Are night sights worth it?

[Barth]

I have NS on six of my seven handguns.
The new breed of sights these days seem to be designed for high visibility in all light.
Best example being XS Systems 24/4 Express Big Dots.
The seem better in daylight than in the dark.

Also I favor my Big Dot, and I-Dot Pro, configurations over traditional three dot.
And even the two color systems work better for me if it is three dot.
I replaced the front sight on my Sig P239 with an Ameriglo Pro red/orange and it really pops now.

Sights and Ammunition have really advanced over the last 10/15 years.
I'm very pleased with these changes.

[Krusty]

:33:If you have to aim through your sights when defending your life,then you most likely won't make it. How much illumination does one need if assaulted from 0-20'?? Anything further and you looking at a murder charge anyway! Just my 2c...peace

[Ken_K]

I have a CT LG on my G19 with regular sights. My friend has a G17 without a laser but has night sights. I like the laser much better for low light situations over the night sights. Just my .02

[air8]

:33:If you have to aim through your sights when defending your life,then you most likely won't make it. How much illumination does one need if assaulted from 0-20'?? Anything further and you looking at a murder charge anyway! Just my 2c...peace

Good point.

[entoptics]

Ignore the armchair gunfighters.

Dry fire practice alone makes night sights worth it. Buy them. Install them on all of your guns.

Shoot some pop cans at dusk. Practice your trigger work in your office. You will find that in dim light some white dots that glow a little will make a huge difference.

Do you need to precisely align your sights at 15 feet while running? I'm not a gunfighter, but I'd guess No.

Is it helpful to see your sights in your peripheral and/or direct vision while fighting/practicing under any circumstances? Of course. Duh.

My 2 cents.

[Barth]

Can you see me now?

Whether I'll be using my sights at all in a gunfight is debatable.
The situation is too dynamic and fluid to be sure.

Surprise point blank engagement? Probably just instinctive point shooting.
Clearing a house? I might want a sight picture off the front sight or slide.
Extended engagement with multiple aggressors at various distances? May I have my sights please?

The point is; it's nice to have the sights whether you use them or not.
Kind of like that spare loaded magazine - or two LOL!

Let's just hope none of us have to find out

[Kiehtan]

I love my XS Bigdot night sights, worth the money in my opinion.

Yeah, what he said. Love them on m Kahr Just had them put on my Beretta 92 as well.

[muggsy]

Opinion polls are just that, polls of opinions. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Her opinion usually wins out, but that's another story. If 75% of the shooters love night sights and you don't, what does their opinion matter? Borrow or rent a gun with night sights an form your own opinion. The things I have to go through on this forum. Poll this!

[Longitude Zero]

As an LEO I believe they are invaluable. Just ask a cop who has been in a low light shooting what they think. If you are not consciously aimimg the weapon using the sights or point shooting in a close encounter you will be lucky to hit anything.

The spray and pray mind-set is ignorant and dangerous.

[TheTman]

The owner of Front Sight says night sights are only really useful for 20-30 minutes a day, at dusk when it's still light enough to see your target and what lies behind it. Other than that you will need a flash light which will show the outline of your sights as you put your gun on target. That's what he says, I have no opinion other than I'd rather have a laser I think.

[Bayou]

When it comes to defending your life or the lives of your loved ones, don't you think every tool available should be used? Not every self-defense situation will be with the bad guy on top of you in a split second. Additionally, the more training you do, the more you'll "see" that front sight under stress.

When you've gathered your family in one bedroom with your gun pointed at the bedroom door in the dark, waiting on the intruder, you'll want that glowing dot. Lasers are great, but can fail.

Personally, I use Heine's and the XS big dot. Love them both. I plan on getting a set of XS Sights for my CW45. Having done low-light training, it's nice to have that dot at the end of the gun. Less of a fan of the three-dot night sights. I like a dot-dot or bar-dot configuration.

[Frankhenrylee]

I cheaped out and tried some glow in the dark paint from Siteglo. It works extremely well if you've got a few seconds to shine a light on them. I tested them to be good for 15 minutes with just 10 seconds of flashlight time. It's about a 200 lumen light though. Great for around the house, but no good for sudden situations unless you leave it out where it can gather some light. My typical scenario: hear something that needs to be checked out, grab gun and flashlight, shine light on sights as I'm making my way out of bedroom, then it's good to go. Actually, much brighter than regular night sights for first 5 minutes or so.

[Thunder71]

I'd prefer not shooting if it's so dark I can't see my sights, how will I know what I'm shooting at or what's beyond the target?

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[wyntrout]

I may never NEED them, but I have them on all of my carry guns... and the home defense/battle guns. I WOULD have some on my P40, but Trijicon doesn't make the HD model for Kahrs... but I'm hoping!

I want to have every possible edge when it comes to defending myself and my loved ones.

S&W 645 bought from retired Border Patrol agent in 1994... night sights died 4 or 5 years ago... can't find replacements.
K9... factory re-lamped after 12 years in 2010.

Only my .22 pistols and my P40 don't have night sights.

I would like to have the new Trijicon Hard Duty Night Sights on ALL of my pistols:

http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/produc...t1.php?id=HDNS

They are great on my XD45 Tactical "battle pistol": http://s1134.photobucket.com/albums/...ghts%20SP101Y/

Wynn

[redbeardmcg]

I have the factory installed night sights on my PM9. When I first looked at them in a dark room I was floored, they are extremely bright. That being said, my eyes have a tough time lining up three identical dots and keeping focus on the front dot / target. This may just be some combination of untrained eyes and lack of experience with "3 dot" sights, but it is an issue for me nonetheless.

I think some amount of contrast between the rear sight and front dot is important, which is why I'll either be replacing the rear dots with the standard sight, blacking out the rear dots with a sharpie, or getting an XS big dot for the front sight and keeping the rears. I may change my mind when my Crimson Trace arrives.

I do really like the idea of night sights for a number of reasons, here is one example: occasionally when I wake up in the middle of the night to hit the head I practice going to my closet, grabbing my pm9, and lining the dots up at the door (while still blurry eyed and clumsy as I would be if someone broke into my house at 2am). I have been able to do this perfectly 100% of the time. I tried the same thing with my Browning Hi-Power (steel sights) and knocked it off the shelf twice as I couldn't see what I was grabbing (unloaded, don't worry).

All things considered, I don't regret spending the extra $100 on the night sights and would make the same decision again.