Sights of last resort, handgun edition

[RevolverRob]

Aha! It took me a bit to find it, it was started by our @Mr_White and it was titled simply enough Sight Pictures!. So naturally it took me forever to find it.

[BillSWPA]

All of my lasers are currently red primarily because 1) green is not an option for 3 of the 4 guns in my collection that wear lasers, and 2) I didn't need green for the application for which I purchased the 4th one.

However, if I needed to switch from iron sights to lasers as a primary sighting system, I would definitely spend the $ on green.

Red is very useful in low light outdoors, and all of the time indoors. However, it is completely useless during the day outdoors. In 100% of the bad situations I have seen in my adult life, light conditions were such that red would be useful. Still, I would want something that is useful in bright sunlight.

Regarding iron sights, if I was having difficulty with a standard post/notch, I would look into a standard post with a rear ghost ring or aperture.

Interesting information here re: ghost ring options. The first sight listed looks interesting. Also, Ameriglo has a ghost ring option, and this company's products seem to be popular here.

https://thegunzone.com/best-glock-gh...sight-reviews/

[Jeffw78]

My eyes are terrible. Sights need to be on the large side to be usable for me. I also don't have much luck with the various colored options that are available. I prefer a white marking on my front sight.

My current setup is a Glock oem steel front. Its .150 wide and the white insert consumes most of the face of the sight. Very visible. I pair this with a black ameriglo rear, gl-400 I believe.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Tom Duffy]

Owning two CTC lasers, one red and one green and 3 RMRs here's my experience. Lasers are very under rated. You aim instinctually and you're always focused on the target. Way easier than finding a red dot if you're shooting from a non standard position as opposed to a gun port. Green and red both have advantages. For the red laser, the battery lasts a lot longer and it's supposed to function better in cold temperatures. If you're only shooting indoors it's way bright enough. Green lasers are significantly better outdoors with a longer effective range. CTC lasergrips come in two basic styles. One with an external battery compartment and one where you take the laser apart put in the battery and retighten it to the gun. Counterintuitively, you want the latter. My red laser has the external battery compartment and it's a piece of crap. The laser turns itself off while firing a string and is completely undependable. The problem is with the battery contact connection. I took it off the gun and got a red dot. My green laser is mounted on a Glock 43 and has been excellent. Totally dependable and accurate. Taking the Laser sight off the gun is inconvenient but when you screw the halves back together you don't need to adjust the laser. It maintains it's point of aim.

[Chuck Whitlock]

I guess my question is - which platform are you leaning towards?

I'm junior in age, but I have 20/40 and 20/45 uncorrected in each eye respectively. I'm so near sighted, punching the gun out to full extension turns the front sight into a blob for me, unless the gun is really short.

Because of this "lollipop" sights work best. Something where I can see the in-focus rear sight with the out of focus front sight and confirm alignment. The best are square notch vertical post rears and white-outlined night-sight fronts. The only factory setups I'm aware of in this configuration are on Kahrs. No one makes a setup quite like this even aftermarket. The second closest is the shallow V of the XS setup, but I really hate the shallow V for precision work (square is so much better).

The solution I've been employing is black square-notch rears, with vertical posts "painted" on with white paint and dot fronts. That said, two-dot formats seem to work nearly equally well and are more available. For my next attempt on a 1911, I'll probably swap a Novak dot front with one of Novak's adjustable rears onto the gun. The rear sight blades can be removed and are metal, so I'll have a vertical bar milled into the sight blade and paint it. Ideally I could have a trit insert put in (like an XS rear), but I don't know if that's possible. If someone has the ear of the engineers at XS, ask them to makes a damn square-notch rear sight already.

http://www.xssights.com/Search.aspx?TERM=f8

[11B10]

The pyramidal, vividly-colored Advantage Tactical sights are only about $100 from: https://advantagetactical.com/.

There's going to be at least a couple hundred rounds in the learning curve, but they deliver both speed and accuracy and they're the best "geezer sights" for the visually challenged that I've found yet.

Am scheduled for surgery on both eyes next month, and have set out a G17 with Advantage Tacticals and a G19 MOS with RMR. Whichever works better in post-op testing will probably be my carry gun during the recuperation period. Maybe after the cataract surgery I'll see a red dot instead of a big-ass starburst when I look through the latter; if not, I have had good luck with the Advantage Tactical in the past.

Mas, you specifically mentioned the "pyramid" style sights, not the "dark diamond" - the manufacturer seems to lean towards the dark diamonds, if I read correctly. Could you elaborate on why you chose the pyramids, please?

[Mas]

Mas, you specifically mentioned the "pyramid" style sights, not the "dark diamond" - the manufacturer seems to lean towards the dark diamonds, if I read correctly. Could you elaborate on why you chose the pyramids, please?

Only because I have a lot of time behind the regular Advantage Tactical, but have dragged my butt and not yet given the Dark Diamond style a serious workout.

[11B10]

Only because I have a lot of time behind the regular Advantage Tactical, but have dragged my butt and not yet given the Dark Diamond style a serious workout.

So, my "take" on the Dark Diamonds was right, then?

[Mas]

So, my "take" on the Dark Diamonds was right, then?

Dunno what your take IS, bro. My communications with Mr. Nasef, the owner of the company and the designer of both sights, indicates that he likes the Dark Diamond better than the original. I can only speak to the original Advantage Tactical sight, which works very well for me and for several of my students.

Sights go hand in hand with vision, one of the most subjective and personal elements in shooting.

[11B10]

Dunno what your take IS, bro. My communications with Mr. Nasef, the owner of the company and the designer of both sights, indicates that he likes the Dark Diamond better than the original. I can only speak to the original Advantage Tactical sight, which works very well for me and for several of my students.

Sights go hand in hand with vision, one of the most subjective and personal elements in shooting.

Mas, as always, a great answer. The reason I'm asking is because of what you've already stated - your experience with so many different people. I must confess that I didn't see it until this morning. Thanks once again.