Ameriglo sights on M&P pistols

[spinmove_]

So I had some Ameriglo 3 dot tritium sights with ProGlo front installed on two different M&Ps now. A fullsize M&P9 and a M&P Shield 9. In both instances I found that the front sight seemed to be taller than what the rear sight needed. I'll attempt to explain what I mean.

If I line up the 3 dots to be level, I find that the top edge of the front sight is raised above the top edges of the rear sight. Conversely, if I line up the top edges of the front and rear sight, the front sight's dot is lower than the two rear dots. Attached is a crude illustration of what I'm referring to/seeing.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any recommended fixes? Would this be possibly due to the fact that M&P sight dovetails have been known to be out of spec and therefore the sights are typically made to be oversized?5642

[RJ]

Not Ameriglo, but my negative experiences with Trijicon HDs on my M&P FS9 are here:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?13321-Do-Trijicon-HD-Night-Sights-shoot-a-bit-higher-than-stock-M-amp-P-Sights

Maybe some of the numbers / trigonometry in that thread might be helpful?

[spinmove_]

Not Ameriglo, but my negative experiences with Trijicon HDs on my M&P FS9 are here:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?13321-Do-Trijicon-HD-Night-Sights-shoot-a-bit-higher-than-stock-M-amp-P-Sights

Maybe some of the numbers / trigonometry in that thread might be helpful?

It seems that the sight picture at least looked correct for you while giving you a different POI. The issue that I'm having is that lining up one method of aiming throws the other method completely out of whack. If I line the dots up, my POI is directly behind the front sight dot ("drive the dot" method of aiming). If I align the top edges, my POI is low.

[RJ]

Ah...gotcha.

Yeah, in that case I am not sure. I'd be interested in the experts' opinion whether "in general" the top of the sight picture "should" allow you to achieve POI=POA as well as the dots.

In my case i haven't shot my M&P seriously for almost 10 months. Hope you get things figured out.

[spinmove_]

Ah...gotcha.

Yeah, in that case I am not sure. I'd be interested in the experts' opinion whether "in general" the top of the sight picture "should" allow you to achieve POI=POA as well as the dots.

In my case i haven't shot my M&P seriously for almost 10 months. Hope you get things figured out.

Yeah, me too. I have a feeling it has something to do with how "out of spec" the M&P dovetails usually are. I suspect that my three options are the following:

1.) Remove the front sight, file off difference in height, reattach front sight
2.) Find a different height rear to compensate for the height of the front
3.) Go with a different sight setup altogether

[Dave J]

I don't think the dovetail dimensions have anything to do with your problem. The usual complaints about M&P dovetails pertains to how tight or loose they are, and the corresponding amount of sight fitting that is sometimes necessary. Taking a few thou off the bottom of the sight to get it to fit the dovetail isn't going to produce anywhere near the deviation you're observing.

Maybe I missed it, but where does the gun actually print with your carry ammo, using either of the sight pictures you drew above?

[spinmove_]

I don't think the dovetail dimensions have anything to do with your problem. The usual complaints about M&P dovetails pertains to how tight or loose they are, and the corresponding amount of sight fitting that is sometimes necessary. Taking a few thou off the bottom of the sight to get it to fit the dovetail isn't going to produce anywhere near the deviation you're observing.

Maybe I missed it, but where does the gun actually print with your carry ammo, using either of the sight pictures you drew above?

Using sight picture #1 from above, POI is POA using the "drive the dot" method.

[Dave J]

Using sight picture #1 from above, POI is POA using the "drive the dot" method.

In that case, filing the front sight is a potential solution, although if I was going to do that I would not remove it from the slide to do so.

I'd probably call Dawson Precision for a shorter front sight, and just black out the rear dots. Of course, that's easy for me to say, since I'm not a fan of dots.

AFAIK, Dawson is the only supplier for M&P fronts shorter than the normal .160" height.

[HopetonBrown]

I was taught to line up the tops of my sights, not dots.

[Dave J]

I was taught to line up the tops of my sights, not dots.

Me too, but if he's hitting "behind the dot" with sight picture #1 above, he'll be even further off by doing that without a shorter front sight.