Lets talk about Night Sights/Lasers.

[Lycanthrope]

I have taken a class that taught this and it does work. I was impressed.

I'm thinking of a situation where you may have to shoot a bit further out, or the fight may have drug out to where you are now behind cover, and are forced to take aimed shoots at your target. Do you think it would work as well then. I'm not sure, I'm asking.

I used to have a laser on my Ruger, but found I was faster making hits at all ranges with the sights. It felt easier, but didn't work out that way on the clock. Outside, on moving targets that difference was huge. The time it took to walk the laser in on a backdrop was time that could have been spent getting the front sight to settle.

A laser combo with night sights would work well if you used the laser as a secondary input to the front sight post......sort of dotting the post with the laser.

I very much prefer a red fiber up front and a blacked out rear for daytime shooting, but I run three dots at night. I've shot a lot of scenarios in pure darkness where only the target is very slightly illuminated and aligning the front with the rear notch can take time when you have no input from the rear. Usually, this input is the edges of the notch itself, so you really don't need the second and third dot, but in certain conditions it can be hard (and my indexing is pretty good). I can close my eyes, draw and then open them to usually find the sights aligned on a target, but you'd be surprised how hard it gets beyond 15 yards in darkness and without the extra inputs.

You have to see what works for you and I think a timer is essential in a question like this. What feels fast and more accurate is not necessarily so.

Lycangotrystuffthrope

[jcabin]

I had tritium fiber-optics on my old carry gun and I have to say I was very impressed with the night sights, at night.

However during the daytime, while training under certain verying environmental conditions, I wasn't happy with them.
When coming in and out of the shade, or in a shaded area during a bright sunny day, and firing out into a sunny area, the sights didnt stand out at all. They were less trackable then plain white sights.

I wonder if anyone else has ever had this problem?

I wish I had some experience with other tritium sights because I need to equip my new carry gun with a set soon.

[thanker92]

Why not try something different:
Don't aim at all!!!
I've been teaching this method for over 40 years and, yes, it does work.
Use your brain (Yeah, I know, use the force, Luke)
I use an old Daisy BB pistol and paper plates to start.
Set the plates out at 10 feet to start and just shoot without trying to "aim".
You will be surprised how well your brain works (Well, I was.)
Most people are capable of hitting a paper plate almost 100% of the time @ 20 feet after very little practice!!
I didn't mean to hi-jack the thread....Just offer an alternative.

PS: I do have laser grips on my j-frame carry gun but I shoot just as well without them.

[dewalt-2]

I installed the Kimber Mepro's on my Pro Carry II, and was amazed with them in a dark hallway. They work well in daylight as well, because of the white outlines, very happy with them.
I have the Novak's fiber optics on my pt1911-green rear, red front. They are very bright in daylight, and visible in low light, useless in total darkness. Just what I have.
I plan to get a light for the rail on my PT917, but haven't gotten to it yet.
I do have a laser bore sighting tool though

[synergy]

Mepro's seem a little bit brighter, but they tend to burn out sooner than Trijicons do. Having owned and shot both, I prefer Trijicons.

I also only run a front night sight. You still need to ID your target, and you should be able to roughly know where your rear sight notch is just by holding your pistol.

If you want to run fronts and backs, I'd take a hard look at the 2 dot configuration, or run a dimmer color of lamps in the rear sight.

[bravekiddo]

IMO any type of sight enhancement, will become practical as long as you have a position and control, behind cover a certain distance etc. So in a real gunfight , forget about it, you'll empty your magazine so fast the only thing you'll be hearing after the bullets run out is the ringing pitch of adrenaline on your ears, (whomever experience this raise your hand) , because pulling the trigger takes preponderance to aiming your weapon.

Lasers are impractical for most people as it takes an extra second to position the laser on the target, Flashlights are the best option and police forces use extensively but it takes extensive training and very few people will whip out a flash light anyway.

Anyways check this out:
got this from some guy using glow-on from
http://glow-on.com/index.html


and this one from another forum:



something to consider, live on, live free.

[DonM55]

Movement is greatly amplified by the laser the further out you go. So, the red dot will jiggle more at longer distances. Even up close that dot is always moving. Actually, it does show you how much your pistol is always moving when you're aiming it. You really don't notice this when using sights. But it is very noticeable with a laser.

Surprised with practice how steady the dot becomes. Also a good indicator if there's movement when pulling the trigger.

[CHEMICAL]

I wish I had some experience with other tritium sights because I need to equip my new carry gun with a set soon.

I have them on a couple of mine if you wanna check them out.

[wa3ra]

I have a set of Zone 3 trijis on my XD, and they are hellishly bright and very easy to see in the daylight, as well. I have a CT grip, and the laser dot is set for 10 yards. At 7, the hit is at the top of the dot, at 10, dead center. At 25, the dot just touches the top of the front sight, at 50, the dot and the site are the same place; it just takes practice. You will be surprised how much more seady you can make that dot stay with practice


In ROTC, during summer 'basic', they taught us to draw from the holster, leaving your index finger alongside the slide, and simply point your finger at the target; your arm will follow, and as long as your gun, hand, and arm are perpendicular, the .45 would put it pretty much where your finger was pointed. Oh, and single handed shooting. To this day, if I have a precise shot to make, I can hit it more accurately one-handed!

One school of thought was for night use that you could leave the index finger pointing, and fire with the middle finger. It's a helluva way to get bit by the slide, but damned if it doesn't work.