What kind of pistol sights do you use for a combat/defensive application? And why?

[Ironman8]

Hey guys,

Wanted to throw this question out for a discussion on pistol sights in a combat/defensive application. What I am asking here is not what BRAND of sights, but rather what TYPE of sights do you prefer for a carry type of gun? And Why?

Basically, I want to know if you prefer all black vs tritium vs fiber optic sights (or a mix of each), serrated vs plain black sights, U-notch vs square rear sights, ect....and of course why. I think you get the point.

If you want to say what brand you have, then that's fine, but please don't throw a brand out with no explaination of the sights and why you prefer them.

This also doesn't have to be about any particular model of handgun. This is just a general discussion on the characteristics of pistol sights that you prefer for a defensive type of weapon system.

[d90king]

All of my hard use SD/HD guns wear plain black rears with a front post that has a high vis ring surrounding a trit insert. The orange circle really helps my first shots out of the holster 1.09- 1.2 at 3-7 yds and for me that is critical. I have found I am .50+ slower with a plain black front.

I prefer my rears to be serrated and to sit flush with the rear of the slide. They must also have enough of a ledge for one handed manipulations and charging the weapon.

I will leave the brand out but here are a couple pics of my preferred sights on my Glocks.

You guys are also getting a sneak preview of the new Vickers Tactical Glock baseplates. Larry and Tango Down will be making an announcement in the next week or two.

[Ironman8]

I'll start by saying that all I have ever used are the Trijicon Night Sights, which has the "three dot system" with tritium, square notch on the rear sight, and a squared off rear/front sight for one-handed weapon manipulation.

I like them for up close work and no-light environments since you can align the sight picture without having to illuminate your sights.

However, at a recent Kyle Defoor class, I learned a couple of things about them:
First, the three dot system will lead to a little bit of "oversighting", meaning you try to perfect the sight picture even though the one you have is perfectly acceptable to make the hit. This happens at both close and long ranges.

Second, the sight picture with the three tritium dots may not be the best for 20-25yd+ shooting. I don't want to blame everything on the gun, but I couldn't consistently hit at 25yds with my FS M&P. This may be part of the issues that many see with the M&P accuracy wise, but sight picture may have had something to do with it too. I actually got a chance to shoot one of the guys' G19s at the class (that had all black sights) and was able to ring steel much more consistently and at a more rapid pace. This is a mid sized gun out-shooting a full sized gun! Hmmm....the guy who let me fire a few rounds out of it did make the point that your eyes will be drawn to the closest, brightest light...which would be the rear tritium, thus throwing your focus on your sight picture out of whack.

SO after doing a little research, I saw a bunch of different answers as to what people use/prefer...which led me to my question above.

I did find Jason Falla's explaination about his sight system and really do like his methodology behind it...if only he made them for the M&P :

Here is the background and concept for these sights.

I have been looking to develop a set of Combat Sights for pistols for a couple of years now. I conducted a ton of research and tests of other brands, heights, widths, tritium, no tritium, serrated, non serrated etc to find the best combination that fits our shooting program methodology and TTP's.

The result was that I needed a reputable sight manufacturer that produced high quality handgun sights that had the desire to work with us in the development of this project.

Enter Hilton Yam of 10-8 Performance. I met Hilton at the 2010 Shot Show in Las Vegas and discussed the project with him. He was excited to help out and the project up and running.

We went back and forward to establish the parameters of the sights, height, width, etc. I finally decided upon the following specs;

REAR SIGHT FEATURES
1. Rear sight had be serrated IOT reduce glare.
2. Rear had to be .156 wide IOT provide a good combat sight picture.
3. Rear had to have the ability to provide positive grip on equipment during injury drills and one handed manipulations.
4. Rear had to have set screw to increase stability under combat conditions.
5. Rear had to accept co-branding logos.
6. Rear had to have square notch which supports our methodology of rapid sight alignment.

FRONT SIGHT FEATURES
1. Front had to be serrated IOT reduce glare.
2. Front had to be .125 for fast combat sight picture and long range work.
3. Front had to be .215 high for POA/POI at all ranges from 25-100yrds.
4. Front had to contain a .60 vial of tritium for low-light application. (We work to a 90% sight picture solution during presentation so that you will always have the front inside the rear notch every time!)
5. Front had to have positive grip capability during injury drills or one handed application, particularly for weapons with heavy recoil springs).

The 10-8 platform was the perfect fit! We made slight changes to the existing platform to massage our specs.

The result was the RB1 Combat Pistol Sight.

[Ironman8]

Haha beat me to my first post D90King. But thanks for the response...that is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Also, you can name the brand if you like. I just didn't want people to leave a two word response with just "x-brand", ya know.

ETA: I think GearScout made the announcement about the baseplates a couple days ago

[d90king]

Haha beat me to my first post D90King. But thanks for the response...that is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Also, you can name the brand if you like. I just didn't want people to leave a two word response with just "x-brand", ya know.

ETA: I think GearScout made the announcement about the baseplates a couple days ago

They did, they contacted me for my pics etc... That said the "formal" announcement from LAV and TD will be coming very shortly. It was a very rewarding project to be involved with and the product exceeded even my wildest expectations thanks to LAV's magic.

I definitely get what you were trying to avoid with the brand fanboys and I think it was a good call.

[Ironman8]

They did, they contacted me for my pics etc... That said the "formal" announcement from LAV and TD will be coming very shortly. It was a very rewarding project to be involved with and the product exceeded even my wildest expectations thanks to LAV's magic.

I definitely get what you were trying to avoid with the brand fanboys and I think it was a good call.

Sweet man, didn't realize those were your pics. Good job with whatever level of involvement you had in that project. Just looking at the design, you can see how well thought out they are.

[d90king]

Sweet man, didn't realize those were your pics. Good job with whatever level of involvement you had in that project. Just looking at the design, you can see how well thought out they are.

Thank you for the kind words. I will simply say I was VERY involved. Larry will be making an announcement shortly and he can share whatever he thinks is appropriate.

I will simply add that the changes he made to the initial design is what has made them a homerun. His execution exceeded my highest expectations and he deserves all the credit. Without him these would not be what they are. He knocked it out of the park. Thats why he is The LAV!

On a side note, I think you were at the class at Blackwater with me that got the ball rolling on these.

[Ironman8]

Thank you for the kind words. I will simply say I was VERY involved. Larry will be making an announcement shortly and he can share whatever he thinks is appropriate.

I will simply add that the changes he made to the initial design is what has made them a homerun. His execution exceeded my highest expectations and he deserves all the credit. Without him these would not be what they are. He knocked it out of the park. Thats why he is The LAV!

On a side note, I think you were at the class at Blackwater with me that got the ball rolling on these.

Yep I was there...I had a feeling that was about the time period that this project was born

[NCPatrolAR]

I prefer to use a narrow, serrated front sight with a green tritium insert without a white outline. The rear sight can be smooth or serrated (slight preference to smooth) with a wide, square notch and single tritium vial (prefer amber).

The Sevigny Carry sights from Warren Tactical are my favorite though I use Heinie Straight 8s when the Sevigny's arent available.

[JonnyVain]

All of my hard use SD/HD guns wear plain black rears with a front post that has a high vis ring surrounding a trit insert. The orange circle really helps my first shots out of the holster 1.09- 1.2 at 3-7 yds and for me that is critical. I have found I am .50+ slower with a plain black front.

I prefer my rears to be serrated and to sit flush with the rear of the slide. They must also have enough of a ledge for one handed manipulations and charging the weapon.

I will leave the brand out but here are a couple pics of my preferred sights on my Glocks.

This is pretty much my setup also - extended, black rear, orange (or green) front, serrated. I don't use tritium, I've got a plain black front with bright orange nail polish on it.

I'll add that I like a narrow front sight and wide rear. That way if I bring my sights up and the front is hidden behind the rear, it's easier to find. Not target accurate, but plenty combat accurate, and fast.

This is my old setup. .115 front and I think .180 rear. I replace the factory painted front with something a little wider because this one didn't set right and would turn slightly. Extended rear is actually on it's way right now.