- Joined
- Feb 9, 2016
- Messages
- 62
- Reaction score
- 22
The S&W factory sights on my G-1 3" Shield and Gen-2 3" 13+1 Shield and my Performance center Comp Carry Gen-2 13+1 Shield Plus are your typical good for factory sights but with my over 50 nearsighted eyes and especially with my astigmatism they are just a little to small, fuzzy and difficult to get on target quickly, at least for me.
So after looking at everything out there I decided on giving XS sights F8 tritium night sights a try mainly because they were about 15-18% larger than either my factory sights or other sights I looked at.
I always like the design of the two dot Henie Straight Eight dot atop a dot sights much MUCH better than the traditional three dot sights so that also played a major factor in my purchase decision
Also XS advertises their night sights as being the brightest on the market and after comparing them to the factory night sights on my two new G2 Shields and the factory night sights on my Sigs I agree they are significantly brighter.
I have a pair on my 3" G2 13+1 Shield Plus as that will be my new primary canceled carry firearm and it would be a great test to compare the new F8's against the factory sights of my old G1 Shield and my Performance Center 4" Gen 2 factory sights.
All I can say is I am 100% happy in every possible way with the XS F8 sights. I can absolutely see then better and but most importantly of all there is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever I can get lined op on target significantly faster with the dot over a dot design VS the one dot between three of the other sights.
I have a couple of old Walther P99 by Umerex airsoft HGs laying around I used to teach my sons HG safety, handling and shooting I just ground off the plastic slights on one and used some micro zip ties to attach the XS F8 sights to it to give them a solid try out prior to going through the process of attaching them to my Shield to insure I liked them first so If i didn't returning them wouldn't be a problem.
Attaching both the front and rear sights to my Shield required as stated in the installation directions I remove some metal from them by sliding the sight along a HUGE fine double cut bastard file I have but it was a very easy process. I just took my time did two strokes then reversed the sight and did two more try for fit and once the sight went about 40% on I used my Lyman sight pusher to complete the installation.
I did do one thing differently than the rear sight instal directions instruct. The directions instruct you to remove enough metal on the rear sight that it can be installed with had pressure and the sight held in place by it's set screw, but I wanted as added insurance the sight would remain in place a significant enough of a interference fit I still needed to use my sight tool to install the rear sight. So I only did one stroke on the file each direction at a time and when I saw the rear sight had started to fit I switched to 300 grit sandpaper to fine tune my interference fit and it worked perfectly.
I will be putting XS F8's on all my handguns form this point forward I like them so much.
But they might be a bit larger than needed for those with younger sharper 20/20 vision that aren't troubled by an astigmatism. If you have 20/20 vision and no astigmatism and really like the dot atop a dot design Ameriglo makes a great pair for about 60% the cost of the XS F8s but they are about 15% smaller which is why I didn't buy them.
Felt it was worth sharing for those with less than 20/20 vison (I have 20/30 vision) and an mild astigmatism what I feel are a very viable after market night sight option.
So after looking at everything out there I decided on giving XS sights F8 tritium night sights a try mainly because they were about 15-18% larger than either my factory sights or other sights I looked at.
I always like the design of the two dot Henie Straight Eight dot atop a dot sights much MUCH better than the traditional three dot sights so that also played a major factor in my purchase decision
Also XS advertises their night sights as being the brightest on the market and after comparing them to the factory night sights on my two new G2 Shields and the factory night sights on my Sigs I agree they are significantly brighter.
I have a pair on my 3" G2 13+1 Shield Plus as that will be my new primary canceled carry firearm and it would be a great test to compare the new F8's against the factory sights of my old G1 Shield and my Performance Center 4" Gen 2 factory sights.
All I can say is I am 100% happy in every possible way with the XS F8 sights. I can absolutely see then better and but most importantly of all there is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever I can get lined op on target significantly faster with the dot over a dot design VS the one dot between three of the other sights.
I have a couple of old Walther P99 by Umerex airsoft HGs laying around I used to teach my sons HG safety, handling and shooting I just ground off the plastic slights on one and used some micro zip ties to attach the XS F8 sights to it to give them a solid try out prior to going through the process of attaching them to my Shield to insure I liked them first so If i didn't returning them wouldn't be a problem.
Attaching both the front and rear sights to my Shield required as stated in the installation directions I remove some metal from them by sliding the sight along a HUGE fine double cut bastard file I have but it was a very easy process. I just took my time did two strokes then reversed the sight and did two more try for fit and once the sight went about 40% on I used my Lyman sight pusher to complete the installation.
I did do one thing differently than the rear sight instal directions instruct. The directions instruct you to remove enough metal on the rear sight that it can be installed with had pressure and the sight held in place by it's set screw, but I wanted as added insurance the sight would remain in place a significant enough of a interference fit I still needed to use my sight tool to install the rear sight. So I only did one stroke on the file each direction at a time and when I saw the rear sight had started to fit I switched to 300 grit sandpaper to fine tune my interference fit and it worked perfectly.
I will be putting XS F8's on all my handguns form this point forward I like them so much.
But they might be a bit larger than needed for those with younger sharper 20/20 vision that aren't troubled by an astigmatism. If you have 20/20 vision and no astigmatism and really like the dot atop a dot design Ameriglo makes a great pair for about 60% the cost of the XS F8s but they are about 15% smaller which is why I didn't buy them.
Felt it was worth sharing for those with less than 20/20 vison (I have 20/30 vision) and an mild astigmatism what I feel are a very viable after market night sight option.
