New Sight Recommendations For G17

[Father of 3]

For the last year and a half I have been running XS Big Dots on my G17. They are great for quick acquisition and I have in fact ordered some for my Shield. However at distance they completely cover the target and this gun is more in the HD/range toy role now that I have my Shield. I am considering getting another sight setup, possibly fiber optic or the Trijicon HD's. What are your thoughts on the following?

Trijicon HD
TruGlo TFO
Warren Tactical
10-8 Performance
Dawson Precision

Of the fiber optic options above, how are they different?

Please advise.

[walker2713]

Depends on what you're going to use the pistol for....

Carry? Competition? Home defense?

For all around use, I suggest you take a look at the Dawson serrated black rear, fiber optic front sight combo. For older eyes especially, that front sight really snaps out.

[nate89]

I'm a big fan of a black rear, fiber front. My Sig 226 came with a TFO front sight and sig night sights on the back. I colored the back ones with a marker and like it as is. The tritium shows through the marker, but isn't in the way during the day. The TFO has a fairly large fiber, bigger than the warrens for example.

[Aragorn77]

FWIW....
I have Trijicon HDs on My G27. I like the nice wide rear U notch. I also like the orange accent on the front sight. They are very easy to pick up in the day light. Very solid, but they are a little bulkier than some.
Not a big TFO fan, so I have no experience there.
The Warren Tactical/Sevignys are nice. They remind me of the 10-8s. My personal dislike is they use a square notch rear sight, but you might like that. They were priced right as I recall.
10-8 are hands down my favorites. They use a plain, serrated U notch at the rear. I personally prefer their .156 notch for quick target acquisition. They also offer a .140 rear for greater accuracy. What I think is great about 10-8, is their front sight are sold separately. Aside from fiber optic, they also offer brass bead, plain, and tritium in three different widths and heights.
My only dealing with Dawson so far has been a FO replacement front sight for a 22/45. It fit perfectly and was nicely made. I've also had good luck with a variety of night sights from Ameriglo as well.

[kevN]

This has been discussed to death on here recently. Use search.

I have used all of the listed except TruGlo, and can vouch for all of them as being solid sights each having their own advantages. Certain TruGlo's don't have a great reputation standing up to abuse IIRC.

[Ron3]

It's personal preference.

Also pay attention to width of the rear sight notch and width of the front sights. Do you want bigger? Finer? More gap or less? Bright front and rear or just front?

I used Big Dots for years on a Glock 19. They are so fast to pick up and accurate enough at 15 yards and under or so. 10 more yards back and you'll find the "area of dispersion" gets pretty large and hits aren't even "good enough" anymore.

Then I decided that with practice I can get "good enough" at 15 yds without sights at all. Didn't need the Big Dot. Of course further back when I want precision, the Big Dots do not provide it.

And then I came to the conclusion that "good enough" is for rapid fire at very close ranges. A six or eight inch group is okay because there will be 6 bullets in there in under two seconds. Probably going to hit something vital. But aside from that, "good enough" isn't. Bullets need to strike the brain, spine, and at least the heart if we want to end the threat. When we get on sights we need to be precise with them. A four inch group is acceptable to me because that should get us a brain or heart shot. That's also about the capability of our pistols at 25 yards with common ammo.

Therefore if the sights can't shoot the capability of you and the pistol they aren't good enough.

So IMO the big dots on my Glock 19 weren't good enough. But they would be fine on a pocket gun.

I like precise sights with a bright front and dark rear. I also like them fixed and the rear shaped properly so I can rack the slide with it. (And hopefully without getting cut)

Since that's what I like that's what I recommend.

Other things you asked about:

Fiber optics are nice and bright. Some people have had them fall out but even if it does you still have the frame of the sight to aim with.
I don't recommend the HD's. They are huge and only slightly more precise than the Big Dot you have. I see people with HD's in different colors and they seem really busy.

[teutonicpolymer]

Consider TTI sights as well- they are stainless steel

Dawsons are a solid choice and have lots of options for sizing but they can rust

[Father of 3]

Hey guys thanks for the input so far. Looks like the HD's may not bring enough change from the Big Dots. What started all of this was I shot a Zev G19 with fibers and was amazed and how much more accurate I was. Speed is fine (big dots) but accuracy is final, right? I am really leaning towards fibers at this point. Great info, keep it coming.

Head to head how does 10-8 stack up against Dawson? What do you guys prefer for width of the front and rear sights?

[teutonicpolymer]

Haven't tried 10-8 but I can tell you that at the end of the day it is all personal preference. Of the Dawson combos I have tried my favorite is the .230" tall, .125" wide front sight with a .250" tall, .135" notch width rear sight. You may need to adjust the front sight height to suit you and your pistol.

One option for you is to keep the big dot front then get a Dawson black rear sight.

[JonInWA]

FWIW....
I have Trijicon HDs on My G27. I like the nice wide rear U notch. I also like the orange accent on the front sight. They are very easy to pick up in the day light. Very solid, but they are a little bulkier than some.
Not a big TFO fan, so I have no experience there.
The Warren Tactical/Sevignys are nice. They remind me of the 10-8s. My personal dislike is they use a square notch rear sight, but you might like that. They were priced right as I recall.

10-8 are hands down my favorites. They use a plain, serrated U notch at the rear. I personally prefer their .156 notch for quick target acquisition. They also offer a .140 rear for greater accuracy. What I think is great about 10-8, is their front sight are sold separately. Aside from fiber optic, they also offer brass bead, plain, and tritium in three different widths and heights.
My only dealing with Dawson so far has been a FO replacement front sight for a 22/45. It fit perfectly and was nicely made. I've also had good luck with a variety of night sights from Ameriglo as well.

The Warren Tactical variant has a U-notch; I like both them and the Warren/Sevigny Carry sights.

Best, Jon

[Mer2112]

The GL-701 kit is the best value for the money in my opinion. Tritium front with a bright yellow outline and serrated rear. Great combo.

https://www.ameriglo.net/catalog/sights/pistol-sights/glock/special-combinations

[PKendall317]

I run the Trijicon HD's on my G19, haven't gotten around to purchasing them for my G17 yet. I'd definitely recommend them. I've noticed that since I put them on my 19 that I can pick up the front sight faster and get on target faster than when I'm using the factory Glock sights.

[Maverick07]

I have Trijicon HD's with the orange front sight mounted on my G19 Gen4. Excellent target acquisition, well thought out sight picture and the orange stands out to draw your eye. Orange is supposed to be the least common color in the natural environment so you will have lesser risk than yellow of target/sight blur. I am in my late 40's and stock or conventional night sights do not cut it anymore. Brought a smile to my Gomer eyes the first time I shot my newly equipped G19. They look bad ass as well. Going with the two is one, one is none philosophy and have a second G19 Gen4 on order. The first thing I plan to do after this purchase is having Trijicon HD's installed.

[DWood]

Ameriglo Hackathorns are my go to sights. Tritium front with a painted orang ring. Black serrated rear sight. Wide notch with square bottom. I prefer the square to the U notch. It doesn't hurt that they are also cheaper than HD's.

I found this photo on the net.28932

[buckshot1220]

Ameriglo Hack here as well. Fast target acquisition with the orange around the tritium up front, but can also be shot very accurately at distance. It is all personal preference.

The only ones I don't like are the Tru-Glo, or any fiber optics really. Maybe things have changed recently, but I broke enough Tru-Glo and fiber optic style sights on my shotguns to know that I don't want them anywhere near my defense gun. Again, maybe things have changed, but that's my .02.

[philcam]

I really like the Warren Sevigny Carry with tritium inserts.

[jp0319]

Trijicon HD, I have a few other varieties (Warren and Ameriglo) on one or two pistols but for the most part I am transitioning to Orange HDs on everything I have as I am able to. Nice wide U rear with a very prominent front dot that is easy to acquire.

[Voodoo_Man]

I am a huge fan of Triji HD's

http://i.imgur.com/zXWzzRt.jpg

I am in the process of doing a review on several Ameriglo sights, (Pro-I, Defoor and CAP sights). I really like them all, but the HD's are my EDC carry sight.

[sasage]

Currently running the Hacks but swapping the rear to a 10-8 u notch

[jpmuscle]

I have Warne tacs on my g17 with the fiber optic front. Love them for what they are. My only knock is that the length of the fiber rod on the front is very short compared to other sights so its overall light gathering ability is somewhat limited in anything except bright daylight.