I'm new to this forum, so I'll start out by saying "hello". So, well, hello.
I'm a relatively new shooter (started shooting roughly 3-4 years ago) and (as of yet) have not had any formal training apart from a CPL class. I do, however, have a ridiculous tendency to research the crap out of things. I don't have a shot timer so I don't know what my split times, but I'll eventually look into getting one when I have some extra cash laying around.
All that aside, I bought into the whole XS Big Dots concept. After doing some shooting with them in various situations and distances I've come to very similar conclusions that Todd has regarding them. They're not bad sights and they work well for their intended purpose, but I've found that they do hinder more than help. I have decent eyesight (20/40 uncorrected, 20/15 corrected) so I don't have issues seeing my sights regardless of whether or not I have my glasses on. I've found that while I can make all the same shots with XS sights, it takes me considerably more time to make precision distance shots than it does with a N&P setup. Given this, I have determined that it would behoove me, as a responsible shooter, to replace the sights with another set of a N&P variety in order to unhinder my improvement. Again, it's not that I don't like the Big Dots, but I think that I could take my skills further by moving back to a N&P setup for as long as my eyesight will allow me to use that setup.
This brings me to the choice of which sight to move to. I would consider myself fairly agnostic in what sights I want (which doesn't exactly help) which stems from the fact that I've worked on improving my fundamentals and skill rather than become hardware dependent. However, there are a few things that I'm considering moving forward.
- Sights that have a decent shelf on the rear sight for one-handed work.
- Sights that have tritium in the rear and front.
- Sights that are metal (duh).
Nice to have things are of the following:
- Decent amount of light bars around the front sight (something of a ratio of .125 front and .150 rear, doesn't have to be exactly that, but I'd prefer to have a little more room to play than not)
- Cost effective (something that seems to be somewhat problematic of M&P pistols)
- Prefer to have a 3-dot setup, but not entirely opposed to a 2-dot setup.
- Prefer to have a u-notch rear rather than a squared rear notch.
That said, and after doing some fairly extensive research, I've come to favor the Warren Tactical 3-dot setup for possibly purchasing it. I figured that, after having done a fair bit of research here, I would ask and see if anyone else had any other suggestions that I may have overlooked. A good bit of you seem to approach these things in a similar fashion that I do, so that further precipitated to me joining here.
Thanks in advance and I look forward to the banter.