Hey all,

I recently bought a 329 Night Guard and absolutely love it. The only problem with it is that although it has the trijicon front sight, the extreme duty fixie rear is not visible at all in the dark. I want this to be my nightstand gun (loaded with 44 special) as I can just grab it and shoot if I need to, but without a tritium rear to match the front I'd be guessing where the rounds would hit. I don't live in the city, but would still like my little greyhound busses to strike the bad guy, not fly through my house and wind up someplace I didn't intend. Does anyone know of a bolt on solution? A fixed tritium sight assembly would be ideal as I know that in any case I'll need to replace the whole assembly to get night sights. Going to adjustables seems rather complicated, but is it my only option if I want tritium? Thanks!

I cannot speak to all your options for the rear sight, but, wanted to express a couple of points for your consideration.

First, it sounds like you are uncomfortable not knowing your natural point of aim. If you practice to find that position, your front sight will drop right into position. After all, your front sight is all you should see in defensive shooting. Think of it this way: If the lights go out in your house (a place you are intimately familiar with) and you pick up a flashlight to find your car keys - when you flick on the light, do you have to aim it? No. You have an instinctive point of aim with the flashlight. Your gun is no different.

Second, and most important, a bedside gun grab means the potential for imminent and immediate danger. Shooting in this circumstance should and must be a reflexive action. Wanting to line up three dots is laudable, but, in such a situation, foolhardy. Your eyes should be searching for or directly on the perp... who is already in a state of preparedness.

I have the 325 Night Guard, .45acp and, frankly, would never consider Trijicon rear sights. Become familiar with your natural point of aim and you may also find yourself discounting the rear sights.

Just my thoughts...

What JP says...and, you might also consider equipping your firearm with CTC (laser) grips, if they make them for your gun. They are excellent for/in low light conditions. Just point and shoot.

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MotorCityGun

Thanks for the advice guys, its not that I don't feel comfortable shooting or that I don't know what general direction in which I'm firing though. I've had a Glock with night sights on my nightstand forever and love how I can put it on target in complete darkness by just lining up the dots when I bring it up. I have complete confidence that I can hit any point on an assailant with that gun in no light, and that he won't know that my gun is pointed at him prior to the bullet coming out since I'm not illuminating any part of my house (or him). The only reason I want to use my Night Guard to replace my Glock is that I don't like leaving it with a round in the chamber all of the time (I know, it won't go off - I carried a Glock 26 in an ankle holster on my right leg for a year while riding a kick only shovelhead the whole time) and racking one in is loud and takes too long. I kind of have my heart set on getting that night sight lovin' feelin' back. Does anyone know of fixed night sights or am I going to have to go to adjustables and then buy the tritium blade?

I can totally understand your feelings about wanting rear tritium for your Night Guard. Over the years, I have thrown tons of money at a now perished company called Innovative Weaponry, which would drop tritium elements into just about any sight you liked, including permanently fixed sights that are part of the gun itself. I favored a horizontal bar on the rear after determining that the 3 dot set-up was not for me. It was awesome!

So recently, I have seen many shops putting out a tritium front sight with a plain rear sight, so that the tritium dominates the sight picture, and still gives a "combat sight picture." I think that with the "combat style" fixed night guard sights, this is a good short range arrangement. You don't really "line up" your sight alignment, you sort of "sight through" the rear as if it is a half a ghost ring sight.

My 2 cents would be that you might get close to what you're after by creating a "white outline rear" sight. A little bit of white sight paint on the upper edge of the rear sight cut out might just do the trick for you.

I purchased my Night Guard from a wonderful forumite here and I love the sight set up as is. This being said though, 8 bucks for some sight paint would at least let you know if you want to replace the rear sight or not.

All the best!


Rick

Guys, I have to respectfully disagree about practice negating the need to see the rear sight. I've been shooting S&W revolvers nearly fifty years, & they point HIGH for me. If I cant see the sights, I can't hit a barn wall from inside the barn. To my way of thinking, having only the front sight visible, is no better than none at all. My opinion only, & it doesn't answer the OP's question. Another reason my usual carry piece is a 1911 with night sights, it both points naturally for me, & I can see the sights.

Broker, I concur with your thoughts. That's why it becomes a real necessity to learn your natural point of aim. It is also why I rarely rotate defensive sidearms.

Rick,
Great advice, sir. It's really too bad your company is no more. That was exactly what I was looking for. After looking into all that is entailed in upgrading the rear sight assembly, I believe some paint is in order to start. I think what I'll do first is get some paint from glonation, a glow in the dark paint company. I read about it after doing some more internet searching. Its supposed to be "visible" for up to 8 hours after it is charged by light. I guess we'll see. Its got to be better than the stock parkerized black anyway.

Broker,
I totally agree with you about seeing only the front sight being no better than seeing none at all. What I am able to know absolutely by seeing only one sight is that the gun isn't pointed at me, but I'm not sending any 44 mags or even specials downrange unless I'm fully confident that I'm going to hit my target.

J.P.,
I will keep practicing and trying to find my natural point of aim. The force is just not strong enough with me yet to know exactly where I'm shooting without being able to see my sights.

Thank all of you - especially J.P., MotorCity, Rick, and Broker. I really appreciate your help and am glad that I joined this forum. I'll let you know how the paint works out as soon as I can test it. I'll post if I find what I was hoping to in the beginning as well.

While I would welcome a rear night sight on my 329NG, after much practive (in the dark!) I am confident that with just the stock front sight, I can do the job just fine. And, this is my backpacking gun for black bear country, so in any case I am going to have to have some type of illumination to be sure of my target. I have found that light scatter from a SureFire light gives me just enough to clearly pick up the rear sight for a very precise aim.

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