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Sights

2K views 13 replies 14 participants last post by  jtq 
#1 ·
Sights

As I get older I find that it is harder to pickup a sight picture when the front site is all black, or has a tritium insert without any white around it.

I have one that just has white 3 dot sites, that is OK, but not great.

I have one that is the big dot express and that is super easy to pickup, but not the most accurate.

I have one that is three dot tritium night sights, without any white outline, and it was just about impossible for me to pick up the front sight unless I was in the dark. I finally put a small amount of paint around the tritium insert and it is a little better now.

I have one that is plain black, front and back, and have trouble picking up a sight picture unless I am in bright light. Even the lighting at your average indoor range is not enough for me to easily pick up a sight picture quickly.

I would love to end up with everything having the same type of sights, the problem is that there really isn't anyplace that I know of where I can go to actually look at the different types of sights. I don't really want to go through the cost, or the hassle, of trying a bunch of different types of sights hoping to get lucky with something.

Anybody know of anyplace in the Denver area where somebody can go in and look at several different types of sights in one trip?

How do the rest of you evaluate potentially new sights?

Any input would be welcome.

Thanks.
 
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#3 ·
Fiber Optic

I understand your problem. About a year ago my sight started to get a little weak. Front sight accusation became a lot harder for me, especially during extended shooting sessions. I was able to try a few different sight setups from other people at the range I belong to. The one I liked the most was a fiber optic front sight with a plan black rear sight. The fiber optic does require a small amount of light to function well. On cloudy days, I am still able to see it very well. the Fiber optic front sight is very easy to see and it makes my eyes focus on the light automatically, I don’t have to wait until my eyes find the front sight anymore.

Hope you are able to find a place to try out different sight setups. Dawson precision makes sights for just about every conman pistol.
 
#6 ·
For the all black sights, painting the front sight might help.

You should be able to look at lots of different sights at the next gun show. The range is probably happy to let you rent some to test the different sights on.

You can always change the color of the target to something day-glow. That should give some better contrast
 
#8 ·
How do the rest of you evaluate potentially new sights? Any input would be welcome.
Nothing works better for my aging eyes than a blacked out rear and a fiber optic front, they just seem to glow like a little led light.

Go to your local gun shop and see if they have any pistols with fiber optic front sights. Or, perhpas try you local range and see if a fellow shooter would let you try them out. Worse case scenario, put a blacked out rear and fiber optic front set on one of your pistols, if ends up not being a perfect solution for you, chances are it'll still be better than what you're currently using.

 
#9 · (Edited)
Fiber Optic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I understand your problem. About a year ago my sight started to get a little weak. Front sight accusation became a lot harder for me, especially during extended shooting sessions. I was able to try a few different sight setups from other people at the range I belong to. The one I liked the most was a fiber optic front sight with a plan black rear sight. The fiber optic does require a small amount of light to function well. On cloudy days, I am still able to see it very well. the Fiber optic front sight is very easy to see and it makes my eyes focus on the light automatically, I don’t have to wait until my eyes find the front sight anymore.

Nothing works better for my aging eyes than a blacked out rear and a fiber optic front, they just seem to glow like a little led light.

Go to your local gun shop and see if they have any pistols with fiber optic front sights. Or, perhpas try you local range and see if a fellow shooter would let you try them out. Worse case scenario, put a blacked out rear and fiber optic front set on one of your pistols, if ends up not being a perfect solution for you, chances are it'll still be better than what you're currently using.

The above two posts will get you where you need to be along with arranging to take your firearm to you optometrist to get your dominant eye set up for front sight focus. I have been using this combination for years. My current shooting glasses are set to intermediate distance (front sight, dominant eye) and long distance to see hits on target (non-dominant eye).
I thought this would be difficult to get used to but I adapted almost immediately except for weakside shooting. It sucks to bet old!
 
#10 ·
Hello Blackjack, When your eyesight changes so that it becomes difficult to resolve

the front sight blade, you do not need to go to a different design/color front sight.

You really need to make an appointment with your favorite Opthamologist and

get a prescription for dedicated shooting glasses that render sharp focus on your

front blade. In addition to this, It will help a great deal if you can get your rear

sight blade's notch widened. A workable ratio for rapid shooting is 1-1-1 for the

front blade width compared to the light bars created by the rear sight notch.

A common front/rear sight ratio for Bullseye shooters, is 1-2-1. That means that

the rear sight light bars appear to be 1/2 the width of the front blade when

holding the pistol outstretched in a shooting stance. All the ISSF pistol rules

require open sights only, and every International class shooter I've seen has,

all black sights. The majority of these shooters are wearing sight correction

shooting glasses. Best of luck guy; I'm 72 years old, wear glasses corrected for

front sight blade resolution and I compete in NRA Bullseye conventional pistol,

ISSF 10 meter air pistol and 50 meter pistol(known as Free Pistol). :)

Tony
 
#12 ·
I had the same problem. I couldn't hit using the white 3-dot sights.
I went with a plain black U-notch in the rear with a big white dot, tritium insert in front.


 
#13 ·
I had a pair of glasses made with mono vision. Dominant eye focus on the front sight other one for distance. Really works well with both eyes open. As for sights, it depends on what you shoot at. I like a black sights for target because I can't get a good sight picture with any of the big shiney front sights. A gold dot is good for combat/self defense as is fiber optic or a little red or orange paint on the front. I want black rear sights on all of them. For IDPA I only see the front sight unless a long shot.
 
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