Dport
07-02-06, 10:10
I'm not handgun sight expert, although I have spent more money than I care to admit on alternative sights. I want to share my experiences and solicit your experiences.
Ghost Ring sights. Great on rifles and shotguns, not so much on handguns. The trick to getting a ghost ring to work is to keep it close to your eye so you can't focus on it. Even though you can't focus it, your brain is aware of it and instinctually you'll center what you're looking at in the ring, like a front sight for instance. The problem with having them on handguns is you can still focus on the ring. You still have three focal planes, the rear sight, the front sight and the target (on a rifle you only have two, the front sight and the target, since the rear sight cannot be focused on). The upside is if you can see the front sight, which the ring readily allows, you can get fast COM hits.
Xpress sights. From what I can tell, this idea came from African hunting rifles. If you're hunting dangerous game that can come up on you fast you want a sight that doesn't take a long time to line up. I've had experience with them, and while they are fast, I didn't find them to be very precise. However, I have seen video of someone hitting a popper target with them out to 100 yards. Some people seem to swear by them. I'm unconvinced as of now.
Suresight. This sight is an attempt to combine the speed of Xpress sights and precision. It's basically an express sight with a pointed (triangular) front sight. I have gotten a promise from the inventor to get one of the first batch of the new design for evaluation. It holds promise, but I wonder about the execution. The biggest downside, supposing it works as advertised, is its lack of tritium illumination as an option, for now.
Lasers. When I first had a laser it was not much more than a cat toy. I have since re-evalutated that position and seriously considering one.
Ghost Ring sights. Great on rifles and shotguns, not so much on handguns. The trick to getting a ghost ring to work is to keep it close to your eye so you can't focus on it. Even though you can't focus it, your brain is aware of it and instinctually you'll center what you're looking at in the ring, like a front sight for instance. The problem with having them on handguns is you can still focus on the ring. You still have three focal planes, the rear sight, the front sight and the target (on a rifle you only have two, the front sight and the target, since the rear sight cannot be focused on). The upside is if you can see the front sight, which the ring readily allows, you can get fast COM hits.
Xpress sights. From what I can tell, this idea came from African hunting rifles. If you're hunting dangerous game that can come up on you fast you want a sight that doesn't take a long time to line up. I've had experience with them, and while they are fast, I didn't find them to be very precise. However, I have seen video of someone hitting a popper target with them out to 100 yards. Some people seem to swear by them. I'm unconvinced as of now.
Suresight. This sight is an attempt to combine the speed of Xpress sights and precision. It's basically an express sight with a pointed (triangular) front sight. I have gotten a promise from the inventor to get one of the first batch of the new design for evaluation. It holds promise, but I wonder about the execution. The biggest downside, supposing it works as advertised, is its lack of tritium illumination as an option, for now.
Lasers. When I first had a laser it was not much more than a cat toy. I have since re-evalutated that position and seriously considering one.