Choosing sights for Glock--is there a better way than guess-and-check?

[Don Gwinn]

How do you choose new sights, other than purchasing by trial-and-error? I want to replace the stock plastic pieces on a Glock 17, but I don't have a lot of experience with pistol sights. My favorites in the past have been a factory set on a Para with fiber-optic front and black serrated rear and a set of Heinie Straight Eights on a Glock 30.

Would you just buy Straight Eights, knowing they've been your favorite of a very limited set of experiences in the past? I've been looking around at 10-8, Dawson, and Trijicon HD online, partly because they're all popular here. I definitely want night sights, and I definitely don't want the rear to demand a lot of attention. I'd like a balance between precision and speed that allows for either. I don't mind if the set I settle on costs a little more than others, but I'd rather not buy my way through several styles on this gun.

I'm going to NRAAM next month, and that seems like a good opportunity to try a lot of different sights I can't put my hands on locally. Any advice on making an informed choice would be appreciated.

[Guinnessman]

Don,

If you like the Straight Eight setup, make sure you also look at the Warren Tactical Sevigny Carry sights. I have had them for several years now and I really like the sight picture.

http://cpwsa.com/products/sevigny-carry-glock-sights

While I prefer a Straight Eight style sight, I have also tried an Ameriglo CAP front paired with a serrated "Operator" rear sight. This worked great as well and I would really like to try the "Thin" CAP sight in the future. My eyes prefer a front sight with a width of 0.125. I am debating whether to buy the 10-8/Dawson or Heinie's for my P30. Good luck in your search.

[richiecotite]

I personally rock with ameriglo hackathorns; they are pretty darn fast to pick up, and for me, accurate enough up to 15yds.

If I had the cash, I'd get the rb1's. Seems like theirs enough front/rear size contrast for fast target acquisition, with a front blade thin enough for precision work.


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[TCinVA]

The best way is to find someone who has the sights you're thinking about on a gun of theirs, and offer to buy them a steak if they let you try it out on the range.

Short of that...yeah. It's kind of guess work until you get to know what you need at a particular level of skill pretty well. Fortunately Glocks are pretty easy to put sights on...

[JBP55]

I like the Ameriglo Spartan Tactical which are similar to the Trijicon HD and cost approximately 30% less.

[okie john]

How do you choose new sights, other than purchasing by trial-and-error? I want to replace the stock plastic pieces on a Glock 17, but I don't have a lot of experience with pistol sights. My favorites in the past have been a factory set on a Para with fiber-optic front and black serrated rear and a set of Heinie Straight Eights on a Glock 30.

Would you just buy Straight Eights, knowing they've been your favorite of a very limited set of experiences in the past? I've been looking around at 10-8, Dawson, and Trijicon HD online, partly because they're all popular here. I definitely want night sights, and I definitely don't want the rear to demand a lot of attention. I'd like a balance between precision and speed that allows for either. I don't mind if the set I settle on costs a little more than others, but I'd rather not buy my way through several styles on this gun.

I'm going to NRAAM next month, and that seems like a good opportunity to try a lot of different sights I can't put my hands on locally. Any advice on making an informed choice would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, just getting them in your hands and looking at them without shooting them over a timer won't tell you much. You really need to shoot them to see what gives you the best combination of speed and accuracy, and everyone tends to come up with a different answer.

I've spent a lot of time messing around with sights, and I posted some of what I've learned here: http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4799-Fiddling-With-Sights&highlight=sights

I found that the width of the light bars, or the space on either side of the post when viewed through the notch, is critical for me. A great way to experiment with light bars is to get a couple of extra factory rear sights and open up the notches with a pocket knife. I have a bunch of extras lying around; you can have them if you want them.

The narrowest night-sight front post I can find is 0.125" wide. I pair that with a rear notch that's 0.156" or a little bigger. Front sight color also matters, at least for me--I found that I tended to group high when shooting fast, even after I had adjusted my rear sight to lower groups. The problem is that I wasn't seeing the actual top of the front blade because everything above the bottom of the tritium lamp tended to disappear at speed. Painting my front sight post blaze orange fixed that, and now the groups stay down where they belong. Your mileage may vary.


Okie John

[Don Gwinn]

Sigh.
I guess part of the issue is that I don't have enough experience to know what I need or what makes a difference to me. I don't own a timer yet and don't shoot under time pressure except for dry practice with disappearing targets on a computer screen and USPSA (one stage per week.)

I just bought JeffJ's SIRT with Sevigny competition black-on-black sights installed. That will at least let me work with a narrow front for a bit in dry practice. But I was hoping there was a system to avoid guessing, and it appears there just isn't.

I do *think* I want to be able to set it up so I can "drive the dot" with the front sight obscuring the target. That just feels much more natural to me. Could easily change in the future, I guess, but there we are.

[Chefdog]

Sigh.
I guess part of the issue is that I don't have enough experience to know what I need or what makes a difference to me. I don't own a timer yet and don't shoot under time pressure except for dry practice with disappearing targets on a computer screen and USPSA (one stage per week.)

I just bought JeffJ's SIRT with Sevigny competition black-on-black sights installed. That will at least let me work with a narrow front for a bit in dry practice. But I was hoping there was a system to avoid guessing, and it appears there just isn't.

I do *think* I want to be able to set it up so I can "drive the dot" with the front sight obscuring the target. That just feels much more natural to me. Could easily change in the future, I guess, but there we are.

I found that going from the stock 3 dot generics to a set of high quality aftermarket sights (Warrens in my case) helped me quite a bit. Every once in a while I read a review of the newest, coolest, most awesome sights and feel an urge to buy them and transform myself immediately into the next Dave Sevigny. Thankfully, reality reaches over, smacks me across the face and gently reminds me that I'm not good enough yet for the sights to hold me back. Next pistol I get will wear another set of Warren sights cause I know they'll get the job done for me and I won't have to think about the choice.

YMMV, but I'd say if you know the Heinie's work for you, get another set and roll on.

[Tamara]

I've got Ameriglo I-Dot Pros on all mine you can try if you're gonna be in town next month.

[md8232]

I've got Ameriglo I-Dot Pros on all mine you can try if you're gonna be in town next month.

Tam the I-Dot Pros are all gone. I spent some quality time on the phone with the Ameriglo folks, and found 2 rear sights. Trying a set
of CAPS next.

[Tamara]

Tam the I-Dot Pros are all gone. I spent some quality time on the phone with the Ameriglo folks, and found 2 rear sights. Trying a set
of CAPS next.

Surest way for something to get discontinued is for me to like it, it seems. :(

[Don Gwinn]

Yeah, but don't let that throw you. I'll still totally shoot your guns.
:D

[md8232]

Surest way for something to get discontinued is for me to like it, it seems. :(

I'm happy to admit I'm wrong. Just called Ameriglo and the GL-201's will be coming back in stock soon. The single Yellow rear is what's discontinued.

[Don Gwinn]

I feel a little bad, actually, because I don't have any cool guns to let you shoot. But I have kids! You could have one of those for a few days, if you want.

[JonInWA]

I've been very pleased with "standard" Trijicons, and even more so with Warren Tactical sights; I've got Trijicons on one of my G19s, and the Warren Tacticals (with the front sight blade face painted fluorescent green to aid in quick pick up/acquisition).

Although there's no doubt in my mind based on experience that these are in fact better sights than the OEM Glock large dot/goalpost design, I've also done very, very well with the Glock sights-I do switch out the polymer ones for Glock steels (which are very inexpensive, if that's a significant factor). I have the Glock steels on my G17, one of my G19s, and my G21. They've worked surprisingly well consistently over the years for IDPA, GSSF and steel plate competitions.

All in all, I consider the Warrens to be the best but I don't feel unduly handicapped with the Glock steel sights.

Best, Jon

[JeffJ]

Do you want nightsights? If so, rock on with the straight eights, and don't overthink it. If you like all black (TACTICAL) then the sevigny's on that SIRT are pretty awesome, and you could always paint the blade if you want something a little more hi-viz. I think I've got a lower front, which you would need, if you think you want to throw those on your gun - I can drop it in the mail to you.

I've got I-dot pros on my formerly carry Glocks and they're pretty nice, but I've come to prefer a plain sight