Straight skinny on MEPROLIGHT/TRITIUM ???

[flash60601]

OK, I never have had a set of night sights. I have a couple "white dots" sighted guns, which I have never much real devotion to.

The advances of sight-technology and the decrease in my visual acuity (comes with the age, i guess) and the decreasing prices in the market have combined to make me thing, "Well....??"

So real-world experience, guys. Do you have them? What good are they, and what do you NOT like?

Let 'er rip!

Flash

 

[snowman]

flash:

I have them on two 686s which I have as house guns. As one might expect, they function only in low light or dark conditions -don't look for any benefit in daylight. They are very bright -the darker it gets, the brighter they appear(again no surprise, I suppose).

The only possible downsides I can see are: 1)installing the front one on a revolver is just a tad tricky; and 2)the front one on a revolver has relatively sharp edges which could catch on clothing, etc. when the gun is drawn, making it not the best arrangement for a carry gun(though the edges could be filed down).

You didn't say if you were considering them for a revolver or semi-auto -I have no experience with the latter, and so will let others comment on that application.

Andy

 

[Kanewpadle]

My eyesight is not what it used to be also. Night sights don't help at all in daylight. Low light, yes but not during daylight hours. I prefer a fiber optic sight. Truglu makes a combination fiber optic/night sight that works very well for me.

Also XS makes a good sight which is easy to see.

 

[1/74SIS]

All my carry guns have either Tritium or Meprolight night sights. The Meprolghts seem brighter, but the steel sights themselves are a little bigger than the steel on the Tritium sights. I get a better sight picture during daylight with the Tritium because the steel sights themselves are not as blocky to my eye.

JH

 

[Hook686]

The tritium sights work fine for a few years, but they do continue to grow dim with time. I prefer the meprolight to the trijicon night sigts, but prefer the XS to either.

 

[Faulkner]

My first night sights were Trijicons on my duty Glock 23 that I bought in 2001. Nine years later they are still bright and clear in the dark. I have since put them on every carry gun that will take them.

I actually shoot in the dark. I have to qualify annually at night and half the time I'm on duty it's at night. I absolutely love night sights.

 

[APS]

The only thing that I don't like about night sights, and I think the main reason why some others don't like them regardless of what they say, is that they are expensive. I don't think many would turn them down if they were free.
A tritium night sight with a white ring around the tritium tube will help you in the daylight (white ring on a black blade) and in lowlight (white ring and the tritium). Most self defense encounters happen in low light. Move around your house with all or some of the lights off and you will see where you can't see your sights but would be able to ID a bad guy in your house. That's when tritium helps.
All of my defensive firearms with the exception of my AR, get tritium sights as soon as I can afford them. The AR has an Aimpoint and the tritium front sights I feel are too wide for longer distance accuracy.
I don't put them on plinking or target guns For that purpose if you are having trouble seeing the sights, try fiber optic as others have mentioned.

 

[bronco45]

I have used Trijicon and Meprolight. The only ones I use now is the Meprolight. The light is brighter and the sight is square making it a better sight to use in daylight.

The sight is taller than a factory sight and I have to push a little of the post up through the rear notch to make the revolver shoot point of aim. With a little practice this works out quite well.

I've been using night sights for 20 years and wouldn't be without them.

 

[CLD1970]

I have Mepro's on my GLOCK 23. They are about 6 years old now and still do their job. IMO, they have a great sight picture day or night. When it comes time to replace them, I will go with the Mepro's again.

 

[Dogguy]

I have Meps on all my Glocks but no night sights on any other gun. I like 'em but I've never had any other brand to compare them to. I'm partial to three-dot sights anyway and the glow in low light from the Meprolights is gravy.

 

[kennyb]

i have them on a berreta 92d and a 3"657...love em!

 

[Bear Country 88]

One thing I want to mention: these night sights come in different colors and I think it's important to have a different front sight color. Perhaps one orange dot in the front sight, and green tritium in the two rear dots. If it's really dark and you're under a lot of pressure, you could accidentally line up the front sight tritium dot next to the rear sight dots instead of between the two rear tritium dots.

Mine have what looks to me to be a brighter (little larger) orange in the front, and slightly smaller but still very bright green dots in the rear sight.

Something to think about.

 

[Titan]

I bought a set of Meprolight tritium sights for my 686 and sent them back before ever having them installed.

Two issues...1) They just didn't seem bright enough to be effective in anything but near total darkness, and 2) Beyond the purchase price, you've got to pay a gunsmith to install them (at least I would have had to).

I found CT lasergrips to be a much better, user applied solution, that gave dramatically better results, for not much more money than Meprolights plus installation cost.

 

[David Sinko]

I never cared for tritium sights on a handgun. They encourage deliberate "bullseye" type shooting in the dark, which is far too slow for any kind of practical combat shooting. I find that they are great for qualifying in the dark and for winning IDPA low light matches, neither of which has any real bearing on reality. A good flashlight will be far more useful.

Dave Sinko

 

[OKFC05]

I never cared for tritium sights on a handgun. They encourage deliberate "bullseye" type shooting in the dark, which is far too slow for any kind of practical combat shooting. I find that they are great for qualifying in the dark and for winning IDPA low light matches, neither of which has any real bearing on reality. A good flashlight will be far more useful.

Dave Sinko

This is my experience too. As long as I'm shooting at known targets in very low light they're great (yes, I have a handgun with tritium sights).
But my real problem is identifying whether that shape is a legitimate target or somebody I better not shoot, and for that I need a flashlight.

By the way, tritium has a half-life of about 12 years, which means every 12 years they lose 1/2 of the remaining brightness. After about 18 years they are pretty dim.

Added: Putting on a fiber optic front sight helps old eyes find it, as long as there is some kind of light.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

I have Meprolights on my 9mm & 10mm Glocks. I recently installed one (easy to do) on my Ruger SP101.

I'm a fan of Meprolights, only have three guns with them though.

I find no issue of getting the front/rear sights misaligned. That does not seem to be a realistic problem for me as to do so my wrist has to be skewed to one side or the other. The Ruger only has the one sight on front, so obviously no issue.

 

[bronco45]

I only put a night sight on the front. At combat ranges that's all you will have time for. Front sight on center of mass. Press trigger, repeat, as required.

 

[38-44HD45]

My preference is the same as Bronco's: tritium on front, black rear. My second choice is yellow tritium rear, green tritium front, third, all green tritium front and rear. I've used tritium sights from Trijicon, Meprolight and MMC/IWI for many years. I like them, and insist on a tritium front on my carry guns.

One thing to remember is that on the Trijicons, which have their tritium vials embedded in sapphire (others are plastic or glass) the surface of the sapphire will become a little mirror in certain lighting conditions. It can be distracting. I learned this during an indoor IDPA match, and it cost me some points.

Glad you guys reminded me of this. I need to send a Beretta 92 slide back to IWI for a new tritium vial. It's about 12 years old, and has lost most of its glow.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Old thread, I know, but it helped me decide to put a set of Trijicon night sites on my M&P .45.

I wasn't that wild about the factory sites, and find a HUGE improvement with these especially in the day or high light situations. I highly recommend them and will be installing them on my glock 23 and 27 (only other guns I own, lol)

Man, this stuff gets expensive faaaaaast.