Luminous paint & optical fibers

[voodoo_man]

I posted this before but figured this is a good thread to post it again...



The above are Ameriglo TCAP LE sights which have a tritium insert as well as luminescent paint. They were designed specifically for those LEOs who start in sunlight and end up in a dark house, and in my experience the lume front sight ends up glowing way more than the tritium does for first five minutes.

I don't know about other lume's and fiberoptics sights mixing, but this particular setup works really well, even at night with a quick flashlight charge.

[TCB]

I still think a front sight with a tritium vial buried directly under a F/O rod to illuminate it in the dark needs to be a thing...
In my mind it seems like it'd work?

[dwhite]

I still think a front sight with a tritium vial buried directly under a F/O rod to illuminate it in the dark needs to be a thing...
In my mind it seems like it'd work?

You mean like this:


Here's the link to the TruGlo TFX sights.

[HCM]

You mean like this:


Here's the link to the TruGlo TFX sights.

No one else makes these style sights because Tru Glo has a patent on the design. The problem is Tru Glo's original model sights are simply shit. They had a bad sight picture and durability issues.

The TFX seem like a step up for them but time will tell.

[breakingtime91]

Wow. Talk about a problem in search of a solution.

I subscribe to what I learned in my class with Tom Givens: If somedude is going to rob me in the WalMart Parking lot, he's going to do it under the lights.

I've come to understand though, that "night-sights" hold some kind of vice-like grip on the mindset of the new defensive shooter.

I have met some other very squared away guys, some on this board, that don't understand why people wouldn't have night sights on their gun. Obviously this is all personal preference but I have found it to be a pretty standard 50/50 question.

[dwhite]

The problem is Tru Glo's original model sights are simply shit. They had a bad sight picture and durability issues.

The TFX seem like a step up for them but time will tell.

Have you actually tried them or is this just internet rumor? I currently have the TFX and TFX Pro's on three pistols. While I'm certainly not an operator and don't take them into either urban or foreign war zones, I've had absolutely no problems with them.

The original version (the TFO) had a few reported problems with solvent damage and breakage of the FO tube; which is true of all sights of this design. The TFX and TFX Pro sought to improve the durability. They appear likely to be far more durable than my Dawson Precision FOs (although I've yet had no issue with those either).

The sight picture to me seems no better nor any worse than most other night sights.

[HCM]

Have you actually tried them or is this just internet rumor? I currently have the TFX and TFX Pro's on three pistols. While I'm certainly not an operator and don't take them into either urban or foreign war zones, I've had absolutely no problems with them.

The original version (the TFO) had a few reported problems with solvent damage and breakage of the FO tube; which is true of all sights of this design. The TFX and TFX Pro sought to improve the durability. They appear likely to be far more durable than my Dawson Precision FOs (although I've yet had no issue with those either).

The sight picture to me seems no better nor any worse than most other night sights.

I have tried them and had several officers who installed them on personally owned agency approved pistols while i ran a firearms program for 600.

The front and rear FO's on the original TfOs are equally bright, which results in the rears overpowering the front. Every officer who installed these had issues shooting with them till we took sharpies the rear FOs. We had to replace several after breakage, mostly to the rear sight.

Like I said, the TFX series particularly the PRO seem to address some of the issues with the originals. They are fairly new to the market and time will tell.

[Jim Watson]

TFO rep at SHOT looked at me like I had three ears when I asked if I could get a front only.
This when they were new on the market, maybe they are more accommodating now.

[TCB]

Yea, that's the basic idea but...instead of the trittium in front of the F/O rod (towards the muzzle) I'm thinking of just a regular Dawson F/O sight (seems like the go to for most practical shooters) with the trittium vial underneath it (towards the barrel) throwing light up toward the F/O rod illuminating it just like sunlight does (but from below). Seems like a sight like that with a serrated front would give you game gun front sight tracking speed in any lighting condition and allow for easy replacement of the F/O rod when it gets beat up. Don't know if trittium would throw enough light to properly illuminate a F/O rod though?

[octagon]

Yea, that's the basic idea but...instead of the trittium in front of the F/O rod (towards the muzzle) I'm thinking of just a regular Dawson F/O sight (seems like the go to for most practical shooters) with the trittium vial underneath it (towards the barrel) throwing light up toward the F/O rod illuminating it just like sunlight does (but from below). Seems like a sight like that with a serrated front would give you game gun front sight tracking speed in any lighting condition and allow for easy replacement of the F/O rod when it gets beat up. Don't know if trittium would throw enough light to properly illuminate a F/O rod though?

That sounds like a good idea. However there may be an issue with having a tritium capsule exposed on one side. I don't know the restrictions here in the USA but I believe there requirements to how the tritium is encapsulated. It may only be allowed to be an open ended tube which is why TFX did their with the fiber on the end of the tritium tube. I could be totally off on this but I recall a discussion of the issue somewhere.