Why no night sights?

S

scorpion_tyr

New member
Just thought I would post a question that's been on my mind today. Why don't more handguns come with night sights? I was lucky enough to pick up my FNP-40 NIB with Trijicon's. Since then I've been looking for a .45 ACP, but I haven't seen any that I like with night sights. Even the FNP-45 seems to be impossible to find with night sights even though it's listed on FN's website. With all the handguns being sold for home and self defense, and most bad situations happen in low light or at night I would think more manufacturers would have night sights installed.
 
They add about $100 to the price of the gun. Most people aren't willing to pay the extra money for them, so the factory doesn't install them. I too would like them, and pay the extra for them. But oh well. I'm making due with Nitesiters for the time being. They work remarkably well for $10.
 
The same reason not all cars come with navagatiors....When gun company x offers night sites on a certian model they get the sights cheap. I turn the sight company gets some cash nad most importantly, advertising. Now that you have night sites on one gun you want them on all your guns, at $100+ a set.
 
I've found that rear night sights are worthless. I would only pay for the front sight to have tritium in it, but most companies don't offer that as a factory opiton. Usually only gunsmiths will give you that option.

I can't envision any circumstances where you would be shooting at a distance that required the rear sights to be night sights and where you would actually have time to line those 3 little dots up.
 
Sights

Perhaps most manufactuers realize that night sights are a step down in sights. Perhaps they sell them as options because people want them that have been fooled into thinking they are "better". I've had almost every type made and hate them. None I've had is nearly the sight a simple white dot is. I remove them quickly if I keep the pistol any length of time. It's a mystery to me why anyone would have them. I'm an old curmudgeon and simply can't see them as well as other designs.
 
They add about $100 to the price of the gun. Most people aren't willing to pay the extra money for them, so the factory doesn't install them.
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Not to mention that they have a limited shelf life too. I'd guess they'll cost close to another $100 to replace every 10 years or so.
 
I'd also add that most night sights are less then impressive, to my mind anyway. In the dark after just an hour or two without illumination, many are not very bright at all. IMO, I not convinced that they are really worth the money and don't really add any significant tactical advantage.

I think a laser sight, red dot rail light or some such device is a far better investment then traditional night sights. Personally, I just have a LED rail light on my SIG P226 with a red lens filter on it - much better then the night sights that actually came on the gun.
 
The night sights on my Sig p250 are superb, they glow without charge. ( or at least for 9 hours without charge) When I get home and open the safe the sights are glowing. I am very happy with mine, in a dark room I have no problem lining them up quickly, but to each his own.
 
Frankly I think they are too expensive. I think they figured out a nice fat profit margin on them and since there aren't that many makers they are not under pressure to drop prices a great deal. They don't add 100$ to the mfrs cost, but maybe to the end user! Since they are a regulated substance I suppose that alot of makers don't care to bother messing with the red tape unless they can make the fat profit margins others are getting. I myself would prefer the two dot system, one on the front and rear, different colors, making for a faster alignment IMO than 3 dots. 3 dots of any type are not my fav. Some want a light as an improvement but I think I like the aspect that they don't create a big fat aiming point for an adversary or give away your position. The laser source can be seen usually, too, if not the beam. But somewhat better than a shoot-at-me light in that respect.
 
I like the idea of Tritium night sights, however, since middle age hit me square in the eyes, that type of sight is just not effective for me. It might be better with a two dot system like Tom2 describes. But, those three dots all become a single blur without my glasses. Hate to say it, but, putting on my glasses sometimes takes a back seat to getting that gun and flashlight in my hands when a bump in the night is significant enough to warrant investigation.

Thank you, Tom2!
I'll have to look into that system.
Sounds like it might work for me. Seems it would be easier to stack a pair of blurry glowing dots than lining up three of them. :)
 
I can't envision any circumstances where you would be shooting at a distance that required the rear sights to be night sights and where you would actually have time to line those 3 little dots up.
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The three dots give you instant horizontal and vertical alignment, without thought, something most other types dont do. They are no slower than anything else to use.

Perhaps most manufactuers realize that night sights are a step down in sights.
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I'd really like to hear more about this this one and the reasoning why.

None I've had is nearly the sight a simple white dot is.
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All my night sights are a white dot that simply turns green in low/no light, and works exactly the same as my old white dots did, except that I can see my night sights all the time, day or night, and anything in between.

In the dark after just an hour or two without illumination, many are not very bright at all.
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You must be thinking of something else, night sights using tritium vials give you 24/7/4380 sights of constant, even brightness, without the need to be "charged". They also work without batteries.

I just have a LED rail light on my SIG P226 with a red lens filter on it - much better then the night sights that actually came on the gun.
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I also have a P226 with a light on the rail and night sights on the slide. I prefer my lights as bright as I can get them, they work better that way. The best filter to use if you feel you need one, is IR. ;) Both light and night sights are made to work together, and compliment each other, and they work well that way. There is one sure thing, the night sights wont fail due batteries, bulbs, or other factors that electronics often have a problem with.
 
I like my night sights. They make the pistol easy to find in the dark, remind me that I left the gun cabinet door open, and are actually better to my eyes in the daylight too! Mine are on a Glock and are the 3-dot variety. They are very easy to use IMO; certainly no worse in daylight than the stock sights.

The only thing I don't like about them is that I will have to pay extra to get some more on a couple of other guns now that I have them on one! :mad:

AK103K beat me, but I was going to mention that tritium sights need to "charging". They are always on, no matter what. And the 10-12 year half-life means (IIRC) that after a decade of use, they are still half as bright as new.

Edited: My set is bright enough to actually glare off of reflective surfaces after dark. Far, far from dim.
 
I would guess that a lot of people don't want night sights, and wouldn't want to pay for them. I would tend to agree.

If I were in law enforcement I would probably want them, otherwise I don't think I would want to pay extra for them, especially on every handgun I own.
 
Wow... I can see the arguments on both sides. In my own opinion and for my situation, I love night sights. I have the Trijicon's that function just like normal sights during the day, and work great at night. I have found that their most useful feature is that they allow me to know exactly how my firearm is positioned so my hands find the grip immediately instead of fumbling with it. This is especially true in my car. I keep the weapon in the center console and it shifts around a little as I drive. At night all I have to do is open the console and those little green dots tell me exactly how to grab it. I will admit that I don't plan on getting night sights on all my handguns, just my primary carry and my primary home defense weapon. Last thing I'll throw in is that lights are a perfect compliment to nightsights for both blinding your target and illuminating it properly, it's not a good idea at all to aim and fire at shadows.
 
My Dan Wesson Bobtail came with night sights as did my departed Kimber. Iam not a big fan of them . I have tried but just can't really love.
 
I should clarify "Middle Age Sight" for the folks in the 17-30 yr. age group.
I should have done this in my first post, but neglected to do so. :o Sorry.

Middle age sight happens normally at or soon after age 40 for most of us. The eye's lens begin to harden somewhat making it difficult to focus. It mainly affects the near sight. Up close things were just a little out of focus and I couldn't get my eyes to clearly focus anymore. I could read magazines clearly if they were a little beyond arm's length away. I just couldn't get that up close sharp focus anymore.
It really sucked big time when it came to shooting because the iron sights I could see relatively clearly were now blurry. I had better than 20/20 sight so this was a big kick in the crotch to me. Reading glasses helped when reading and I could see the irons with clarity again, but reading glasses tend to make farther off things blurry. So now I could see the sights just not what I was shooting at. :eek:
At age 50, things at a distance have become slightly out of focus along with my up-close clarity. I could still see it's just everything was now slightly out of focus. Close up vision and far off. Hence my need for glasses. Now my 20/20 vision is back thanks to bifocals.
Unfortunately it's a chore to get bifocals to work properly when shooting long arms. So, now I'm putting optics on my most used long arms to compensate for that PITA problem.

The two Tritium dots will work, I think, because it's easier to stack a pair of dots than line up three dots. The three dots tend to get in the way of each other when they are all out of focus. It all becomes one big blur and you can't really tell if your elevation is correct or if they are lined up perfectly horizontally. Putting one dot on top of the other even when they are slightly out of focus is still possible, I believe. You won't have pin point accuracy but it'll be good enough at 0-20 feet.

I hope one of my local fun shops has a display with different iron sighting systems so I can test this out.
 
I can see how the eyesight would be a problem... am I correct in assuming you're focusing on the sights? I was always taught to focus on the target, with my sights being slightly blurry. Maybe this is wrong, I dunno. I do well with it though. Would this make a difference in your situation?
 
Maybe this is wrong, I dunno.
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It is, all credible firearms instructors teach focusing on the front sight.

In response to the original question:

For reasons I don't fully understand, I find I don't shoot very well with the 3-dot sight configuration (maybe a little better than plain sights, but not by much). I have found my best success, by far, with a partridge sight with a line-dot pattern, such as those on my SIG P229 and Kahr CW40. I also do very well with Glock's standard Outline-dot pattern. Neither of these patterns are available in a night sight configuration (XS Sights come close, but don't give me the precision of a partridge cut). So then the question becomes balancing shootability in severe darkness versus superior shootability in alternate conditions. I live in a major metropolitan area where honest darkness is very hard to come by and have therefore decided that the combination of my superior shooting with non night sights and my enhanced enjoyment from it outweigh the pluses of night sights.
With all that said, my Dan Wesson CBOB came with Trijicons I don't intend to replace any time soon.

I think if I was stuck with the three-dot configuration however (or worse, a Heinie Straight-Eight configuration) I'd favor night sights with white outlines.

I also have a Surefire E2e or 6P handy at ALL times.
 
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