View Full Version : Kyle Defoor Ameriglo Glock Pistol Sights
I wanted to take a few moments to write a quick review on a set of sights ive recently stumbled upon by accident that i am really, really enjoying.
These sights are the Ameriglo Kyle Defoor pistol sights for the Glock series of weapons.
For the record, i have tried a plethora of different sighting options on both the M&P and Glock pistols over the last three years of shooting pistols seriously and while i know what i like, i have never really settled on "A" sight setup for myself. Sights are largely a personal preference and knowing what you like is the majority of the battle.
For me, light ratio and sight size is more important than sight type when it comes to speed of acquisition and accuracy. I have settled on .115 thickness fronts and .150 rear notches. As i have mentioned previously i have tried Warrens, Trijicons, 10-8's, Heinies, Ameriglos and even the worlds greatest "Combat" sights, the XS sighting system.
My preference over the years led me towards the Warren Tactical sights for the solid serrated front fiber optic sight and the excellent rear sight with its .150 sized U-Notch.
Enter the Ameriglo KD Sights.
To me, these are the best of everything that the Warren offers with subtle improvements that i absolutely, positively dig.
For my front sights im a huge fan of serrated sight blades whether they are fiber optic, iron or tritium equipped. The KD sight set yields a solid tip of blade 6 o'clock hold at 25 yards on my Glock 17 and again, i dig this as ive been shooting Warrens with the same or similar hold for the past eight months. A few runs on a plate rack or shooting at low probability targets will really show you very quickly how awesome a six o'clock hold is.
So, long story short, the KD front sight offers a fantastic front that should prove to be fairly durable given its relative thickness. The serrations are sharp without being sharp to to the point of potentially being considered a weapon which i like. Ive seen some serrated sights that are so sharp they could draw blood (Dan Burwell Fiber Optic front). I dig it and all of its simplicity.
Enter the meat and potatoes of the review. The rear sight, the component of this sight package that sets it apart. At first glance, we have a standard Glock rear sight. Nope, try again guys, not even close. What we have is a purpose built rear sight that functions and functions exceedingly well. The KD rear features a .150 sized square rear notch that is generous enough for quick sight acquisition but tight enough to really wring out a ton of accuracy from your Glock. The rear of the sight itself has a slight negative rake to prevent glare but certainly is not as extreme in its negative angle as say the Warren Tactical sight. There are no serrations on this rear and i find this to my liking as serrations distract me.
Speaking of a negative angle on the rear sight. While i really do like my Warren sights one thing that ive always had a problem with is how "sharp" the sight itself is. Ive actually drawn blood several times when punching the slide into battery after a gun gets exceedingly dirty. Your palms will thank you for the lack of sharp edges on these things.
Now, here is something that i REALLY like. Its the little things that go into sight creation that really matter. The KD rear has EVERY leading edge beveled so that there are NO sharp edges or areas that will destroy your holster, pants, boots etc should you need to rack off of those objects. In the grand scheme of things, the importance of getting a round chambered trumps a torn set of jeans but IF i can have cake i sure as hell want to eat it too.
I am exceedingly impressed by this sight set mostly because of its simplicity and the little details that simply make it effective.
Thanks goes out to Ameriglo and Kyle Defoor for slapping their heads together and putting out something that we, the shooting public can seriously enjoy.
Thanks guys!
Here are some pics and a video in action. I will update as i have an opportunity to take a few more pics.
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/6571/defoorsights1of1.jpg
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/5426/defoorsights11of1.jpg
http://youtu.be/aB26kRUXVcE
I had these installed on my G17's and i find the work really well for me because of their simplicity. I learned at Tigerswan that 3 dot setups aren't the best for me because I focus on the dots rather than the front sight. I had considered an i-dot setup when i heard about the Ameriglo-Defoor sights here on M4C and because the price was right. I didn't get a whole lot of time on the range (I was on R&R from AFG) but the time i did get these worked really well for me from 7-25 meters, the fact that they are really affordable doesn't hurt either. Now that i'm getting into M&P's, i hope to find something similar.
mkmckinley
10-10-11, 02:32
Nice review. I love the pics. Ameriglos are the only sights I buy anymore. I wish they offered the Pro Glo fronts for more pistols but my Glocks and M&Ps are happily wearing the sites you reviewed. Great customer service too.
bornhunter04
10-10-11, 09:32
Where are these on the ameriglo website? I see a defoor tactical but the sights are all black and come in a set.
Also, how well do the fiber optics show in a lowlight situation? I have trijicons on my g23 now but just acquired a g19 with factory sights. The only fiber-optic i have to compare to is the tru-glo on my 870.
Glad this popped up today. I've trained with KD 4 times now and bought a set of those sights over a year ago and never used them.
Sunday I installed them on my G34 and went to the range.
Immediate "bomber" results. I have been using Trijicon Night Sights so my hold was about 3" low. The KD's are true POA/POI for me.
I ordered another set an hour ago and will install them on my Gen1 G17 for my next class. Best $48 I've spent in a while.
They get my vote.
-CQ
Thanks for your review. I've got a set on my G21 and love them. A vast improvement (for me) over the stock sights. At this time, I didn't feel like I needed a tritium or night sight and the price was right on these.
Nephrology
10-10-11, 10:41
How do these compare to the Ameriglo Hackathorns? I use those on all of my pistols, as I don't really believe tritium is super necessary but it is nice to have the option for dusk/dawn/light contrast situations.
Good call on this thread.
I first tried the Defoor sights when I won them in one of his classes. I've been using them since, and installed them on another of my Glocks, too.
Kyle deserves props, but so does Ameriglo. They've brought a number of good products to market on the request of guys like Hackathorn and now Defoor, and don't rake you over the coals on pricing. I'll be buying Ameriglo sights from here on out.
These really are great sights, and at the price they sell for, there isn't a big risk in ordering them just to check them out.
Mine shoot POA at 25 yards on both my G19 and my G17.
Where are these on the ameriglo website? I see a defoor tactical but the sights are all black and come in a set.
Also, how well do the fiber optics show in a lowlight situation? I have trijicons on my g23 now but just acquired a g19 with factory sights. The only fiber-optic i have to compare to is the tru-glo on my 870.
Sorry, i need to clarify something. The front sight blade is a pure iron sight, it does NOT have a fiber optic insert. The picture is a little misleading as ive painted my front sight with a thin red stripe.
The Defoor Tactical that you see on the website is the sight set that i am speaking of.
How do these compare to the Ameriglo Hackathorns? I use those on all of my pistols, as I don't really believe tritium is super necessary but it is nice to have the option for dusk/dawn/light contrast situations.
They dont really.
The Hack features a VERY generous U-Notch and a HUGE front sight.
While both options are a set of sights, they're vastly different in their execution.
Different strokes for different folks. If you feel as though you want tritium and you dig huge fronts and huge rear notches then the Hacks are a great option.
bornhunter04
10-10-11, 11:08
Sorry, i need to clarify something. The front sight blade is a pure iron sight, it does NOT have a fiber optic insert. The picture is a little misleading as ive painted my front sight with a thin red stripe.
The Defoor Tactical that you see on the website is the sight set that i am speaking of.
After i looked at it closer that's what i thought. So, next question, hwo does the paint hold up to wear and tear, solvent's, etc.....
I like the look of these sights and are what i'm after but i want a front blade that can be seen in lowlight. Also, what kind of paint do you use?
After i looked at it closer that's what i thought. So, next question, hwo does the paint hold up to wear and tear, solvent's, etc.....
I like the look of these sights and are what i'm after but i want a front blade that can be seen in lowlight. Also, what kind of paint do you use?
The paint holds up just fine. Any enamel marker is going to work just fine. I dont generally use alot of solvents on my guns so i cant really comment on that.
In regard to low light use, shrug, ive never been a fan of tritium as its never really done anything for me through the training ive done. Anything related to a gun in my home has a white light right next to it so whether its tritium, iron post or fiber optic my front sights all look the same when i illuminate whatever it is that needs shooting.
Tritium has its use but im just a range puke, im not actively hunting anyone in dark caves or meth labs.
Tritium has its use but im just a range puke, im not actively hunting anyone in dark caves or meth labs.
which, of course, you know does not imply that this is the only use for tritium sights. ;)
I always come back to tritium in my sights. I get rid of it, then I shoot at night and find that it does help me find the sight, and I go back to it. Because of this I'm limited to how narrow I can go on my fronts. It's nice to prefer narrower, but I need to see the thing first, focus on it second, and concern myself with width last. Tritium, and now the yellow ring on the HDs, helps me do that.
I don't fault anyone else for not using it, and certainly many who can shoot far better than me prefer not to have it, but we should avoid implying that it is only there for those who are active professional manhunters or, by extension, those that fancy themselves same.
Heavy Metal
10-10-11, 12:15
They dont really.
The Hack features a VERY generous U-Notch and a HUGE front sight.
While both options are a set of sights, they're vastly different in their execution.
Different strokes for different folks. If you feel as though you want tritium and you dig huge fronts and huge rear notches then the Hacks are a great option.
Remember, these are likely specked out different because one of the people setting his spec has eyes thirty years older than the other.
I always come back to tritium in my sights. I get rid of it, then I shoot at night and find that it does help me find the sight, and I go back to it. Because of this I'm limited to how narrow I can go on my fronts. It's nice to prefer narrower, but I need to see the thing first, focus on it second, and concern myself with width last. Tritium, and now the yellow ring on the HDs, helps me do that.
I shot a set of DeFoors a few weeks ago and the speed and improvements were astonishing. But in Seattle, we have rain/clouds/gloom much of the year, so I feel like I need a tritium front sight.
Dawn and dusk can last for hours here, so a tritium/orange front sight like the Hack makes a LOT of sense. At the same time, the 0.140" width isn't doing me any favors in the accuracy department.
So I guess the question becomes who makes the narrowest tritium front sight?
Okie John
Im going to have to agree with parts of what you said and disagree with others.
Without getting too off topic i have never found a tritium vial to be useful for much of anything other than learning techniques for faceshooting in the dark. The tritium vials if anything, are a distraction in LOW light as they can glint, reflect and obscure a good hard front sight focus for me. Tritium really only shines (ha) in nigh complete darkness.
I find the HD sights to be OBSCENELY fast when it comes to flash sight pictures but that huge orange/yellow ring AND the size of the blade does very little for me once im actually on the sights and running the gun. For ME, the HD sights would be even more effective if they didnt have the tritium vial.
I like the KD offering as they give me my acceptable light ratio to balance my speed and precision while remaining robust, offering alot of features in the way of one handed rackability (new word?) a great price and a great company backing them. Would i put them on defensive guns? Absolutely, without a doubt. In MY world, IF i do need to employ my gun defensively i will in my mind be reacting 99% of the time which means im going to be instinctively shooting the person off of me or IDing the target via white light prior to shooting. If im using a white light, with my eyeballs, tritium is invisible to me.
These sights are a great balance between defensive use sights and competition sights if there is such a divide in existence.
Remember, these are likely specked out different because one of the people setting his spec has eyes thirty years older than the other.
Absolutely but at the same time, they've also got tritium vials in the sights. They're set up for a different purpose from a gent with a different view on what makes a good set of sights.
Like i said, different strokes for different folks. The purpose of this review is not to say that there is ONE way in which sights should work but that this is MY way and people that dig what ive written might like to try them out for themselves.
We have a ton of options available to us as shooters and the more options people try for themselves the better off they will be.
Options and decisions based on first hand experience are always a good thing!
Question:
When using non-tritium sights, and you decide to paint the front sight, what types of paint do you use?
I'd be interested in trying out these sights, but I'd like some kind of "draw-the-eye" mechanism in-lieu of tritium.
Have you ever thought of using something like this perhaps: http://glowinc.com/detail.aspx?ID=37
If you feel as though you want your front sight to glow then go for it man. Give it a whirl and see how it holds up.
The Enamel based paints work very well and are fairly durable. The whole idea is that its really and i mean REALLY easy to touch up the paint should it start to chip, flake, peel etc. Its not something that i rely on, its merely a value add.
I personally dont like huge blobs of color on my front sights. I find that fiber optics or thin stripes of color aid in quick acquisition and also watching the sight lift and return to zero so to speak. The huge blobs of color, ala Trijicon HD sights are great for punching out and getting a soft focus to break a very quick, instinctive shot. When trying to get a hard focus on the definitive edge of the tip of the blade ive never really jived with that style of sight.
Again, different strokes for different folks.
"Mango" (orange) 1.77 Wal-Mart fingernail polish. I degrease well and use a combonation of the brush that comes with and a toothpick. I re touch 2-3x a year max.
The huge blobs of color, ala Trijicon HD sights are great for punching out and getting a soft focus to break a very quick, instinctive shot. When trying to get a hard focus on the definitive edge of the tip of the blade ive never really jived with that style of sight.
Thanks, that's an interesting way of thinking about it in a way I had not thought of it before.:cool:
I shot a set of DeFoors a few weeks ago and the speed and improvements were astonishing. But in Seattle, we have rain/clouds/gloom much of the year, so I feel like I need a tritium front sight.
Dawn and dusk can last for hours here, so a tritium/orange front sight like the Hack makes a LOT of sense. At the same time, the 0.140" width isn't doing me any favors in the accuracy department.
So I guess the question becomes who makes the narrowest tritium front sight?
Okie John
Ameriglo has a .125" tritium front.
I have a Glock 19 with a .140"W tritium fron and a plain black rear with a .165" notch. I have not found the wider front to be a hindrance in my accuracy out to 25y and it does pick up pretty quick for me.
That being said, I tend to like a .125" front and a .150" notch because I have found that a .115" front with a .150" notch slows me way down when I try to clean up the sight picture for a longer shot.
I would really like a .115 front in a .140" notch.
Serpico1985
10-11-11, 14:37
Ref painting the front sight:
I used a sharpie paint pen. I did a coating of white then two coatings of orange on my Heinie tritium front sight. It has held up very well and as others have said touch up is a breez. If you don't like it get some solvent and remove it, no harm no faul and your only out 5 or 6 bucks.
I bought a set of defoor sights and a set of heinie qwik sights for my 'on order' g 17. Not sure which ones I'll put on the gun. There is only a .004 difference between the two sets as far as how much light they let through the sides with the KD letting more through. I like that they sit lower than the Heinie's which would seem to affect a flater zero than anything else.
Magz,
Do you paint a line in the middle of the front sight blade as a 'eye drawing' feature and leave the top portion black so you can focus on it?
Serpico,
I actually painted the tip of the blade. Due to the serrations on the sight i can actually see very fine detail in the tip of the sight blade even under recoil.
Its pretty neat.
Experiment, find what you like RE: Stripe placement. :)
The Glock 19 I picked up came with a Defoor rear sight but a .90" front. I'm undecided as to whether to go to a thicker front. Is there any advantages to it over a thinner front?
jmlshooter
10-12-11, 14:24
The Trijicon HD's are the bomb-dot-com.
It's like they took all the best attributes of the 10-8's, XS Big Dots, and standard tritiums and combined them.
The Glock 19 I picked up came with a Defoor rear sight but a .90" front. I'm undecided as to whether to go to a thicker front. Is there any advantages to it over a thinner front?
I ran .150 rears and .100 fronts for a while and i found my "wobble" zone to be too big.
There is simply too much light around the front sight and too much deviation on either side that can result in thrown shots.
Its up to you to determine what works best with your eyes.
The Glock 19 I picked up came with a Defoor rear sight but a .90" front. I'm undecided as to whether to go to a thicker front. Is there any advantages to it over a thinner front?
Can you get us a sight picture? I'm curious how this set up looks compared to the Defoors
Not to thread hijack, but...
The KD Sig sights are pretty nice too. I've had mine on a P226 for around a year and love them. They are, as the OP mentioned, great for carry and don't have overly sharp edges.
Can you get us a sight picture? I'm curious how this set up looks compared to the Defoors
I will once I get back from work. The front is much skinnier than anything I've ever used, so while I prefer them over the set of Warren's I have installed on my 17, I'm not yet convinced by my personal experience that such a narrow post is beneficial for me. Magz is right, though, about the attention to detail that's apparent in the design and manufacture of these sights. The rear is beveled from its base to its top, mimicking Warren's "wave" feature, which prevents the human eye's natural tendency to focus on unnaturally shaped objects (sharp vertical or horizontal corners, in this case). The crisp edges of the front sight are a plus - and a danger at times, having pulled out stray fibers from my shirts on more than one occasion. Overall, they are a fine package.
I'm also coming to dislike tritium inserts in my front sights. I've done quite a bit of low-light training and found that my preferred set-up is to have either a weapon-mounted light or a hand-held one, and to leave it on while I shoot. My adversary will not be sitting still (who would with rounds incoming?) so while a glowing insert would allow me to make a shot in the diminished light that would hinder all black, steel sights, he could very well move into an area where target discrimination becomes a factor and where I need to employ a handheld. Add to this the varying levels of light within a domicile (going from perfect light to no light in a matter of feet), I believe it is absolutely necessary to have your light out and ready for use. As for accuracy, which is the sticking point when it comes to low-light, I have found shooting with a light on to be secondary only to using a laser (and I simply cannot afford to drop a 200 dollar set of CT grips on each of my guns). So this is what works for me. It seems like a huge departure from conventional methodology in low-light. Oh well.
Looking for a fiber front .115 width for the Defoors. The height needs to be .165 but I cannot find any sight to match this. I really like the Defoors but need the fiber for my eyes...
Thx
Contacted Ameriglo and they had the fiber in the same setup. Yeah
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