new guy has ? about fiber optic sights

[tahunua001]

hello all,
I'm in the process of getting a ruger SR9C as my first concealed carry gun and had some questions concerning sights.
Ruger sells a number of different fiber optic sights that are all compatible with all of the SR series pistols(minus the SR1911) and come in:

green and red front sights
green and red Hiviz front sights
red fiber rear sights
and then your standard white dot iron sights.

the only time I've shot a gun with fiber sights was when my brother pulled the beads off his shotgun and replaced with a three dot fiber system(green front and red rear dots). it definitely made target acquisition faster but I don't know if it was the fiber sights of the fact that it was 3 dot over beads.

for a hand gun do fiber sights affect target acquisition and accuracy at all or would I be better just leaving it with the stock white dot irons?

of the available colors what would be the best setup?

I'm looking more at low-medium lighting conditions since it's for a CCW but advice for full light would be welcomed as well.

thanks in advance for your input.

 

[ConradM]

FO's most definitely help with getting a fast sight picture. I use them on my HD gun and my comp gun. As far as what color to get, I would recommend get a front sight with a removable rod so you can try different colors. Something like Dawson Precision.

For as rear sight I use a plain black serrated. The plain is less distracting and the serrations keep glare down.

 

[cruzerlou]

Hey tahunua001,WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!!
I have a set of TRU-GLO T.F O's on my Glock Gen4 G-22 duty gun and they are BIG and Green and glow bright in any light .They are great fof a defencive hand gun ,alowing super fast target/sight accquistion .The last time I did my night quals, one or the range masters saw them and wanted to try my gun ,he said he was going the next day to have a set installed on his duty and off duty guns.I perfer green on green ,but thats me .I have a set it fiber optics on my inline black powder and the front is red and the rear are green this works for me too.As you say your going to be using to be using this a a CCW gun I would highly recomend them ,the are not however target sights,but as for a fighting gun I.M.H.O. you cant go wrong with them .
I have a Kimber custom T.L.E. II Full sised .45 ACP thats my off duty gun and it has Trijocn white dot/ triduim sights on it .Like I said can't go wrong with sights that you can se in all light condititions.
Heres a pic of the Glock with the TRU-Glo T.F.O.'s on it .
Lou

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I love fiber optics for range and target shooting, I find them quick to point, I have Meprolights or Trijicons on my other guns. I still shoot those night sights well enough on the range to have fun. I don't find fiber optics to be very good in lower light situations at all. I guess I could put on a hat with a gooseneck flashlight on it, that will look cool.

 

[ConradM]

Here's what I found out about night sights.. if you're running a weapon mounted light, the spill from the light completely washes out the front sight. That pretty much made night sights worthless to me. On the other hand, the spill will actually illuminate an FO sight. I've also found that FO's will glow under moonlight, but not so much with artificial light.

All that being said, if you use a mounted weapon light, (which IMO everyone serious about HD should) night sights are useless.

 

[cruzerlou]

Well my TRO-GLO- Triduim Fiber optic Are bright green night or day AND my Insight Tech M-300 WILL NOT wash out these sights It's a very usable combo .Heres a pic of my gun/light combo ,Ill try to take a pick of the sights w/ the light tomorrow night and you can se how much brighter these sights are than standard fiber optics .Whem my trijcons die on my Kimber I'm replacing them with the TRO-GLO T.F.O.'s.As conrad said my hand held 115 luem tactail lighs will wash out the trij's but not the TRU-GLO's.
Lou

 

[Nevada]

I put HiViz on the front of my P95. 100% useless. Would not transmit any light at all. My $40 air rifle from Walmart had a FO sight that was wonderful, but I don't know who made it.

 

[ConradM]

I put HiViz on the front of my P95. 100% useless. Would not transmit any light at all. My $40 air rifle from Walmart had a FO sight that was wonderful, but I don't know who made it.

I've had a HiViz on my M&P for a year and it works great. :?

Even used it at dusk and it lights up like its battery powered.

 

[Hitides]

I just put a set of Novak FO sights on my SR9 (red front & green rear) they really stand out and sight acquisition is much faster than the standard 3 dot white sights. Ruger did not have that color combination offered on their web site so I purchased them directly from Novak.

Sights Dept. 304-428-2676

http://www.novaksights.com/products/sights/index.html

 

[Mobuck]

I have a HiViz on a P89 which really helps in reduced light conditions or against dark backgrounds. Not sure how it would be for precise shooting, but for just showing where your front sight is, it's just the ticket for me.

 

[Sal1950]

I've got a HIVIZ FO red front with a white outline rear on my GP100 and it's great in medium light conditions or for range use, but pretty much useless in very low to no light conditions.
Now true glowing dot sights like Trijicons, which I have on my Beretta Brigadier 96, are much better under very light challenged conditions but can be troublesome when used in conjunction with some type of flashlight.
So if only to throw some fuel on the fire here, ;) I chose a Crimson Trace laser for my bedside/CCW weapons. In zero to very low light conditions they create just enough light of their own to let you see if it's really a bad guy your aiming at and gets you on target fast while all time keeping your eye on the target AND what may be behind it.
No choice is perfect, they all have strengths and weaknesses. You chose whats most comfortable for you.
Sal

 

[inuswetrust]

Agree with Conrad on FO front and black rear sights.
I've seen people get confused having 3 dots of the same color. They get them all aligned, but in the wrong order. Hard to imagine, but some people (shooting fast) will unknowingly line-up the front sight on the left or the right.
As for what color is best, when wifEy and I switched to FO, she had to be different, instead of going green, she went with red. I could shoot fine with her gun (red) or mine (green) but she was shooting horribly with the red. Red just didn't suit her eyes. YMMV.

 

[cruzerlou]

Sorry guys,
I didn't get the pics posted last night .I spent all day working in the yard and forgot to charge the battery on the camera .I'll get then shot tonight and post them .
Lou

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I have a HiViz on a P89 which really helps in reduced light conditions or against dark backgrounds. Not sure how it would be for precise shooting, but for just showing where your front sight is, it's just the ticket for me.

Most of the aftermarket fiber optic front sights are fairly large in diameter, so your point is a good one. The ones I have are pretty small, .040" and .060", those are small enough to not blot out the center of a target at 50'. I have all black serrated wedge rear sights on those guns, like Conrad mentioned earlier.

 

[edgalang]

Here's what I found out about night sights.. if you're running a weapon mounted light, the spill from the light completely washes out the front sight...
All that being said, if you use a mounted weapon light, (which IMO everyone serious about HD should) night sights are useless.

I agree. I have an SR9c with an XS Big Dot and a Micro90 weapon mounted light. When the light is on, big dot or not, that front post is all black. I wish I would of gone with FO...but after spending $$$ on my Big Dot, I'm not about to take it off now.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Here are pics of some of mine:

CZ SP-01 Modified w/.040" fiber optic front, comp. rear:

CZ SP-01 Shadow w/.060" fiber optic, shadow rear:

 

[revhigh]

Oooooh ... I love those rear sights Cheese !!

Reminds me of my Gold Cups.

REV