FO/Tritium Sights Idea

[joshs]

Like many other pistol shooters, I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to integrate fiber optic and tritium sights to get the daylight benefits of a fiber optic front and the low light benefits of tritium. After talking with somone who had tried a lot of different ways of using the tritium tube to illuminate the fiber optic rod, I think the only way of integrating the two sights into what I consider a decent set of sights is the VTAC method of putting a tritium vial underneath a fiber optic rod in the front sight.

However, I'm not a fan of the busy VTAC rear, and I'm thinking that a stacked tube front sight could be paired with a simple single dot tritium rear. In theory, this would give PoA=PoI for the fiber optic and a six o'clock hold using the tritium. It should also eliminate some of the vertical stringing problems created by "straight eight" setups becuase the tritium dots will stack right on top of each other rather than being spaced apart like the normal configuration.

Before I spend the money to have a tritium vial added to a fiber optic sight by ToolTech, I wanted to see if anyone else had tried this sight setup or can think of a reason why it won't work.

[Luke]

I e wanted to try and make the perfect fiber optic tritium sight just haven't done it. Looking forward to what you come up with.

[GJM]

Josh, will be following this with interest. However, I am not sure this is good for the forum -- near 25 percent of our multi page threads will disappear if we eliminate tritium vs fiber optic fights.

[cclaxton]

Josh, just so I know your perspective...what is wrong with the TruGlo sights?
Cody

[joshs]

Josh, just so I know your perspective...what is wrong with the TruGlo sights?
Cody

The front sight is too wide and the fiber optic isn't replaceable.

[cclaxton]

The front sight is too wide and the fiber optic isn't replaceable.

And the XS Sights?
Cody

[GRV]

My understanding of the TruGlo problem is that the quality is not there and they have the patent until 2018, so no better manufacturer can run with the idea right now.

I greatly prefer the Ameriglo (operator) and Trijicon HD style rear lamps which have no visible metal outline. I have not seen any other manufacturer get this right. I think it has to do with the aforementioned sights having glass lenses over their lamps. Any idea if any, custom tritium installation companies can achieve this? For a VTAC type setup, I'd want to see even the front dot have truly no outline.

The limits regarding metal width around tritium really screw stuff up. For a .125" front, which is the minimum supposedly, I think they have to use a smaller vial, which means it unavoidably looks much smaller than the rear vials at night. Separately, this reason is why straight-eight type rears have to be taller, so there is enough metal under the notch for even a small tritium vial. I really think three dot is the way to go.

[SteveB]

I ran a VTAC front with a black rear sight on an M&P9 for a while. I agree the rear sight is way too busy, but since I don't like 3-dot sights, it's not surprising that 6-dot sights wouldn't work for me. I moved from 3- dot to bar/dot or single dot rear (the vertical pattern seemed to work better for me than horizontal) to black rear sights. Trijicon HD's are OK because the rear dots are so muted. At any rate, I like the idea of the combo fiber/tritium front sight, but no longer carry an M&P. I have a set of VTAC sights; if anyone wants them, PM me.

[Serpico1985]

Could you pair a vtac front with a Henie straight 8 suppressor rear?

[joshs]

My understanding of the TruGlo problem is that the quality is not there and they have the patent until 2018, so no better manufacturer can run with the idea right now.

I greatly prefer the Ameriglo (operator) and Trijicon HD style rear lamps which have no visible metal outline. I have not seen any other manufacturer get this right. I think it has to do with the aforementioned sights having glass lenses over their lamps. Any idea if any, custom tritium installation companies can achieve this? For a VTAC type setup, I'd want to see even the front dot have truly no outline.

The limits regarding metal width around tritium really screw stuff up. For a .125" front, which is the minimum supposedly, I think they have to use a smaller vial, which means it unavoidably looks much smaller than the rear vials at night. Separately, this reason is why straight-eight type rears have to be taller, so there is enough metal under the notch for even a small tritium vial. I really think three dot is the way to go.

Trijicon/Tooltech is doing the installs with the black silicone around the lamps, so I was hoping that would be an option, but I still haven't heard back from Tooltech.

I think it is possible to get a .076" (full size) tritium vial in a .115" front sight if you are willing to give up any rings/surrounding materials, but I'm waiting on Tooltech to confirm.

I agree that 3 dots with different color rear dots are the best option for low light aiming, but I was trying to come up with a way of having the benefits of both fiber optic and tritium.