Carry Sights.....

[Jim Lawburgh]

At 62, my eyes aren't what they used to be.
I like my carry gun to have front and rear tritium sights.
Crimson Trace grips are my second choice.
What is your favorite sighting option for carry?
Feel free to state why, and what gun.
Enjoy,
Jim

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

I really like to have front and rear Tritium sights, but they are not a deal breaker for me since I always carry a LED light.

I think lasers are nice for teaching, but really don't care for them on SD guns. I know that they can help when shooting from some non standard positions.

So I tend to be light>night sight>laser on my needs for SD. YMMV.

 

[Hillbilly77]

I recently put tritium sights on my 586.
It's my hunting gun, and I think the tritium will stand out better inside a dark ground blind.

The problem with a laser grip is that it is only pinpoint accurate at the exact distance it is sighted for - windage and elevation included.
At different ranges, they lose effectiveness. Not exactly the performance I'd want in a carry gun.

At least with tritium sights, the windage doesn't change.

 

[madmikeb]

I have had tritium sights installed on all my carry guns. I figure every little bit helps. Also when I'm home I can see the sights glowing from bed, which will help me to grab the gun in the dark if need be.

 

[lhump1961]

I know not everyone likes laser grips but for carry it's hard to beat 'em for low light and target acquisition. Eye's on target and eye's stay on target. I can post good groups fast or slow. They are easy and I now spend about 80% of range time on iron sights because the CT grips are easy and don't require as much practice...at least for me.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
I don't care for night sights as such.
If bright enough for day, blind you at night.
If good for night , not seen in daytime.
The fiber optic/light pipe sight seems to work the best as it
is brighter in the sun but dims down as light fades.
If it is too dark to see such sights , you cant identify the target.
A good light with a wide beam and sights with plenty of light space
around them seems to work for most.

 

[fyimo]

I own 7 Sig pistols and all of them have night sights on them and they shoot fine for targets during the daylight hours and really help at night.

 

[rde1911]

I like the laser grip sights. They are very accurate and I have not had the calibration drift once they were sighted in. The way I look at it outside the home the law says (In New York State) you have to exhaust every means of escape before you could use deadly force to protect yourself. I would guess that you are going to be in very close to the attacker. I doubt you are going to get to a full draw to shoot. With the laser and the practice I do, I point and shoot single handed. I am very confident that where I point the red laser there will be a 0.45 inch hole ones the trigger is pulled. Even in bright conditions I can see the laser. I have it on a Springfield Armory XDs. Before that I carried a Sig Sauer C3 1911 45acp with a laser grip sight. I pray to God I never have to use them except at the range.
For home invasion depending what room I am in I have a 38 special snub nose with laser grips, I have the Sig C3 1911 with laser grips and then I have the XDs with laser grips. I am happily single and live alone so I do not worry about anyone touching a loaded gun in the house.
Over the past 15 years I have been handicapped with a bad back. I have had 7 surgeries. I always felt like a target when I was outside because of walking with a walker or hunched over with a cane.
Last September I had another surgery, they removed three disk and put in 3 artificial bones to open the space between vertebra. One in my neck at C3-C4 and two in my lower back at L4-L5 and L2-L3. I got a lot of relief from the surgery.
I still can not work because everyday is a guess as to what the level will be. On a good day I am able to do more.
I found the best exercise is walking 25 yards to change a target and 25 yards back to the shooting bench.

 

[fullmetal1911]

I really like TruGlo TFO sights. They are always bright green in any light. The negative with those sights is that you lose about 1/2" of sight radius on most guns. I had them on the Glock 22 Gen4 that I recently sold to a friend, and he loves them. For him it is a range gun and he uses it for home defense as it is his only handgun. It was a range gun/nightstand gun for me as well. But I never carried it, as I don't open carry.

I won't run them on my sub-compact guns because I feel like I would be losing too much sight radius on a gun with an already short sight radius. I run Mepros on my Glock 27. I like the white ring around the tritium capsules as it allows them to work as both night sights and white dot sights in both high and low light levels and a retain the factory sight radius. If I was going to carry a slightly larger gun I would consider TFOs on that.

I have never seen a set of night sights that were so bright that they would blind me.

I'm also vehemently against lasers as anything other than a training tool for myself. For the same reason I am against battery powered optics on rifles (without a good set of backup sights), batteries can (and do) fail. They are a good option for many, I would just hope that they take the time to train with their sights and not plan to rely 100% on the laser.

On a side note, I have never seen a good grouping come out of a gun with a laser at the range. It seems like many inexperienced shooters use a laser as a crutch, and as such, never learn how to properly shoot a firearm. Typically shotgun patterns are tighter than their groups.

 

[Jamesatrange]

I thought night sights were the way but having all the same color isn't good as you could be totally off target in true darkness, so try to get some with contrasting colors if you go night sights, I would if I did it again. I personally have and really like, for the price, the Streamlight Tlr-1hl which is 600 lumens of blinding and sighting light and I have the crimson trace laser grips on the same gun. Better to have more options in your favor if that moment ever comes. I just also purchased the viridian combo which is light and laser all in one rail mount. Haven't shot with that yet so can't say how it works quite yet. Picked it up on this forum. Like another member stated the gun light reduces the need for night sites. Many choices, have fun. Hope this helps.

 

[rde1911]

I do not agree about never seeing a good group. Laser Max lasers are made in the suburbs of Rochester, NY. They spend hours and hours with every hand gun that they make a laser for shooting thousand upon thousands of rounds. They have a lot of guide rod lasers and rail mounted lasers. They shoot a lot of 40 caliber and some 45ACP.
I have seen a lot of broken guns from them, I know that the manufactures of guns follow them closely looking for failure issues so they can fix them before consumers start to have problems.
They run more rounds through a S&W M series or Glock than an average consumer would in the lifetime of the gun.
When Laser Max has a product problem they will work a day shift and an evening shift shooting the same gun to make sure that they have fixed it. That is a huge amount of rounds through one gun in a 5 day period of 2 shifts. The one gentleman Mr. V. could shoot a perfect 8 inch circle around the outside of the target and then when he completes the circle the center of the target falls out. I have never seen this done with night sights or iron sights. The laser works great with practice. If they were no good I do not think Law enforcement and the military still be using them.
I have never seen a product for a gun bring out so much emotion as a laser. People that take the time to practice and become very good with a laser sight like them. Then you have the people do not like them and get nasty about the product and the people that use them.
"Typically shotgun patterns are tighter than their groups".
I could say the same about any person that is a beginner with their first pistol with iron sights. Or with a long gun or bow and arrow. It is interesting..

On a side note, I have never seen a good grouping come out of a gun with a laser at the range. It seems like many inexperienced shooters use a laser as a crutch, and as such, never learn how to properly shoot a firearm. Typically shotgun patterns are tighter than their groups.