Question on sights

[Corpsman]

Good Afternoon, I apologize if this has already been posted somwhere, but, I have an almost stock G23. I purchased the gun with CT alreay installed. It has the factory plastic sights and I am looking at upgrading. What are everyones thoughts on ghost ring sights? I know they are successful on rifles, but unsure about their practicality on a pistol. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Tangle]

I've used Trijicons, Meps, XS Big Dots, and Heinie Slant 8's (I think that's the name of them) all of course night sights. The first two are 3 dot, the third dot and post, and the Heinie is 'stacked' dots.

I've pretty much have Trijicons on most my carry guns, but I do have that Heinie sight on a Sig 226 and I do like it. I'm planning to buy a set for my G17, they are good daytime sights and they seem faster/more natural as night sights.

I've used ghost sights on my tactical shotgun and love them, but I've never used them on a pistol. I've been tempted to buy a set for some time and I think I'll go ahead and try a set just to see. Ghost sights kinda make sense to me, but actual use may prove to be different.

I'll post a review when I try them out.

Oh, and here's a reference to a discussion about them:

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...ry-pistol.html

After reading the entire thread, it seems to be largely inconclusive as to their effectiveness. Same thing seems to be true of Big Dots, some like 'em some don't.

[Rob72]

GRs aren't GRs, given the eye relief mandated by a pistol. XS is the standard by which others are judged, for both speed and accuracy under pressure. I prefer the Standard, but Bigs work well also.

Unless you use a wide channel rear (ala Warren Tacticals) with around a 0.020" cut, coupled with a .015" wide front, the 3 dot profile is too obscuring and slow.

One Ragged Hole makes a GR-style that I have on a Ruger Blackhawk. It is very accurate, but lacking in speed. Aro-Tek and kin suffer the same problem.

[Corpsman]

Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean when you are referring to XS?

[C9H13NO3]

XS is a manufacturer of ghost ring sights.
http://www.xssights.com/store/handgun.html

[SIXTO]

Don't put ghost rings on your pistol, but they would match the laser.


Just kidding, Tangle left you some good advice there is no sense in me retyping what he said. But I do want to add the the ghost rings dont work very well, there isnt a big enough sight radius to take advantage of the ring.

[Tangle]

Don't put ghost rings on your pistol, but they would match the laser.

Oh sure, lure me in to that - again.

...But I do want to add the the ghost rings dont work very well, there isnt a big enough sight radius to take advantage of the ring.

That reminded me of what I discovered with the 'Doctor' type red dot sights. I found that if the dot didn't show up in the 'window' immediately, it was very difficult finding it - especially in low light situations where you'd think the red dot would really shine - pardon the pun.

Now I'm thinkin' the ghost ring may have the same problem, if you don't see the front sight in the ring immediately, it may be time consuming or difficult to find.

I'll never be satisfied though until I try a set, anyone make without the night sight dots? That'd be a lot cheaper.

[C9H13NO3]

pistol-training.com Blog Archive The JohnO DIY High Visibility Front Sight

This is cheap, isn't permanent, and definitely worth a try! I did it to my M9, and I can definitely pick up the front sight a lot faster. I have a good sight picture almost instantly from pressing out.

[Tangle]

Interesting C9.

I've found that bright sights work best in brighter lights, which is good. As the light level decreases, we humans lose a bunch of color vision and sights that are bright white or orange in bright light, just become dark post and notch sights in low light levels. And it's also surprising how that same effect can happen in bright light under certain conditions. E.g. at my range I was shooting under a roof at a target in the open in bright sunlight. The lighting conditions, although bright, turned my big white XS dot into nothing more than a silhouette black post and vee notch.

It's easy to think, ok, the sights are beneficial in bright light most of the time so that's an advantage, but is it?

If we practice under brighter light conditions that make those colors, be it white or orange, show up so well and then we get into a threat situation where that bright sight is just going to be a black silhouette, we may be at a very bad disadvantage.

My experience has been about the same with FO sights. When there's light for them to collect, they're great, but under subdued lighting and even brighter light under certain conditions, again the sights show up as black silhouettes.

My concern is that under adverse conditions is that if the mind is trained to look for that bright sight and it's a dark silhouette, it may cause confusion at a very bad time.

Just some things to consider.

[Knuckledrager]

Tangle,

You are right on about the loss of color vision under conditions of low light. It is a good reminder of the importance of having a white light available. If it's dark enough that you have trouble seeing the sights, it is dark enough that a white light is needed for positive target identification.

[Danimal]

I like the XS sights. The front dot is nice and big, especially in low light shooting. The bar dot configuration is real nice and fast for getting a decent sight picture in no light, or low light situations.

[TN_Mike]

I know I might be an odd ball here but, I like the stock Glock sights. I really like them. In fact, I like them so much that I wish I could put them on my new XD.

I have seen a version of night sight that closely replicate the Glock stock sights but, obviously, they glow in the dark as they are night sights. I would really like those.