Poll: Night Sights on home defense gun essential?
- Thread starter WVsig
- Start date
It is and it isnt, depending on the situation. At closer, and even medium ranges, if your practiced, you really dont need sights at all, but that doenst mean youre shooting unsighted either, just that you shoot enough to know you can hit where youre looking, using other cues, even if the sights arent right there and the main focus. That works light or dark too.
I like having as many options as I can get, and they give a number of options that unlit sights dont, so why not. They really dont cost all that much, a couple of boxes of premium ammo, less if you shop around and do the install yourself, and they last a reasonably long time, so over time, the cost doesnt seem as hard to swallow.
Cheapshooter
New member
Not essential, but certainly worth having more than little red dot producing gimmick electronic thingamajigs!
leadcounsel
Moderator
Experienced handgun shooters "point shoot" with both eyes open looking over the top of their gun, now down the sights.
Yes, there are advantages and I'd rather have the nite sites than not have them. But you still need enough light to identify your target (PID) and I would almost never consider firing at a target if I could ONLY see my sites - you have no idea if it's a kid, there's a hostage, who is behind the target, etc.
Night sights are about as useful as rear sights with a ledge for racking one handed for when your other hand is injured. The chances of you having to use your gun is very slim, and the chances of you having to rack your slide for whatever reason while missing a hand is even slimmer. Night sights can give an edge but it's another one of those weigh the risk vs cost issues. I think a weapon mounted light is essential. I don't trust a handheld as you'll be firing one handed. If the argument for that is not pointing your gun at something to illuminate it, I think that if there's someone in my house who isn't supposed to be there, I'm not going to be polite.
Do me a favor. Pretend to hold a handgun two handed. Take a look at your hands. See how they're the closest part of your body toward a potential attacker? See how they're approximately in front of your upper thorax? The ability to clear a malfunction one handed is taught at just about any academy or school I can think of. It's not just for kicks and giggles, it's because of the parts of your body likely to be hit while exchanging fire with someone else your hands rank right up at the top.
Yep. My HD gun is not my carry gun. Because of my presbiotic middle aged eyesight, I need an iridescent, tritium, fiber-optic, or gold-bead front sight on my EDC and I'm good with a blind rear battle sight or wide notch U sight.
Because I live in a small place, my HD gun is a S&W 627 revolver that sits on the nightstand. If somebody tries to break in, I need something I can grab quick & point shoot with in near darkness if I have to, & who cares about what kind of sights I have! Although I'm basically an autopistol guy, I keep the big N-Frame handy for HD because I point shoot better with revolvers.
If you can talk the missus into a Ruger LCR .22 WMR for HD only purposes you can leave the BHP alone. And it's fun shooting a wheelgun!
Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
Having done some lowlight training, I believe they offer an advantage in a fairly narrow range of lighting conditions and circumstances; but they are not essential in my view. If your eyes are dark adapted the white dot sights (or similar such as a gold insert, fiber-optic) will work in any circumstance where you could conceivably identify your target (and several where you can't).
If you can't identify your target then an alternate light source is usually necessary anyway and lets you also use the sights.
If you can't identify your target then an alternate light source is usually necessary anyway and lets you also use the sights.
If they are hype, they are about the only real positive hype I see, when it comes to firearm upgrades. Other than the guns that came with factory night sights, they are the only thing I add parts wise, to a box stock gun.
One place where they really work well, is with a suppressor. Ive used mine behind one in dark and near dark conditions, a number of times now, and they work great. I have a flashlight on the gun, and while it works great at lighting things up, it does nothing for the sights. The night sights give me sight alignment on the back side of the can. Once things get dark, you dont notice you cant see your sights "through" the can (not that its an issue in the daylight, you just dont see it at all in the dark). You just see the normal three dot sight picture, and you see the target.
Invest in a good white light. Anyone writing here knows where their point of aim is...even without aiming. Try this: dry fire a draw and shoot - with your eyes closed in front of a mirror. Open your eyes and you'll see your dead on. During an exercise in training the instructor had us do just that with live fire with target three yards away. We all opened our eyes to learn we'd hit somewhere within respectable range of center mass - some dead on.
The white light (go LED) is for making sure of what you're shooting at...and who. I prefer rail mounted so hands are free to work gun. But just get a good light.
The white light (go LED) is for making sure of what you're shooting at...and who. I prefer rail mounted so hands are free to work gun. But just get a good light.
Not necessary, but since this is home protection you should consider how your wife would/could use the gun. My wife and I found a laser to be easier to use in the home. You don't have to raise the gun up completely to get a sight picture and it provides more confidence in aimpoint than just point and shot. Just before you climb into bed, walk around your house with the wife and check things out for lighting and such. You may find using a flashlight difficult in a firing position. Such as to look down a hallway to your left if you are right handed. A laser allows you to "aim" down the hallway with one hand if you need to shoot from cover, a flashlight not so much.
... Larry S.
... Larry S.
Omaha-BeenGlockin
New member
Spend your money an a weapon light instead of night sights----you need to see what you're shooting at---plus the light makes regular sights visible.
Brotherbadger
New member
They are very nice, but not a necessity imo.
I have night sights on every pistol that I own with the exception of my Beretta 21a .22lr. I voted that they are essential. For me, they are essential. The price is worth it to gain any and all advantages in a situation where I may have to defend my life and/or my wife. I don't want to be sitting on a cloud strumming a harp one day, wishing I had installed night sights, because I was killed due to not being able to line up on target in the dark!