My Perfect Glock 42 Sights...

[GearFondler]

After recently adopting the Glock 42 as my new pocket carry I set about upgrading it like any true American. The sights were the obvious biggest need so I looked around fearing I wouldn't find exactly what I wanted and I didn't... Time to improvise.
What I wanted in a rear sight:
- Tritium dots, plain, without any color rings
- Serrated rear face
- Short enough to not reach the rear of the slide where it can be a worse snag hazzard and interferes with a claw grip
- Set screw to lock it in place
- U-notch window which I prefer for reasons I cannot defend because I barely even notice the rear notch when shooting

What I wanted in a front sight:
- Tritium dot with Yellow or Green color ring as my eyes struggle to pick up red and orange sight blades.
- A blade that did not entirely fill the rear notch in my vision when aiming... The short G42 slide exacerbates this issue.
- Drive the Dot POI

After much searching I settled upon the Truglo Tritium Pro Night Sights as the closest I could find to my desires. The rear sight was exactly what I wished for and the front sight was decently close... It was a touch wider than I prefer and it had a white color ring which I pick up almost as well as yellow/green, but it did hit where I put the front sight.
I could have stopped there and been adequately happy with my choice but I'm an incurable perfectionist and tinkerer so I forged ahead. I knew that Trijicon made a front sight that was exactly what I wished for and they sold it individually so against my wallet's better judgement I bought it... The Trijicon HD XR font sight. This gave me the narrower blade and bright yellow dot that I prefer.

Mixing these two sights together gave me the sight picture I desired but not the shooting results... Turns out the Truglo front sight blade is 0.195 tall while the Trijicon is 0.215 which resulted in my mash-up shooting about 2 inches low at 7 yards... Not an acceptable result for a perfectionist.

Closer examination of the HD front sight showed me that for whatever reason Trijicon installed the trit vial lower down the blade than one might expect, leaving a relatively large amount of steel above the dot. You all can see what I mean by looking at the picture below from the Trijicon website. In fact I was able to see that the dot height was basically the same height for the Trijicon as the Truglo. If I carefully lined up the front and rear dots of my mash-up the tip of the Trijicon blade was lifted above the rear sight window. This observation led me to believe that if I was to file down the front sight not only was there enough material there to allow this but it may also have everything line up correctly, both dots and sight silhouettes.
More thinking on how best to do this properly kept me pondering for a while. I knew if I didn't keep the blade square and sharp it would drive me nuts and all I had to work with was hand tools and maybe the Dremel.
Finally genius struck and I realized that the design of the Glock itself could solve much of the issue... Installing the front sight kept it vertical to the slide and the flat square shape of the slide meant I could clamp it down as well. Laying the slide on its side, clamped down, allowed me to use a diamond stone from my Wicked Edge sharpener to file down the sight while keeping everything square. The stones happen to be square blocks that have a plastic border, allowing me to slide them back and forth without affecting the square.
It took a few minutes but it worked brilliantly... The picture I took will hopefully better explain what I did. A Birchwood Casey Flat Black paint pen was used to cover over the new shiny surface.
And yes, the dots now line up when the front blade is even with the rear window and it all hits to POA at 7 yards.
So now I have my perfect iron sights, and after the price plus shipping and taxes it only cost me about $200 on a $400 gun, lol.

[GearFondler]

Meant to add that I wrote that long-ass post mostly because I figured if no one else, at least @JCN might appreciate it.

[Noah]

I just went to the range with a mismatched Ameriglo .160 wide rear and a .115 width fiber optic front sight and filed it down til the POI was perfect at 25y, then sharpied the bare steel.

I tried the Truglo Tritium Pros a few years ago and also didn't care for them. Very wide front sight that filled the rear notch.

[JCN]

Meant to add that I wrote that long-ass post mostly because I figured if no one else, at least @JCN might appreciate it.

I’m proud of you!! Make it your own!

Create your happiness and your opportunities.

[Polecat]

Those look nice! I too recently changed to the 42 for daily carry. It is so miniscule by comparison, and shoots great. It is pretty fun. I put a NY trigger in mine and love it. I am also experimenting with a magguts system and a +1 base. I have a set of orange day glo Ameriglo “capsights,” but I think I prefer the yellows.

What base plate is that yiu are using?

[GearFondler]

Those look nice! I too recently changed to the 42 for daily carry. It is so miniscule by comparison, and shoots great. It is pretty fun. I put a NY trigger in mine and love it. I am also experimenting with a magguts system and a +1 base. I have a set of orange day glo Ameriglo “capsights,” but I think I prefer the yellows.

What base plate is that yiu are using?

I'm interested in the Magguts but I've read so many reports of iffy reliability that I'm scared to try... And I definitely don't want to spend the money it costs these days to test and verify using .380.
In fact, I'm still looking for reliable reports of any mag extensions that are reliable and vetted by people I trust.

The mag base you see on mine is from GeePlate and is a +0 that simply adds a lip that gives the ring finger a leverage point. I like it but my fingers are almost too thin to allow it to work at its best.

https://www.geeplate.com/shop/glock-42/

[Noah]

I'm interested in the Magguts but I've read so many reports of iffy reliability that I'm scared to try... And I definitely don't want to spend the money it costs these days to test and verify using .380.
In fact, I'm still looking for reliable reports of any mag extensions that are reliable and vetted by people I trust.

The mag base you see on mine is from GeePlate and is a +0 that simply adds a lip that gives the ring finger a leverage point. I like it but my fingers are almost too thin to allow it to work at its best.

https://www.geeplate.com/shop/glock-42/

I've had zero issues with the Vickers/ Tango Down +2 extension. I chose it because it actually uses a new spring. I use the +2 when the gun is staged defensively at home and if I'm doing yard work. I'm just using the OEM 6 rounders for occasional Enigma deep carry when I can't carry my 19.

[No.6]

I elected the Ameriglo Trooper GL-822 for mine and the results functionally and visually are nearly identical. You got the U-shaped rear cutout vs. the square in the Trooper, but the POI, hiviz yellow front, serrated rear are close cousins.

[GearFondler]

I elected the Ameriglo Trooper GL-822 for mine and the results functionally and visually are nearly identical. You got the U-shaped rear cutout vs. the square in the Trooper, but the POI, hiviz yellow front, serrated rear are close cousins.

I also have a narrower front sight and the rear sight has the grub screw for extra security but you are correct... For half of what I paid and no extra work that is a very good option that almost any reasonable person would choose.

[RustWins]

I've had zero issues with the Vickers/ Tango Down +2 extension. I chose it because it actually uses a new spring. I use the +2 when the gun is staged defensively at home and if I'm doing yard work. I'm just using the OEM 6 rounders for occasional Enigma deep carry when I can't carry my 19.

I only have 1 Vickers plus 2 on my g42 and it has worked well. I too picked this extension because it came with the extra spring, thinking that it should ensure proper function. It also adds length, which is something I appreciate because I carry it as a lightweight AIWB gun primarily. For the time being I've only been carrying it with 8 rounds total instead of topping off. I've shot probably 150-300 rounds through the Vickers extension and 90% of that I started with 8+1. I've had only one malfunction that I believe was due to my hand interacting with the slide from riding it too high. I'll give it some time or even use a fresh one and carry +1 after a few more range sessions. I'm going to try and experiment with a strike industries plus 2 and wolf/ghost plus power spring combo so I can get an even better grip.

I really wish Glock would do a g48 treatment for the g42. It would still probably be sub 20oz. loaded and the thing would shoot like nothing else. With a 4.2” bbl. it might even elevate the platform to hollow point expansion territory.