They help tremendously.

Tru-Glo makes a "hybrid" version with both fiber optics and Tritium

Meprolight and Trijicon are a couple of other well known sources for quality products to fit most popular guns

Most Tritium sights will have a working lifespan of 12-15 years
 
Tru-Glo makes a "hybrid" version with both fiber optics and Tritium

Meprolight and Trijicon are a couple of other well known sources for quality products to fit most popular guns
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Thanks for the referral's Snyper - much appreciated!
 
Night Sites for home defense gun

My eyes can't see the sites on my pistol any more even with tritium sites so I added a Crimson Trace laser. I figure both the assailant and I will run out of ammunition before he/she could follow the laser back to me:)
All the best,
Bill
 
The gun I'm currently using for HD does not have night sights but others I own do. Since I use TLR's on my HD guns, night sights are not really a concern.
 
My nightstand 1911 has tritium night sights and I love them. In addition to their obvious use in aiming in the dark, they also help in actually indexing the gun quickly. We live in a neighborhood with very few street lights, so once it gets dark, it's dark. Seeing those sights glowing on my nightstand makes the gun easy to find and grip quickly, where without them it would just be another black lump on a black field. I wouldn't have an HD gun without them.

Fiber optic sights have their uses, but only when there's a light source. In the dark, they have no more value than any other, non-tritium sighting system. Lasers are great in the dark -- but the indexing value makes night sights my favorite.
 
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