Sights For My New Glock

[Disabled1]

Man, I never knew that there were so many selections of sights for the Glock.
I have a new Gen4 G17 and want to add some new sights to it. I know you pick them on the basis of how you will use the handgun. I plan on using it for home defense and target shooting.
I'm leaning towards the XS STANDARD or the XS BIG DOT sights.
I also like the fact that Dawson sights come with the sight install tools.
Decisions, decisions!

 

[Kanewpadle]

I have Ameriglo sights on my Glock 19.

Rear

Front

Glock Specialty Tritium Rears - AmeriGlo

Glock Pro-Glo Tritium Fronts - AmeriGlo

Both are night sights. The front sight is also photo luminescent which means it gets brighter as it gathers more light.

The rear notch is .180 of an inch which is much wider than most other rear sights. Makes it easier to see the light between the sights.

They are not made for very precise shooting but it can be done. They simply allow those of us with aging eyes to get on target quickly and repeatedly.

 

[JaPes]

Man, I never knew that there were so many selections of sights for the Glock.
I have a new Gen4 G17 and want to add some new sights to it. I know you pick them on the basis of how you will use the handgun. I plan on using it for home defense and target shooting.
I'm leaning towards the XS STANDARD or the XS BIG DOT sights.

I've mounted a set of XS 24/7 Big-Dots on the Glock 19 that is in my carry rotation. During the daytime, the sights are easy to pick up and align. Dot the "i", put that big golf-ball front sight on top of the vertical line in the rear sight valley and you're good to go. Very easy to maintain a front sight focus for very precise shot placement. The sights also accommodate a two-eye open sight alignment. I find that the XS-Big Dots are great for fast combat accurate hits on target. After practice, I can achieve more precise slow fire shot placement. For me, XS 24/7 Big Dot sights are the most useful practical combat self defense sights. The caveat is that they are not bullseye sights. Three-dot notch & post sight will enable the marksman to more easily achieve slow-fire, small hole in paper groupings that look great in pictures posted on internet forums.

For those that are unable to practice often, any sighting system won't provide the best results.

I've also been trying out the new Mako FT-Bullseye.

It's unique. It employs fiber optic rods + tritium vials + a lens. I assume my normal stance holding my firearm out, and I see a green dot within a green ring. Dot on target, both eyes open, and that's where shots go. It's similar to shooting with a pistol mounted, battery powered optic. The FT Bullseye sight isn't as fast as a pistol mounted optic, but it also doesn't require slide milling + a $450 optic. They also don't require any special tools to install.

The unique aspect is that there is no need for a front sight at all.

I also like the fact that Dawson sights come with the sight install tools.
Decisions, decisions!

The only tool you really need for a Glock is a front sight hex screw tool. XS provides one with their sights.

I purchased an inexpensive Glock pistol sight pusher for $30.

They're a bit more fiddly to set up than a $130 MGW sight pusher, but it works. I've used them to install several Glock rear sights over the past two years. I definitely got my money's worth. Truthfully if I had known I'd be installing as many Glock rear sights on my own and friend's pistols, I'd have purchased the MGW sight pusher.

Even though the Glock sight pusher is convenient, it's a single product tool. When I install sights on other pistols, I still use a non-marring punch and a non-marring hammer.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Awright, whats up with the Hello Kitty?

 

[L Pete]

I put Dawson's on my Gen 4 G-17 I got a couple of months ago. It'll be a range toy, so the sights are just plain old black. On my Glocks that I use for carry, I install Heine Slant Pro night sights. I like the Heinies as there are no big white dots and I see the plain old black sights better in bright light, and the small lamps make them quite useful after dark. Those big white dots seem to run together with the daylight visible around the front sight in bright daylight. It's just difficult for me to determine where the sight ends and the daylight begins. I shoot much better scores with this set-up, and the Heinies are quite rugged.

Good luck with your decision........

 

[loc n load]

I have the XS big dot sights on three of my Glocks , a 30 and a 20, which are my edc's. The third pistol is my first gen 17 which I have been shooting since 1988. I have replaced three sets of tri Ji cons on this pistol. I put the big dot sight on this pistol as it is my most used pistol for training, so I have the same sights on it as my edc's. I like the big dot front sight, my 6 decade plus eyes like them as well. They work quite well in low light.

 

[Mister X]

The factory sights should serve you well based on your intended use.

 

[JaPes]

Awright, whats up with the Hello Kitty?

It's to confuse the lawyers. "The Internet" says not to affix engraved back plates because it can play against you in court.

 

[JaPes]

The factory sights should serve you well based on your intended use.

Polymer dot in bucket that aren't self illuminated? On a range only pistol, sure. On a pistol that has an intended use of home defense / self defense, not so adequate.

 

[Mister X]

Polymer dot in bucket that aren't self illuminated? On a range only pistol, sure. On a pistol that has an intended use of home defense / self defense, not so adequate.

My perspective is considering the short distances, compressed time frames and general chaotic dynamics that define civilian home defense and self-defense encounters, as well as being an advocate of threat-focused shooting, what sights you have on your self-defense pistol will largely be irrelevant. Even with traditional sighted fire, I think night-sights offer no practical benefit and the usual proposed scenarios where they supposedly would be an advantage contrived.

 

[Kanewpadle]

To each their own. Night sights have their place.

 

[nocents]

+1 on XS 24/7 Big Dot on a self defense weapon....installed them on my 3913NL and soon to be on my other ccw an HK45c....though I do like how the HK luminescent sights glow...albeit short lived

 

[nocents]

To each their own. Night sights have their place.

...exactly right

 

[Brasky]

Tru dot orange rear and green front. The contrast makes picking up the front sight almost instant

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I purchased my Gen 3 Glock 19 with factory tritiums. Although they carry a micro Glock logo I think they are actually made by Meprolight marked MH3. Anyway... I don't think there's any downside to em other than price and that was only something like $40 over the standard sight gun.

What folks perceive as useful at night vs reality is something I think very difficult to recommend to someone else. That said, for "home" defense my opinion is that my Surefire XC1 mounted on the same Glock 19 is more useful at night than glow in the dark sights.

 

[WVSig]

Polymer dot in bucket that aren't self illuminated? On a range only pistol, sure. On a pistol that has an intended use of home defense / self defense, not so adequate.

I have night sights on a lot of pistols but I believe that their usefulness is a very narrow window which is often over stated.

-They are not really useful in complete darkness, you still need light to illuminate and define a target. That same light should allow you to see your sights.

-They make no difference in daylight or lit room situations.

Where they do make a difference IMHO is in low light situations like dusk. There is light present, enough to identify a target but maybe not enough to see your sights.

That is the only time they have an advantage and again it is only an advantage if you do not have a secondary light source. So many people advocate them on home defense guns but you are much better off with a secondary hand held light or a weapon mounted light and standard sights then just night sights. Too many people put night sights on a pistol and think that they are good to go and skip the secondary light source.

On carry guns the distances that you are likely to use your pistol at any sights will do because IMHO your draw, stance and your grip are going to be much greater factors in positive hits than your sight system. YMMV

To the OP I have shot XS big dot sights and they are fine for human sized targets but they are not any faster than standard 3 dots and for accuracy they are not as good. There was a time tons of people started using them in gun games thinking they would get a faster sight picture but in the end for most people it did not pan out.

 

[Tom S.]

Polymer dot in bucket that aren't self illuminated? On a range only pistol, sure. On a pistol that has an intended use of home defense / self defense, not so adequate.

Isn't that why S&W just purchased Crimson Trace?