How long before I should give up on fiber optic sight?

[JHC]

I prefer 10-8 FO front sights over the other brands I've used, incl Warren. 10-8s red has never bloomed enough in bright sun to obscure the square metal outline of the front post.

[Mr_White]

Focus is on the front sight, but it's just harder to visually pick up than the bright glowing orange orb of the HD. I had the green FO in today and swapped it for a red when I got home. We'll see if that helps.

Trying a red fiber is a good idea. Some people find one color a lot easier to see than the other.

The bolded part of your post really stands out to me. From the way you phrased that, it really sounds like you are paying attention to the colored dot, whether on HDs or FO, as opposed to the top edges and light bars of the sights themselves. If you are able to get the front sight sharp and clear, and want to go deep on improving your ability to 'visually pick up' the front sight, you might consider trying all black sights, or using your existing sights without the FO, or with an opaque black substitute for the FO (I've heard a broom bristle works.)

All black sights may be more demanding in terms of trying to visually pick them up, and in demanding an actual front sight focus, instead of the target-focused shooting one can be invited into with a really high visibility front sight like FO or HDs. This isn't something you necessarily need to do - just a thought spurred by what you wrote.

I've found that if in bright sunlight with newer FOs, the brightness can distract from a good traditional front sight picture. They glow so much that it becomes challenging to focus on the square lines of the post in the notch. Try and use a dark colored sharpie (little increments) on the top of the FO tube until it's less intense. You can always wipe it back off if you go too far, or replace the FO tube, but you might find that with it just a little less bright, it'll be more serviceable for you.

Good suggestion from taadski. Kind of along the lines as the suggestion to try all black sights, but less extreme.

I think there is a temptation/tendency to initially shoot fiber optic sights like a red dot -- see the dot on target and press. That is the beauty of FO, that glowing thing. Eventually you learn to use the amount of the rest of your sights as required for a given difficulty shot. The size of your fiber dot can also be a factor, with the larger the dot, the more it overwhelms the rest of your sight in bright conditions. Also, the relationship between front and rear sight dimension factors into accuracy. The fiber often allows you to go with a tighter relationship, helping accuracy.

Good points from GJM as well. Steve Anderson famously says to throw your fiber in the river. I don't know how many times I've read on BEnos about someone who started shooting a FO and experienced a loss of precision. Usually it comes down to an issue of shooting the FO like a red dot optic, but there area a lot of shots where that simply isn't precise enough alignment with the target. I'm using an FO front now, but spent a few years shooting all-black sights, and that was an indispensable time of vision and shooting development for me.

[breakingtime91]

Trying a red fiber is a good idea. Some people find one color a lot easier to see than the other.

The bolded part of your post really stands out to me. From the way you phrased that, it really sounds like you are paying attention to the colored dot, whether on HDs or FO, as opposed to the top edges and light bars of the sights themselves. If you are able to get the front sight sharp and clear, and want to go deep on improving your ability to 'visually pick up' the front sight, you might consider trying all black sights, or using your existing sights without the FO, or with an opaque black substitute for the FO (I've heard a broom bristle works.)

All black sights may be more demanding in terms of trying to visually pick them up, and in demanding an actual front sight focus, instead of the target-focused shooting one can be invited into with a really high visibility front sight like FO or HDs. This isn't something you necessarily need to do - just a thought spurred by what you wrote.



Good suggestion from taadski. Kind of along the lines as the suggestion to try all black sights, but less extreme.



Good points from GJM as well. Steve Anderson famously says to throw your fiber in the river. I don't know how many times I've read on BEnos about someone who started shooting a FO and experienced a loss of precision. Usually it comes down to an issue of shooting the FO like a red dot optic, but there area a lot of shots where that simply isn't precise enough alignment with the target. I'm using an FO front now, but spent a few years shooting all-black sights, and that was an indispensable time of vision and shooting development for me.

Has your shooting improved since moving to the fiber?

[Mr_White]

Has your shooting improved since moving to the fiber?

I think so. I've continued to rise in USPSA. I think I remember (haven't looked at the numbers in a while) doing better each year in GSSF.

I don't shoot and record the results of nearly as many short drills as I used to, so putting a number on it isn't easy. The way in which I think I have improved is in consistency of results.

The fiber is mostly useful to me on shots where aiming using the FO dot is sufficient, and I can see it better than the black sights when the gun isn't really stopped yet. I don't think the fiber is the reason for whatever improvement I've continued to have, but I don't think it is hurting me (years with all black sights was time and effort really well spent.)

[breakingtime91]

I think so. I've continued to rise in USPSA. I think I remember (haven't looked at the numbers in a while) doing better each year in GSSF.

I don't shoot and record the results of nearly as many short drills as I used to, so putting a number on it isn't easy. The way in which I think I have improved is in consistency of results.

The fiber is mostly useful to me on shots where aiming using the FO dot is sufficient, and I can see it better than the black sights when the gun isn't really stopped yet. I don't think the fiber is the reason for whatever improvement I've continued to have, but I don't think it is hurting me (years with all black sights was time and effort really well spent.)

ya I have a set of defoors and now proctors, I really enjoy both. It's actually a problem because I don't know which I like better.

[CSW]

I found for my eye green fibre makes FO sights substantially more usable. I don't get that starburst that blocks out the front sight when it's bright ,while still being , strangely, easier to track than red.

This has been my experience also. red is just hard for me to track and use. The green does the trick, and, the smaller FO's [.40] like the Proctor sights employ, work even better. i can use the dot for really rapid acquisition, and still see the top of the front sight for proper alignment.

[BJXDS]

You may need to give it some more time or it may not matter. After I have been shooting a certain configuration I tend to adapt to it, in hat my mind anticipates what to see, same principal applies to operating controls on various platforms. And what may be optimum for one discipline or person, precision vs speed and bright sun vs dim lighting may not be for the other.

I have been searching for the optimum sight configuration, and what it boils down to for me, is that it really does not make a noticeable difference in accuracy and speed with the various options I have tried. Fiber, all black, white dot, colored sight and black W/WO tirgicon. Square, u shape, dots white, fiber, trigicon all black...

With certain setups on the gun I thought wow sight picture jumps out, This is the Shit! BUT when I bench marked time and accuracy there was a negligible difference. The only exception was front/rear size ratio in reference to precision 25 yard shooting, the thinner front was an advantage as the larger front covers more of the black, but for a true 6 o'clock hold if POI was 2-3 inchs high it shouldn't even make a difference there. It seems all my setups were more POA/POI so that didn't really work.

I know for my search for the better mouse trap I have not found one. I do not really shot competition so my ideal setup is u notch rear dim trigis with black front trigi. At least until my eyesight dictates a change. Your mileage may vary, not sure if this helped, but good luck.

[Hizzie]

You could try the 10-8 brass bead. IIRC 10-8 and WTS use the same front sight height.

[TiroFijo]

I must be a dinosaur... I still prefer black on black sights, or a illum dot on front sight only.

I can live with a setup like the old sig white dot over bar, but I don't like fiber sights on the front, and I truly despise the front and rear setups.

[Danny]

Trying a red fiber is a good idea. Some people find one color a lot easier to see than the other.

The bolded part of your post really stands out to me. From the way you phrased that, it really sounds like you are paying attention to the colored dot, whether on HDs or FO, as opposed to the top edges and light bars of the sights themselves. If you are able to get the front sight sharp and clear, and want to go deep on improving your ability to 'visually pick up' the front sight, you might consider trying all black sights, or using your existing sights without the FO, or with an opaque black substitute for the FO (I've heard a broom bristle works.)

All black sights may be more demanding in terms of trying to visually pick them up, and in demanding an actual front sight focus, instead of the target-focused shooting one can be invited into with a really high visibility front sight like FO or HDs. This isn't something you necessarily need to do - just a thought spurred by what you wrote.



Good suggestion from taadski. Kind of along the lines as the suggestion to try all black sights, but less extreme.



Good points from GJM as well. Steve Anderson famously says to throw your fiber in the river. I don't know how many times I've read on BEnos about someone who started shooting a FO and experienced a loss of precision. Usually it comes down to an issue of shooting the FO like a red dot optic, but there area a lot of shots where that simply isn't precise enough alignment with the target. I'm using an FO front now, but spent a few years shooting all-black sights, and that was an indispensable time of vision and shooting development for me.

Took the G34 back to the range with the red fiber this time. I also focused hard on aligning the posts evenly with equal light and tried to pay less attention to the red fiber and more on the overall sight picture. Vast improvement today. I think you were right, I was focusing too much on aligning the dots, not the edges of the sights. I left the range feeling much better than last time.