Getting a Glock, Night Sites or Fixed?

[John_Wayne777]

I've decided to get another G17, I've always ordered them with night sites but my dealer says Glocks are very hard to get right now. Should I go with fixed sights?

My personal advice would be to go with what you can get. Glock sights are pretty easy to replace anyway. I strongly recommend the Warren Tactical 2 dot night sights. It's the best sight arrangement I've ever tried.

I always felt the factory installed night sites were more secure than the after market bolt on front sights. Another dealer I know prefers the aftermarket bolt on front sight and says the tritium vials can be broken on the factory installed front sight, any thoughts on these issues?

I've never had any problems with aftermarket replacement Glock sights that use the little screw. The key is to get a good tool that allows you to adequately tighten the bolt and to use blue lock-tite (which should be in everybody's shadetree gunsmith tool-box) on the threads of the screw. I've seen guns with many thousands of rounds through them using that arrangement with no problems. All my Glocks have aftermarket sights on them (Warren Tactical sights) and they've been through thousands of rounds in training and practice with no issues.

Another question, I've always heard the anti-seize the factory applies to Glocks is the best lube for the Glocks. I may be able to obtain a high quality anti-seize, should I go this route with the Glock or contiune with Mili-tech grease?

Glocks aren't particularly picky about what type of lube you use. Just use a decent lube (I use EWL because I have a bunch of it I got cheap) on the right spots and drive on.

[Robb Jensen]

I've decided to get another G17, I've always ordered them with night sites but my dealer says Glocks are very hard to get right now. Should I go with fixed sights?

I always felt the factory installed night sites were more secure than the after market bolt on front sights. Another dealer I know prefers the aftermarket bolt on front sight and says the tritium vials can be broken on the factory installed front sight, any thoughts on these issues?

Another question, I've always heard the anti-seize the factory applies to Glocks is the best lube for the Glocks. I may be able to obtain a high quality anti-seize, should I go this route with the Glock or contiune with Mili-tech grease?

Glock factory staked on front sights sometimes come lose and even with their front sight tool many times you can't get the front sight tight. Aftermarket Trijicon and Warren Tactical night sights are much better.

A Glock should be lubricated with any oil made for guns, I would recommend using grease. The anti-seize is installed from the factory and shouldn't be used after it wears off or comes off when you clean it.

[JonInWA]

I'd recommend going with the nightsights from Glock-specifically the Trijicon nightsights, which are one of the two nightsights available from Glock installed on the gun by Glock at the factory. The Trijicons have a very crisp sight picture, and a thinner front sight blade that Glock's proprietary nightsights (which are Mepro's badged with the Glock logo); the thinner front sight blade provides for greater "light bars" when the sights are aligned, speeding up sight acquisition and alignment in my experience. The original Glock polymer front sights are notorious for their relative fragility if accidently wacked against a solid object, and are also subject to holster wear, particularly if one's holster of choice lacks a proper sight channel.

Alternatively, as has been mentioned by others, there's certainly nothing wrong with getting the gun initially with the polymer sights and replacing them with the aftermarket sight setup of your choice. It is significantly cheaper, however, if you're going to go either the Trijicon or Meprolight route anyhow just to get them from Glock from the onset.

That said, there's certainly nothing wrong with the Glock/Mepro night sights; they have a slight advantage in that they're also Tenifer treated (as a rust preventative) and are warranted by Glock for 15 years (as opposed to the Trijicon 12 year warranty).

Both the Glock/Mepro and the Trijicon frontsights if provided by Glock as the original sights from the factory are crimped on. While my personal feeling is that the screw-on method of attachment is a bit more secure in the long run, I've had no problems with the Trijicon crimp-attached by Glock on my G19, which I heavily use for carry and IDPA.

The copper lube on your slide rails is an anti-seizure compound by Fel-Pro. There is absolutely no reason or need to remove it; Glock specifically says to leave it there and let it work in/work away. On the other hand, if you feel compelled to remove it, you're not harming the gun. There's just really no reason to remove it-just lube over it with the famous "one drop of lubricant" per slide rail groove. However, I wouldn't recommend going the anti-seizure route as a substitute for a proper lubricant, though. Just go with a good gun-specific lube; there are plenty available (my personal preference is Weapons-Shield), with TW25B used as a light grease on the locking block/barrel lug camming points and in the triggerbar/connector interface point.

Best, Jon

[xray 99]

The copper stuff should be left on the slide and simply "shot away."

[SpartanArms]

jhs1969,

I would definitely go ahead and purchase the G17 with the factory 'plastic' sights and then replace them with a quality aftermarket vendor sight of your choice (good ones that come to mind are: Trijicon, Heinie, Warren, 10-8).

As a gunsmith I have not had an issue with any of the aftermarket sights I have put on my personal Glock pistols (usually Heinie or 10-8) or any of those put on customers Glocks. Granted, my guns probably see a higher round count than a lot of my customers guns do...however I do have a few customers who shoot IDPA with their Glocks and they see some pretty high round counts. The main issue is to make sure the front sight is properly installed and definitely use blue locktite. If installed properly you shouldn't have any issues with a quality aftermarket front sight coming loose.

As far as lubricants are concerned, I would use whatever quality firearms lubricant you prefer. I personally use a lot of SLiP 2000 products, but there are other lubricants that will work just as well. Some guys do use grease to lubricate Glocks, but I have never tried it. You should be fine with grease if you choose to use it, as long as you keep it away from the firing pin channel...that could cause some issues. The only grease I can personally recommend would be TW-25B which is an excellent product...I personally use it on 1911s though.

+1 on what gotm4 said. The copper colored stuff on the underside of the slide is factory applied anti-seize compound and should not be reapplied. I believe the manual states it should be allowed to wear off, but I have seen it removed through normal cleaning and it hasn't caused any issues.

[jhs1969]

Thanks for the advice guys, I picked up a new G17 this afternoon. It has the fixed plastic sights, will get this replaced soon. Only found two in Knoxville, both were $550 ea. Drove an hour and half and got one for $500.

When replacing the front sight would it not be a good idea to use red locktite over blue for a stronger bond? I have both just thought the red may hold better/last longer.

Thanks again

[Littlelebowski]

The blue is all that you need. The red will cause headaches down the road.

[JonInWA]

I agree. The blue locktite is sufficient; if you ever decide to change the front sight out, you'll be able to relatively easily break the blue locktite's bond. With the red locktite, you'd need to apply heat to break the bond.

Best, Jon

[torrpd]

+1 on Blue

[USMGoldenEagle]

Sights? I never use my sights on my glock 23.

But then again, I have a supernatural ability that allows me to aim perfectly and precisely up to 30 yds without even looking down the barrel.

If I was mortal like all of you, I would go with the aftermarket night sights...