Yet Another P30/L Sight Options Thread

[Corlissimo]

After spending the last month dry-firing & shooting my P30L with the factory Luminox sights I've come to the conclusion that I need to make a change.

I've already blacked out the rear dots, which did help a little, but the real issue seems to be the post to notch width ratio. My old(er) eyes could really use some extra light on the sides of the front sight, especially when shooting faster than slow fire pace.

I really want/need night sights, at least on the front, since this will be my EDC in another month, and prefer them on the rear as well.

Currently, I'm thinking of using the following hybrid setup:

Rear: 10-8 U notch (Will probably have tritium bar installed)
Front: DP Tritium .170(T) x .125(W)


According to 10-8, the sight has same dimensions as factory and should work with a stock factory height front sight.

According to DP, the front I've selected should work with a factory spec'd rear.

On paper, this all looks feasible. I've put inquiries in to both companies to verify the web info. In the interim, has anyone tried this combo, or thought of it and scrapped it for a particular reason?

Am I smoking crack, or missing something obvious?
Any info or feedback on this would be great.

[CCT125US]

This is my set up on the left (Heinie Straight Eight Qwik) and the wife's stock setup on the right. I like mine much better.
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa433/CCT125US/Mobile%20Uploads/1017111818.jpg

[Corlissimo]

This is my set up on the left (Heinie Straight Eight Qwik) and the wife's stock setup on the right. I like mine much better.
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa433/CCT125US/Mobile%20Uploads/1017111818.jpg

Yeah, I saw your setup in YVK's thread. Is there noticeably more light on the sides of the front blade with the Heinie Qwiks?

I was trying to avoid the Heinies as I really want a ledge on the rear and the 10-8 rear looks GTG in that respect. I also was interested in the U notch, but that's not a real priority. I'm not ruling the Heinies out by any means, and I'm sure by the time I have to wait for the 10-8's to come back in stock, then send them out for trit vial installation, I might just give up on them.


ETA: Dropping the 10-8 rear option for now. According to their website, they won't be in stock for a minimum of 12 weeks (as found on the Out of Stock Updates link) and I'm not waiting that long to make a move. :p

[Sheep Have Wool]

Yeah, I saw your setup in YVK's thread. Is there noticeably more light on the sides of the front blade with the Heinie Qwiks?

At least from my perspective, there was substantially more light around the front post. I shot someone's P30 with them installed alongside my P30L with the stock sights, and ordered the Heinies the next day. The improved sight picture was the main reason why.


http://i.imgur.com/nffGdl.jpg

I believe that someone mentioned that it's relatively inexpensive to get someone to machine a ledge onto the Heinies in another thread, though I can't seem to find it.

[Corlissimo]

At least from my perspective, there was substantially more light around the front post. I shot someone's P30 with them installed alongside my P30L with the stock sights, and ordered the Heinies the next day. The improved sight picture was the main reason why.


http://i.imgur.com/nffGdl.jpg

I believe that someone mentioned that it's relatively inexpensive to get someone to machine a ledge onto the Heinies in another thread, though I can't seem to find it.

Well that's good news. Thank you for the confirmation Sheep. I too remember reading that about having a ledge machined into the rear. I'm sure I can find a shop to do that for me if I decide to go that direction.

So, I'm presuming from your statement above, that you found the Heinie sights to be good at speed. I've read elsewhere that they are a decent compromise between allowing accuracy at speed while preserving adequate precision at 25 yards. What has your experience been?

The only thing I can see that I'd change about them is to do something to enhance the front sight's visibility. It would be nice if they had the white ring around the tritium vial that the Trijicon HDs have.

[CCT125US]

Since Sheep can apparently take a better picture than me, it looks like your question has been answered :) As far as speed, I have only tried the Heinie set in addition to the stock. Fast is a relative term, but for example I shot a 4.63 clean FAST last night, and generally pass the IHack. As for precision, if I do my part I can shoot 8in plates at 50yds with little trouble. For visibility I painted only the top serration with nail polish to give it a crisp defined edge without it being distracting. Only draw back I have heard from others who shot my gun is how high the sights set on the gun. Since the Tritium is below the notch, the sights "appear" high compared to a 3 dot set up.

[Josh Runkle]

Fast is a relative term, but for example I shot a 4.63 clean FAST last night...

Please tell me this was during the night shoot you were talking about!

[LOKNLOD]

The only thing I can see that I'd change about them is to do something to enhance the front sight's visibility. It would be nice if they had the white ring around the tritium vial that the Trijicon HDs have.

Paint, dude. Paint.

I used this paint from the Hobby Lobby plastic scale model aisle:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_06938905.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=06938905.jpg)

And found these nifty little micro applicators that were very slick for applying the paint precisely:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_d0a7232a.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=d0a7232a.jpg)

I really like the way these turned out:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_5aa41ef5.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=5aa41ef5.jpg)

Using a coat of white before the orange as sort of a primer helps too, and makes the orange pop a big more.

[Corlissimo]

Paint, dude. Paint.

I used this paint from the Hobby Lobby plastic scale model aisle:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_06938905.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=06938905.jpg)

And found these nifty little micro applicators that were very slick for applying the paint precisely:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_d0a7232a.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=d0a7232a.jpg)

I really like the way these turned out:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/th_5aa41ef5.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/LOKNLOD/Guns/P30/?action=view&current=5aa41ef5.jpg)

Using a coat of white before the orange as sort of a primer helps too, and makes the orange pop a big more.


Yep, figured I'd have to do something like that. :)
Boy, is that front sight bright!!! Might actually need shades when using that in the dark. :cool:

Did you also cover the front sight's tritium vial, or is that just an illusion?
I think I'd probably go with a bright green as I see that better than reds and oranges.

Thanks for those pics Josh. I know CCT had his painted but it was hard to see for some reason (my eyes really do suck sometimes) so seeing yours too helped me get a good idea of what I'd see on mine.

Thanks to all you guys for the replies, they definitely helped me out. :cheers:

[LOKNLOD]

Did you also cover the front sight's tritium vial, or is that just an illusion?

I didn't (purposely) go over the vial, but am not always the most coordinated ;)

[CCT125US]

Please tell me this was during the night shoot you were talking about!

No, it was before. But there is something truly awesome about shooting pins by moonlight and Tritium.

[Sheep Have Wool]

I didn't (purposely) go over the vial, but am not always the most coordinated ;)

I used a green Sharpie Paint Pen (http://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-Permanent-Marker-Orange-SAN37306/dp/B001E6A2HA/ref=sr_1_3?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1343929518&sr=1-3&keywords=sharpie+oil+orange+pen) on my front sight. You can pick them up at most craft stores, and they're incredibly easy to apply.

[Corlissimo]

Well, I think I'm just going to order the Heinies next month. How bad could they be, right? I mean, I've been shooting an XD40 with XS Big Dots on it for the last 2 years, the P30L is a dream by comparison, even with the handicap of factory sights.

If I'm careful installing them, and don't mar them up during install, I can always sell them if I really hate them. I'll shoot them for a while to make sure I can adjust to them. If I can, I'm all set. If not, I'm not gonna hurt that bad from the experiment. At least I'll have learned something.

I'll post here once I run them a few times. In the meantime, if anyone has any other hybrid sight observations or ideas, let 'em fly! :)

[Corlissimo]

UPDATE:

Foolishly, a few days ago I decided to black out my rear dots. Everything looked great while doing wall drills and other dry fire, but this proved to be a bad move.

I went to the range yesterday... The first time since modding the rear sight. It's an indoor range with inadequate lighting. Anything beyond 12-15 yds is really only lit by the ambient lighting from the floodlights in the stalls. I was doing fine with the factory sights until I started working at the 15yd range. More range trip details are here (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4968-Embracing-the-Suck).

Basically, I had a very difficult time aligning my sights vertically against the dark background. It occurred to me when I got home: "Duh! Having a functional 3 dot setup in that lighting would have made it a lot easier to hit more targets."

That said, I think I need to scrap the Heinies from my list of sights since they are basically all black sights in dim lighting. The tritium vials would not have helped at those light levels.

From what I can find out there, this really leaves me with the Trijicon NS as my only option as I don't want FOs on my EDC gun. It's got to be tritium. The Triji's also get the nod due to the nice white ring around the vials. For my old eyes that have trouble in lower lighting, this is probably my best option.

While I have mixed feelings about the Meprolights, one of the things I do like about them is the ledge they have on the rear sight. No one else out there has that right now. Even the Triji's don't have have that as far as I can tell.

Are there any other options out there that I might be missing?

[K-Fura]

Are there any other options out there that I might be missing?

My P30 came with the Meprolights. One option I was thinking of was mating a slimmer front sight with the Meprolight rears and blacking out the white rings in the back but being careful not to cover the tritium. Essentially creating Ameriglo Operators. The question is... does anyone have the measurements for the Mep rears and what front sight height would be needed?

[Corlissimo]

My P30 came with the Meprolights. One option I was thinking of was mating a slimmer front sight with the Meprolight rears and blacking out the white rings in the back but being careful not to cover the tritium. Essentially creating Ameriglo Operators. The question is... does anyone have the measurements for the Mep rears and what front sight height would be needed?

I have inquiries in to both Trijicon & Meprolight, asking for both the front sight blade thickness, and the rear sight notch width.

As soon as I hear back, I'll post info here.

[Corlissimo]

Here's the reply from Trijicon CS regarding front blade & rear notch widths for the P30 Night Sights (Model # HK10):



Thank you for your interest in Trijicon products. The front blade width is 0.138 and the rear notch width is 0.150. If we can assist you further please feel free to contact us.

[JohnN]

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?3789-10-8-rear-sights-HK45-P30-are-out&p=65846&viewfull=1#post65846 (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?3789-10-8-rear-sights-HK45-P30-are-out&p=65846&viewfull=1#post65846)

10-8 (.156) rear sight with .115x.170 Dawson FO sight but Dawson also offers a .125 tritium front sight. Works well enough for me.

[Corlissimo]

Here's the dims on the Meps (model #11545) as per Kimber CS (since I never heard back from Mepro CS):

Front sight width is 0.130”

Rear sight notch is 0.160”

NOTE: I did not request any height dims for either the Trijicons or the Meps as I originally was only concerned with the blade to notch ratios. Sorry.