To night sight, or not?

[otis24]

The Trijicon night sights in my recently aquired S&W 3953 are dead. I can get them rejuvenated for $57 and whatever it costs me to ship them back to Trijicon.

Are Trijicon night sights naturally luminecent or do they need to be in the light to activate them? My firearm stays in the safe until it is needed, and then carried in an IWB holster whilst on my person. Thus, never exposed to light.

I've debated about sending them in to be refurbished. I don't want to be without my firearm for four to six weeks. I'm thinking of slightly drilling out the "dots" where the Trijicon lamp is located and just filling it in with some orange paint (front) and white paint (rear).

Thoughts/suggestions????

 

[Oscar Zulu]

I am a fan of night sights. I have actually come to prefer a lamp on the front sight only.
Trijicon night sights are self illuminating so they will work without exposure to light, for a few years anyway. I believe the green color is brighter and may last longer than other colors.
There are other companies that will either relamp or replace entirely dead sights with a much faster turnaround than the time frame you expressed.
Good luck!

OZ

 

[stansdds]

Do not drill night sights. The "dot" contains a tiny vial of tritium. Granted, by now it is mostly inert, but the tritium may still be a little radioactive. Send the slide to Trijicon and get them re-lamped.

 

[BMCM]

The lamps in those sight are tiny vials filled with radioactive tritium gas in combination with a phosphor material. As the tritium gas decays it emits electrons which excite the phosphor causing it to emit visible light. The lens in the vial that allows the light out is synthetic sapphire, you're not going to drill through that without a diamond drill.

Trijicon bills $19 per lamp to install new lamps in the sights and you get a fresh transferable warranty to go with the new lamps same as if the sights were purchased brand new.

If you don't want the night sights anymore or would rather a different sight arrangement, I'd suggest bumping them off the gun and fitting a set of non-tritium sights instead of modifying those you have. Those night sights for these old S&W pistols are no longer manufactured. It'd be a shame to ruin them.

Typical turnaround for sight re-lamping @ Trijicon has been, in my experience inside 10 business days after receipt there in Michigan. And, I've sent no small number of sight sets in for re-lamping, both my personal stuff and for clients guns.

Cheers
Bill

 

[Birdhunter6]

More expensive but simpler and quicker to just replace the sights. Your sights will work perfectly without exposure to light when not in use. I don't change out sights until immediately before a range trip to allow for fine tuning.

I used 3 dot tritium sights for 15 years. I train and practice with the same tools I carry and keep for home defense. Eventually decided that the dots on the rear sight distracted from front sight focus, particularly for precise shooting at ranges beyond 15 yards.

I use the Ameriglo I Dot sights now. They feature a small tritium dot below the base of the rear sight notch and a conventional front sight tritium dot. On the range the rear dot is not noticeable but it's right there when needed in low light. Just 'figure 8' the big dot over the small.

 

[Birdhunter6]

Sorry, other smarter people typing while I was.

If replacement sights aren't available for your pistol relamping is probably the best option.

 

[otis24]

Well, okay then! I guess I will be sending my slide off to Trijicon after all!

 

[jsbethel]

My recent timeline -
sights rec'd by Trijicon - 1/12
quote sent - 1/16
credit card charged - 2/8
rec'd sights 2/11
I did not receive tracking information from Trijicon or UPS this time but I have in the past. If you have law enforcement credentials, they will move you up in line.

 

[otis24]

My recent timeline -
sights rec'd by Trijicon - 1/12
quote sent - 1/16
credit card charged - 2/8
rec'd sights 2/11
I did not receive tracking information from Trijicon or UPS this time but I have in the past. If you have law enforcement credentials, they will move you up in line.

Thanks for sharing! Slide was sent via USPS on Saturday. Tracking shows it should arrive at Trijicon on Valentines Day. I’m having a green lamp put in the front sight and yellow in the rear. With a 12 year lifespan, that should last me until my 70th birthday. I’m hoping that I will be able to purchase my Star Trek phaser by then!

 

[JJEH]

Thoughts/suggestions????

If you only have this one gun, replace the sights locally, then send in the old ones to HQ and have them fixed. You can resell them or keep them as a backup.

If you have more than one gun, then I'd send in the slide and wouldn't worry about the wait.

Trijicon is a top company, and it will be worth it either way.

Slide was sent via USPS on Saturday.

Guess I should have read all comments

 

[otis24]

I will update my slide's journey timeline to Trijicon as it occurs, for those interested.

02-14-23 Slide received by Trijicon

02-15-23 Email from Trijicon confirming receipt and letting me know that pistol will be diagonsed and someone will be in touch with me soon.

02-17-23 Rec'd quote, called with payment information.

03-03-23. Card charged, Received notification slide shipped, estimated delivery 03-08-23

03-09-23 Deliverd, one day later than anticipated due to weather delays. Receipt by Trijicon and back to my door, postage paid, 23 days and $57. Excellent!!!!

 

[CH4]

Or you can paint the front dot white and rear dots black.