Getting a Glock, Night Sites or Fixed?

[jhs1969]

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?

[givo08]

1. I prefer getting Glock's with factory plastic sights on them and putting on aftermarket sights. I prefer Warren Tacticals or Heinie Straight 8's both with 2 dot configuration over any of the 3 dot config sights out there. Regardless, I don't think there is a shortage of glocks right now. Every gun show I've been to in the last 4-5 weeks has had the normal table full quantities at each handgun dealer.

2. I have never had an issue with bolt on sights. I put a small amount of blue locktite on the threads and have never had one loosen up at all. It actually seems like this would be more durable than the staked on versions.

3. The copper colored grease on Glocks is not a lubricant, it is a packing grease. This should be thoroughly removed and replaced with an actual lubricating grease or oil.

[jhs1969]

I was told that the only shortage is on special ordered Glocks, ie. with night sights. There have been plenty at local dealers and shows with the fixed plastic sights. I may have to go this route, I was hoping to get fact. installed night sights. Thanks for the reply.

[teufeldog]

Definitely get night sights. Either factory or aftermarket is up to you. They are even easier to pick up in the day time, for me at least.

[WitchDoctor02]

My vote would be for standard sights and replacing them with Warren Tacticals, Heinies, etc.

[Mike Driscoll]

My vote would be for standard sights and replacing them with Warren Tacticals, Heinies, etc.

Another vote for this choice.

[tpd223]

I do not care for the factory sights at all, nor any of the press fit front sights. I've seen them shoot loose to often, and they don't really tighten up after that.

I have never had an issue with properly installed Meprolights, Trijicons, XS Big Dots, or Warren sights.

They copper looking grease inside a new Glock? Glock says don't worry about it, and I've never seen an issue with it.
Here when we issue a new gun it gets checked over, then it gets about 1200 rounds put through it. Regular shooting and cleaning as part of the recruit training take care of the copper looking stuff.

One can use any good gun oil on a Glock, no need to hunt down special grease.

Mobile 1 works well across the board for guns in my experience.

[jhs1969]

Have any high volume shooters ever had any problems with the bolt on front sight becoming loose?

It has been a few years since I was shooting in a high volume capacity, I shot mainly Glocks during this time and usually shot with factory installed night sights. In fact I never had a Glock with aftermarket sights.

[tpd223]

Not once, and I shoot alot, so do many of the guys I work with.

[Mark71]

Have any high volume shooters ever had any problems with the bolt on front sight becoming loose?

The factory front sight on my Glock 34 came loose after about 600 rounds. I replaced them about a week later with aftermarket sights (like I do with all of my Glocks).

The 10-8 Performance rear with Trijicon front is my favorite set-up with the Warren Tactical rear sight a close second. Both these set-ups are MUCH better than the factory Glock sights.

[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...:p

[Terry]

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=20839

[jhs1969]

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=20839

Thanks for the link, I was set on Trijicons but now am re-thinkning the Warrens.

[WitchDoctor02]

Thanks for the link, I was set on Trijicons but now am re-thinkning the Warrens.

If you do, and are wanting someone to install them, you might look at Advanced GunWorks. They're linked on the Warren site, stock the sights, and usually have a same-day turn around. Good guys to deal with.

[Dave G]

I have tried lots of sight for Glocks too and always keep coming back to plain jane Trijicons.


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

[ROCKET20_GINSU]

For me the first thing I change out are the sights. I can't stand the traditional 3 dot configuration of the Glock Factory Night Sights and The plastic sights are even worse.

I may be particular...but since my first glock (3 glocks ago) I have never put a round down range with factory sights, to me its just a waste of time because after market sights are so much better. Its the first thing I change. 2nd, smooth trigger, 3rd butt plug. Great sights make a world of difference in my shooting and the front sight width to rear sight notch width (allows more light) really makes faster and accurate engagement and follow up shots much easier.

Heini Straight eights / Warren + Sevigney Night sights (2 dot) are the way to go IMO, and if you like Glocks pick up a rear sight tool, definately worth it as I like being able to set up my guns myself and installing and zeroing sights is super easy. FYI, on my carry G19 I have Heini Race Cut Straigh Eights, couldn't be happier...well I could if I could get my hands on the new crimson trace glock lasers!