All posts in Handgun Sights

Trijicon HD Sights indoors and outdoors

Many of the firearm manufacturers have caught on and are now making firearms with Trijicon High Definition Sights or Trijicon HD Sights directly from the factory.   One of the reasons buying firearms off of websites like Gunbroker.com and other places is you can do the least amount of gunsmithing and pick out something you want.   Sights and triggers and often grips are changed and it can add up to being a giant waste of money to have to take things off of a stock firearm to get it the way you want.  Trijicon products are all built around their famous Tritium and fiber optics for rifle scope and Night Sights.   There really isn’t a lot of competition out there and for robust and easy to replace sights, these are our number one “switch out” sights for handguns.

One of the main selling points of these sights is they do extremely well as night sights, but for outdoor shooting, the fiber optic is built into the front sight and glows extremely bright.  Trijicon HD Sights are purchased by Special Operations units, Law Enforcement and your every day CCW holder.   They are available in various patterns, front Yellow, Front Orange, and green dot rear sights.  Trijicon also has them in Novak configurations for 1911s and for those of you that might have picked up a Sig P320, the Trijicon Sights for Sig Sauer Pistols are the same as the P225, P226, P228, P239, and P320 (Excluding P938).

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Meprolight Nights Sights standard issue?

Back in the day it use to be that night sights were for your bedside gun or the gun you kept in the closet for home invasions.   Now, many police departments including my home town Police Department are issued their Glock 21’s with Meprolight Night Sights.  They are probable better described as high definition sights because they work very well during the day time.  It’s not all about how bad your eyes are, it’s all about how fast you can pick up the sights when aiming a handgun and how fast you get a sight picture.    I’ve found Glock factory sights and Sig Factory sights work well for me when I have light out, but in low light, these sights are outstanding.

The Glock 42 and Glock 43 have become extremely popular off duty firearms and it’s an easy transition from a Glock 21 or a Glock 27 to just a smaller version.   Meprolight Night Sights are available for all of the Glock Pistols as well as the extremely popular  Smith & Wesson Shield.    There are also very common on 1911 Variants and the majority of the Sig Sauer P Series handguns.  There is a lot of debate and comparison between Trijicon and Meprolight as far as the clarity and definition of the sights, but it’s the same as the Glock vs Sig comparisons.

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Trijicon Night Sights and High Definition Sights a great for young and old eyes

Trijicon High Definition SightsThere are plenty of good companies out there that are making night sights or high definition sights for firearms.  Whether you have 30/30 lever action, shotgun or a Glock 43, there are several companies like Meprolight, Tru-Glo and Trijicon that can get the job done.   I have heard some people complain about certain sights breaking on them but in all honesty you really do have to watch your gunsmith reputation or watch how you put them on.  I’ve seen sights break because someone that didn’t know what they were doing put stress on the sight while they were trying to push it on a dovetail and it ended of breaking on the firearm, at the range, most likely due to cracking.

Glock handguns are very easy to change sights on, one of the benefits of having a company design something right in the first place.   Even if you have good eye sight you should consider checking out the Trijicon High Definition Sights  because they work really well in daylight and I really don’t even like referring to them as night sights.  They are available for all of the Glock pistols as far as I know, even the new Glock 42 .380 handgun and the Glock 42.  There aren’t a lot of SKU numbers that you have to research either, The GL101 sight works on 85% of the Glocks and Glock 20, 21, 29, 30, 36, 41 are the GL104 and the Glock 113 sights for the 42 and 43.

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Viridian Lights and Lasers and customer sales data

Viridian Lights and LasersWe’ve seen a huge surge in customers looking for night sights and lights for handguns.   There’s good reason for this and night sights and high definition sights have greatly improved and many of them are great for even daylight.   When it comes to lasers, there are still some people frown on putting lasers on Glocks or Sigs or whatever it is they have in their home, but there’s nothing wrong with it or inhibiting if you train to use it properly.   Even though I’ve seen the difference between green lasers and red lasers at distances, for handguns, I don’t see much difference due to the fact you are at much closer ranges.

Lasers can build confidence for less trained shooters but I’ve found learning to point and shoot works if the student has the time to hit the range with me.  Viridian lights and Lasers have been around for a long time but I don’t know as many people that use them as much as I know Crimson Trace.   They have a broad enough product line for the majority of Glock handguns like the Glock 26, Glock 27,  Smith & Wesson M&P Shield and Sig 238 so they are obviously marketed towards Concealed Carry.  We have several Special Forces customers that said they are using the laser light combos on their Glock 17 handguns and claim that 224 Lumens is optimum for the work they do.   Not everyone needs the laser light combos so if you have night sights already and just want the laser, definitely check out Viridian Lasers

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Firearms Accessories are like opening a tool box, Crimson Trace Laser Grips……..

Crimson Trace Laser GripsOne of the best analogies I’ve ever heard when discussing a Mini 14 vs AR15 debate over on the The Firing Line.com was a debate about how crappy the Mini 14 was and how it didn’t hold up.   I remember a talking to someone that referenced that the difference between various rifles was the difference between a 9 iron, a wedge and a putter.  The Golf analogy has stuck with me and have often used it in Training, even when people talk about different ammunition from M193 to M855 and the M262.    Each one of those has a different velocity and terminal ballistics.    When the discussion is about Trijicon ACOGS, Eotechs and Aimpoints, the same analogy applies.   The AR15 is probable the most versatile firearm in existence and adding different optics and accessories to it can give you a short range advantage or a long range advantage and often, not both.

A good operator is going to know the limits of his firearm and push the envelope if even need be and the usefulness of Crimson Trace Laser grips isn’t going to be different than any of the previously mentioned topics.  One thing that I have recently proven to myself is that green lasers have an advantage over red laser grips at longer ranges.  One reality about firearm engagements is that “hits” are what count and being under stress is something that many never push themselves to train for.   Lasers are good for I.D. Targets and if you’ve ever been in low light situations the ability to point, still defend yourself and know where your muzzle is actually at, Crimson Trace Laser Grips might give you an advantage in your home or in your line of work.

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Fast shots while hunting

rifle sightsLots of things have changed pertaining to firearm accessories, back in the stay, putting  a side saddle on your shotgun or putting a rifle stock shell holder was considering “accessorizing” but now some shotguns have been modified and altered that it sometimes difficult for me to tell if it’s a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 590.   I have been eyeballing some of the hiviz rifle and shotgun sights for awhile now because even though I feel proficient with my Marlin 35 Remington,   there have been times in the morning where my rifle sights (iron sights) were difficult to see.  I’ve avoided putting optics on my level actions because I wanted to get the most out of the firearm with out adding weight or having a gunsmith properly mount it.

Several customers in recent months have had negative things to say about some of the red dot optics that are on the market and they claim that all they see is fuzz and “flaring” when they look through them, the truth of the matter is this is a common problem with red dot optics and why larger dots, although can obscure things at distance, give better clarity of focal points.   Many of the Hiviz rifle sights will give you the illuminated targeting for a fraction of the cost of an optic and I’ve heard great things about people putting them on shotguns and level actions.   You can get a bead or a magnetic front sight from Meprolite for a Remington 870, AR15, lever actions and even AK.

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Contrast is a good thing when aiming

Trijicon night sightsRecently a local Police Department told their Officers to not wear white t-shirts because it would be considered a target indicator for a bad guy and everything has to be black.    While some might laugh at this, it’s can be true depending on your risk factor.   There was much debate years ago with the Eotac vs Woolrich Elite lightweight operator pants because the Woolrich Elite pants, no matter what color pant you choose, had a strap by the lower ankle pocket that had a black strap on it.   If yo had Khaki pants, there was a black strap, if you had OD pants there was a black strap and many customers that were deployed in Iraq complained about this and went with the Eotac brand.   Think it’s stupid?  If you don’t understand, the point of camouflage isn’t always to hide the entire body, it’s also to help breakup what part of your body to aim at.  If you tell them where your center mass is, that’s where they are going to aim.

In regards to getting a good sight picture with handguns and rifles, moving away from black iron sights on a handgun is going to be beneficial.   Most self defense shootings occur in low light and lots of people are switching to Meprolite sights and the Trijicon night sights for their sidearms.   Several Police Departments are ordering their Glocks with Meprolite green front and rear, but the Trijicon High Definition sights have out sold them 10 to 1.    Glock sights are probable the easiest sights to change and locally we have a gunsmith that can do the change for about $35.   The Trijicon HD or High Definition sights are going to get picked up by your eyes in bright light and low light far better than relying on your factory sights that might only give you a white outline.

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