Let’s talk about front posts & rear notches

[VolGrad]

I have a question for the hive.

What is your preferred width of front sight post and rear notch? I am specifically asking WRT to game guns, not carry guns.

I am not asking for brand recommendations or recommendations on color, style, or shape. I am strictly asking about widths as they relate to sight picture (i.e. obstruction of target, amount of “light bars” on each side of the post, etc.). I am still chasing that balance of speed and precision and hope to learn a bit from your experience before expending a ton or energy, time, and ammo on this one.

I am currently using a .140 front post and .180 rear notch on all my carry guns and my game guns. This setup has worked well enough, however, I feel I could gain a bit more precision on the longer IDPA & GSSF stages by making some adjustments.

I decided to try some different combos and literally have a handful of “options” en route to me. I ordered fronts posts in widths of.090, .115, and .125. I also ordered .150 and .164 rears. I figured I could mix and match them to see what gives the best sight picture, speed, and precision.

I am leaving my carry guns all “as is” for now with .140/.180. I just think I need to do something slightly different for the games.

[JHC]

I am really diggin' the match of the .140 Hack front from Ameriglo with a .150 Warren rear for speed and precision expounded on here: http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...est-Gun/page30

Closer runner up for me is .125 front with .150 rear.

I very much prefer a tighter "window" on the rear notch vis a vis the front because I sense that with the right front (high contrast) the tighter rear really delivers the goods from 10--15 yards and then out to 25-50 even more so.

[Prdator]

For me its a .180 rear notch and a .125 front ( Ameriglo Operator pros, or standard IDots) I really like the sharp white dot on them.

I'd like to have a .120 ish front with the .180 notch and see how that works, but no one ( that Ive found) makes on with the white dot that I like.

I can have Full "miss alignment" on this sight set up and still make a "0" down hit at 7 ish yards, with good trigger control. On a 3x5 card at 7 yds as long as I have card on either side of the front sight, and aging having great trigger control make a good hit.

[MEH]

For precision at longer distances, I like thinner front sights so that the post takes up less of the target. Adjust the rear to your own preferences.

For a game gun I like 0.115"/0.150" combo, sometimes going to a 0.140" rear sight but never larger than 0.150".

[willowofwisp]

I tried the Ameriglo Hackathorns and really like them,the .180 rear works perfect for me (not sure on the front sight width), although now I am rocking this sight picture which works a little better for me.

[VolGrad]

I tried the Ameriglo Hackathorns and really like them,the .180 rear works perfect for me (not sure on the front sight width), although now I am rocking this sight picture which works a little better for me.

The Ameriglo ProGlo (which is the Hack) is .140 wide. That is what I'm using now ... ProGlo orange/green front and all black rear with serrated face and .180 notch.

[willowofwisp]

The Ameriglo ProGlo (which is the Hack) is .140 wide. That is what I'm using now ... ProGlo orange/green front and all black rear with serrated face and .180 notch.

I thought it was .140 but wasn't totally sure, I did try the new trijicon HD sights and I really like the yellow(which is really green) front.

[TCinVA]

In general I prefer to have a lot of light around my front sight...I'm not really good with the exact dimensions of front vs. rear in terms of .0xx of an inch or anything, but I usually know it when I see it. I rather like the arrangement with the Warren sights and with the Heinie "Quick" sights on my P30.

The only downside to the sights is that you have to pay a little more attention to left/right orientation of the front sight, especially when shooting for precision. (either 2" or less targets at under 15 yards, or X ring size targets at 25 yards) If you aren't careful it's easy to get the front sight a little bit too far to the left or the right. It's a very minor issue that is overshadowe by the more sensible sight picture at speed though, IMO.

[ToddG]

The only downside to the sights is that you have to pay a little more attention to left/right orientation of the front sight, especially when shooting for precision.

This becomes less of an issue when you are using 2-dot tritium sights (if the dots are properly aligned by the manufacturer).

It becomes even more of an issue when you are using 2-dot tritium sights (if the dots are not properly aligned by the manufacturer).

[DonovanM]

Brian Enos recommended in his book to have 50% of the width of the front sight in empty space (light) on either side of it.

I followed his recommendation and got a .100 width front sight in a height to match my factory rear, which is .150" wide. I then filed down the bottom of my rear sight so I could see the entirety of the height of the front sight when looking through it. It's obviously not exactly 50% on both sides but close enough.

It's worked very well in competition for me so far. I've won a couple stages at local USPSA matches that had targets predominantly out to 35yds (shooting Production).

I think I could have hit them with anything thinner than my old .150 width front sight that came stock. That was awful for precision work, like doing surgery with a Bowie knife.