Night Sight noob question

[jharr]

I am waiting to jail break my Sig SP 2022. It has regular contrast sights. I have seen people making decisions to buy one handgun over another based solely on one having night sights. That seems like a kind of esoteric qualifier to me, but I am a noob, so there must be something I am missing. In my mind, if it is dark, then night sights aren't helping you with target acquisition, only with sight alignment. If there is enough light to see your target, you should be able to see contrast sights too, unless you are walking from a light room into a dark room and your eyes haven't adjusted yet.

Could someone shed some "light" on this for me? What's all the hubub over night sights and why not just get a light/laser sight combo?

Thanks,
J--

[corvetteguy]

There is about a 30 minute period twice a day where you can see the threat but your sights aren't lit quite enough to pick them up. Also having a tritium front sight gives you something to focus on during a silowette

[corvetteguy]

Sorry hit wrong button!

... Silhouette shooting when you can see the contrast but your sights look like they are on the same plane.

I hope this explains a little bit of this subject. Let me know if I can explain it better for you.

David

[Ding126]

Also the eye picks up green colors faster, so now they offer green front and orange or yellow rear....There are reasons why LE pistols are issued w/ NS...it not a cool factor. I'm sure you can find many comments and opinions on NS or check out Trijicon or mepro to read their literature on their products

it's a honest question

[kanikas]

I agree with corvetteguy; I've taken a number of nighttime shooting classes, and twilight is one of the toughest times to acquire your target. Night sights help considerably when shooting in low light. Weapon lights and hand-held flashlights are also very useful, though I find they more effectively illuminate the target the darker it gets. Also, you can gain a big advantage by blinding an opponent with a bright light.

The majority of lethal force encounters occur in low-light scenarios. Assuming you will be using your pistol for self defense, both night sights and weapon lights are solid investments. Plus, it's always good to have a backup! Take a nighttime shooting class with a good instructor, and you will learn a lot.

[chesterthehero]

when theres a threat that needs shooting 5 feet away from you proper sight picture is your only chance of survival....

if you cant hit a torso sized target at 5-40 feet by simply pointing your handgun at it and pulling the trigger then you should be spending your money on ammo and shooting more insted of fancy toys...

IMO unless you do a lot of nighttime bullseye shooting night sights are a waste of money...

[Oceanbob]

I agree, night sights are a good investment. Certain shooting or self defense situations may require you getting on target in short order. A good set of night sights will help.

Another consideration is as I age, I simple cannot see at night as good as I once did....(ARRRGG)

So for me, a really good set of sights is mandatory. I run several dozen handguns and I have all the brands of night sights that are available. But for my eyes, Truglo Tritium fiber optic sites (in Green) do the job for me.

http://glockstore.com/pgroup_descrip/4_Sights+and+Lasers/7465_Truglo+TritiumFiber+Optic+Sights/?return=%3ftpl%3Dindex%26category_id%3D4%26_Sights%2Band%2BLasers%2F

I have several handguns on my desk in my room at night. And these sites are the brightest for my eyes.

The fiber optics gather light from above and feed it to the end of the tube. These 2 GLOCK 29s I own at glowing from the overhead light in my Gun Room.

At night the Tritium takes over and they glow just as well. So in my mind and for my eyes, they are good day or night.



Be well, Bob

[PRCABR4Christ]

I'm a tritium sight fan, my main carry gun is currently equipped with GI style sights, but I'm waiting on a tritium front sight to arrive for me to install on it, I'm only doing a front sight as well as I tend to shoot better with just a front sight rather than aligning 3 dots (I'm a fan of straight 8 sights as well)

I believe every advantage you can get on a defensive weapon puts you a step above anybody willing to do you harm, and tritium is one of those things that does that for me...YMMV

FWIW, when I'm done building my next AR, I'll stick some tritium sights on my current home defense AR...tritium works fantastic on a home defense rifle as well

[InGrAM]

Night sights are also good for older people that cannot see quite as well as younger folks.
I currently only have them on my GSR and they are fading but they still work well.
Any advantage you can get over an attack is a plus in my book.

[jharr]

I agree that every advantage is worth having. I just wasn't sure that night sights would be an 'adequate' advantage. This is going on my Christmas list this year...

http://www.viridiangreenlaser.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=77