Is it uncommon to "shoot out" a tritium front sight?

[30 cal slut]

I've had a Trijicon tritium front sight on an M&P/9 since early 2008.

The tritium is basically gone. I don't recall knocking it around too much, other than the skads of rounds it's gone through.

There is zero useable glow left ... is this kind of thing to be expected? I thought they lasted a little longer than that (10 years?)

:confused:

[John_Wayne777]

I've killed them much sooner...generally because I beat the hell out of them trying to get them on the bloody gun. Tritium elements generally last more than a couple of years. Yours sounds like it was either defective or damaged upon installation.

[SWATcop556]

I've noticed that here as of late the QC at Trijicon seems to be slipping. I'm one of my dept. armorers and we've had several front sight failures. From the vial falling out to the tritium shitting the bed within a year. Not sure what to think but according to my armorers log it's been occurring more frequently. Anyone else running into this?

[Entropy]

I've killed them much sooner...generally because I beat the hell out of them trying to get them on the bloody gun. Tritium elements generally last more than a couple of years. Yours sounds like it was either defective or damaged upon installation.

Sight adjustment tool. Saves money in the long run.

[John_Wayne777]

I've noticed that here as of late the QC at Trijicon seems to be slipping.


Yup. I've had a couple of sights purchased in the last year or so where the lamp came completely out of the sight under fire. They are definitely having some issues of late, at least with iron sights.

[Entropy]

I've noticed that here as of late the QC at Trijicon seems to be slipping. I'm one of my dept. armorers and we've had several front sight failures. From the vial falling out to the tritium shitting the bed within a year. Not sure what to think but according to my armorers log it's been occurring more frequently. Anyone else running into this?

Yep. The white rubber, or what ever Trijicon uses around the vials seems to break down with solvent and cleaning. I just replaced the set on my duty P229 with some Heinies.

[orionz06]

Yup. I've had a couple of sights purchased in the last year or so where the lamp came completely out of the sight under fire. They are definitely having some issues of late, at least with iron sights.

I had the same experience.

[JHC]

I had one Trij front sight fade to black on me but I think I screwed up by casually hosing the slide down with carb cleaner during a cleaning.

[StrikeFace]

That's really weird. I've had Trijicons on my USP45 since 2001 (dim not dead) and I've never had any issues with them staying put. I don't use carb cleaner on 'em, though.

[SWATcop556]

Yup. I've had a couple of sights purchased in the last year or so where the lamp came completely out of the sight under fire. They are definitely having some issues of late, at least with iron sights.

Agreed. All of the issues I've seen have been with their handgun iron sights. Our dept. ACOG's are still GTG. Trijicon was my go-to sights when I was running a traditional three dot setup. I've been using Warrens and Ameriglos the past few years without QC issues.

[SWATcop556]

That's really weird. I've had Trijicons on my USP45 since 2001 (dim not dead) and I've never had any issues with them staying put. I don't use carb cleaner on 'em, though.

The older sights are GTG from my experiences. It's the newer production ones that have been shitting the bed.

[Safetyhit]

I had the same experience.


Wow. Not that I am going to jump the gun on these just yet, but as someone who was just about to buy a set this is sobering.

Think I will stick with my bright whites until this issue is explored a bit further.

[Tennvol12345]

I have a MP9C I bought last year and has maybe 10K through it. The front sight burned out and went dark already. Sent it back to SW and had it back in my hands in a little over a week. The gun came from the factory with Trijicon's installed (was a LE model).

I've noticed newer Trijicons aren't nearly as bright as they were and the white paint sucks for durability. I always laughed at TRU Dots but have a set on my PM9 that are whiter and much brighter than any Trijicon I've ever seen. Long term durability is pending.

[Tomahawk_Ghost]

I've had a set of Meps on my Glock 22 for 10 years now no problems and they're very usable. They've always been brighter than my Trijicons on my Beretta.


I always laughed at TRU Dots but have a set on my PM9 that are whiter and much brighter than any Trijicon I've ever seen. Long term durability is pending.

[StrikeFace]

Based on recent comments, I think I'll stick with Ameriglos in the future.

[JHC]

I don't use carb cleaner on 'em, though.

Good. Don't start. :D Sounded like a good short cut idea at the time, before I learned cleaning Glocks is largely a waste of time anyway. :p

I've got 6 other Trijicon pistols sights here that have all worked great for a few years so I'm not too worried as good as their customer service is. (that's what we say about S&W all the time)

[Omega Man]

I had 3 Trijicon front sights go dead, on 3 different pistols. The sights were new. I prefer Meps. Haven't yet tried other brands.

[SWATcop556]

Wow. Not that I am going to jump the gun on these just yet, but as someone who was just about to buy a set this is sobering.

Think I will stick with my bright whites until this issue is explored a bit further.

I would say stay away. Buy Ameriglo with confidence and they have many more sight options, styles, and colors.

Warrens are also another good choice.

[SWATcop556]

I had 3 Trijicon front sights go dead, on 3 different pistols. The sights were new. I prefer Meps. Haven't yet tried other brands.

My experience with Mepro have been lack luster at best. Granted a small sampling but enough for me to not try any on my personal guns.

[Singlestack Wonder]

I always had great success with Heinie night sights. I've got them on 11 pistols, the oldest of which is 9 years old and they are still running strong. No physical failures or tritium burnout.

[BillSWPA]

Both sets of Meprolight sights I had on my Kimber dimmed out after about 2 months of weekly shooting (150 rounds/week). Both sets were installed by Kimber. I haven't purchased another set since.

We'll see how the new Trijicons hold up on my guns - I recently had the MMC sights on three guns dim out, and those guns are now wearing Trijicon sights. I have had the best luck with Trijicon in the past.

[Tomahawk_Ghost]

I had a conversion with a local gunsmith that does a lot of work for local PDs. He said many of them are just going with weaponlights on their new guns and fiber optic sights. Several officers had problems with their tritium sights and don't trust them anymore.