Ghost Ring Handgun Sights?

Fishinfool

Fishinfool

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I was wondering if any members have any experience with a ghost ring rear sight on a handgun?

I read online some hate them, and some don't. Plenty of experience with peeps on rifles, but the only handgun with one I ever shot was a model 17 with a small aperture peep replacing the rear blade. Hard for me to see in poor light.

I was thinking of trying a large aperture ghost ring version on a 6 inch 629 mostly for range and hunting.

Any input one way or the other?

Thanks

Larry
 
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I use Ameriglo Ghost Ring sights on my working Glocks 19X and 26. Very satisfied . . .


Fishinfool said:
I was wondering if any members have any experience with a ghost ring rear sight on a handgun?

I read online some hate them, and some don't. Plenty of experience with peeps on rifles, but the only handgun with one I ever shot was a model 17 with a small aperture peep replacing the rear blade. Hard for me to see in poor light.

I was thinking of trying a large aperture ghost ring version on a 6 inch 629 mostly for range and hunting.

Any input one way or the other?

Thanks

Larry
Click to expand...
 
I've never used one on a handgun, but unless it offered some real benefit over factory iron sights because of a vision problem, hard to see any advantage, though maybe a drawback or two. You mention poor light and that might be the biggest shortcoming. I just can't see a need but I'd be interested in hearing what other experienced users say.
 
rockquarry said:
I've never used one on a handgun, but unless it offered some real benefit over factory iron sights because of a vision problem, hard to see any advantage, though maybe a drawback or two. You mention poor light and that might be the biggest shortcoming. I just can't see a need but I'd be interested in hearing what other experienced users say.
Click to expand...

Some users report it helps sharpen the front sight, an issue I am having problems with as I get older. I have gone to optics on some of my handguns, but really prefer irons if possible. The 629 in question has a gold bead patridge front sight that should work well.

Larry
 
Fishinfool said:
Some users report it helps sharpen the front sight, an issue I am having problems with as I get older. I have gone to optics on some of my handguns, but really prefer irons if possible. The 629 in question has a gold bead patridge front sight that should work well.

Larry
Click to expand...

That makes sense if they help. As for optical sights on any handgun, I think they give handguns an ungainly, awkward feel and take away from the looks. I'd prefer a lighweight rifle with a scope. But again, if you need them, you need them. My vision may certainly require such sighting equipment down the road.
 
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Muss - Looks similar to what I am looking at, no N frame fitment though. Do you think it would work as well with a gold bead as apposed to a tritium front?

Larry
 
Aperture sights on a rifle have the benefit of being close to the shooter and the front sight at a distance from the shooter and the aperture . This makes them very quick to use and very accurate.

The underlying purpose is to align the front sight with the aperture. On a rifle the stock is an integral part of the sighting system.

I’m not sure aperture sights on a handgun offer any benefit. They would be much slower than a rifle with aperture sights, or a handgun with standard open sights.

I can’t imagine a benefit for me with aperture sights on a handgun.
 
I have a "drop-in" aperature sight on my Ruger .327 Mag SP 101. Was easy to remove the original blade sight and replace. It is slower than Patridge sights, but with a fiber-optic front sight, it is similar to a red-dot sighting system. Not the best for close up self defense or formal target shooting, but good for field.
 
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Some years ago, I had a High-Point C-9 (9mm) that came with a "Ghost Ring" sight in the box. For grins and giggles, I decided to try it. I thought it helped, but really made no real scientific type tests to see for sure.

I never tried it on any other guns though.
 
I believe they are slower to acquire, but more accurate. I put them on some rifles, but go with bead front sight on my home defense shotguns. I would never put them on a handgun.
 
Handgun aperture rear sights were a fad ~20 years ago. In my experience they didn't offer much benefit. As noted above, an aperture sight on a rifle can help sharpen the front sight, but it doesn't really work that way with a ghost ring, and the sight radius on a handgun is so short that it's difficult to get the natural centering that happens with a ghost ring on a long gun.

Ghost rings were best employed on shotguns, IMHO.
 
I tried one on my Power Custom Ruger #5. It has a Weigand front sight with a gold bead. It didn’t work at all for me. I could acquire the front sight quickly but as was mentioned my eye didn’t naturally center it in the ring. I think I could’ve been just as accurate with no rear blade at all. Mine was off the gun in less than an hour. Maybe I didn’t give it enough of a chance;)

Dan
 
I shot a Ruger Standard auto 6” with a Williams Guide with aperture adapter. No aperture, just shooting through the adapter. At 25’ it was hard to beat for speed of knocking cans off the fence.
I think a lot of guys don’t know how to use apertures. You shouldn’t be aware it’s there. You look through it not at it. I don’t know how a guy would shoot one of those Omega peep type blades for handguns. There is no way I could see anything at arms length.
Looking through a hole is suppose to “pull” your eye. Before lenses were made a mask with pin holes was used to improve vision. Some early humans figured this out and used rib bone with pin holes as corrective measures.
 
Thanks for the replies. They are cheap enough, so I think I will try a ghost ring rear blade on that 629 after this hunting season. This year I'll stick to factory irons on my new Anaconda - gotta take it out and make it earn its keep...

Larry
 
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