Fibre Optic front sights

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mikey1

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Hey Guys,
Spring is here and we Canucks can start prepping for the spring/summer season of what we love most....time at the range :)

Anyway, My question/s are this;
-What are the pro's n con's, if any, of getting fibre optic front sights on our handguns?
- Is it worth it?
- Do they work?
- Who has em, what you like don't like
- are they only good in lowlight situations (indoor range)?
I'm thinking of getting it for my sig, and my new baby, a Ruger mkii. So I would appreciate a few of the experienced guys n gals to give me your opinions (we all know everyone has em right ?). This way I can justify the cost of getting them.

Thanks
Mike
 
FO front sights are excellent for quick target acquisition. For my eyes, I only like them on the front sight. I like the back ones blacked out. Easier to find one glowing sight than 3!
Tru Glo and Meprolight make good ones. Some people have found that the fiber can dislodge with use. Make sure they are in tight. The FO can be replaced quite easily in most systems.
FYI, FO sights need a light source, however dim it may be. They are not like Tritium sights which glow on their own.
 
Thanks for the replies so far guys. I have a Sig p226 Elite Dark 9mm. Because of the model, it DOES have the sig nite sites, but as "still alive" pointed out, because all three are the same color, it's hard to acquire, line up and be ready to shoot in lowlight.

A few times I took it out in my room, UNLOADED of course ;) and tried wheeling to left n right to draw a bead on what I was trying to aim at. And I noticed it was a bit awkward and difficult to line up since all 3dots are the same color ! So my next question is, can one get different color FO sights? I think so but not sure. Ideally I'd like red. Then there's no mistake.

Before you say it, I know there are no indoor ranges that allow live fire in the dark. But I was thinking more along the lines of if I ever had to use it for home defence. Ie. A home invasion. I mean let's face it, scum bags that are into home invasions generally prefer the dark right ;)

Anyway, there you go, im pretty much sold on it, and I'm gonna check out those online stores you recommended
 
Mikey1,
You have option of using black paint/ nail polish and covering up your rear sights or buy the kit from Tru Glo or Meprolight that comes with both rears and front. I'm not sure about this but I think that if you only bought a front FO sight that it may not line up properly with the SIG standard rear sights. You can get FO in red but you can't get Tritium in red! This I know because I wanted a red tritium front and they don't exist! The best you can get for tritium is orange, green and yellow. The orange and yellow are quite faint in tritium.

Another thing...if you are concerned about things that go bump in the night, a FO may not be your best choice as it still needs a light source. In total darkness, the sight is black! Maybe what you want is a single tritium dot on the front only? Heinie makes a cool sight in this configuration.
 
Red is the most preferred FO.

Actually, for night time/dark rooms a flashlight and laser/electric red dot mounted is best. You see what your aiming at and have something that is pointed at the target. You will not see any iron sights when it's dark.
 
Pro's: Faster acquisition when you have available light (as stated by others)

Con's: They do eventually break or fall out and need to be replaced (cheap to buy a rod)
When the fiber starts to get too big, it is much more difficult to place an accurate shot.
Sometimes you will find you are concentrating on the fiber too much and not the top of the post which also can cause less accurate shots at longer distances
 
@ lejarretnoir, Totally forgot about a laser red-dot sights. Laser seems the best choice for little to no light conditions, PLUS you don't have to "focus" on the sight on target with the sights to aim. One can just look at what the laser is landing on. FO NEEDS light for it to function. I guess what I'm going to do at this point is hopefully run into a guy that has either, and try it out. Especially since red-dots are not cheap, not sure about FO's. In any case I would rather try one out before I buy one.
Thanks for the "pros-cons" advice on this.

***Can anyone add something on the Sig Tritium sights? I'm confused between the "Sig Nite Sights", and the Tritium ones.

And please, if anyone else has something to add further to this I would appreciate it.

lejarretnoir said:
Red is the most preferred FO.

Actually, for night time/dark rooms a flashlight and laser/electric red dot mounted is best. You see what your aiming at and have something that is pointed at the target. You will not see any iron sights when it's dark.
Click to expand...
 
Sig night sights have tritium with a half life of 12 years. In 12 years they will be half as bright And that is their approximate useful lifespan.

After that they become regular sights.
 
K thanks guy, I think I'm going to go with the FO sights. Now all I have to do is find the right one. Does anyone have any particular brand they would recommend for a Sig p226?
 
Johnnyjellybean said:
I'm surprised that none of the sight manufacturers have tried Luminox. Most of the watch makers switched from tritium to Luminox. WAY brighter.
Click to expand...

Curious. What makes luminox technology different than tritium? Their website is full of marketing pseudo answers. A quick search showed me nothing of consequence. I did note that they claim an up to 25 year lifespan. That could mean tritium, they just could have lowered the threshold of brightness for their purposes. In 25 years the tritium would be 75% dimmer.

Please share any insight you may have.
 
The tritium sights on my duty pistol are 13yrs+ old and still going strong.

The FO on my personal SR9 is great in any low-light to light condition. For darkness, you'd probably want a light mounted anyway? Which would put out enough light for the FO I'm thinking, but don't quote me. The FO on mine appears very durable and I have no durability concerns, but I do take good care of my stuff.
 
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