Upgrade 4: Sights
When it comes to options, few gun parts come in a wider variety than your sights, and with good reason. Maybe you want a blackened out rear sight with a fiber optic front post for quick target acquisition; maybe you want a set with Tritium inserts for your Concealed Carry Handgun and low-light training; maybe you can’t decide between the two and want the best of both worlds; with so many different applications the hardest part will be choosing which sights are right for you.The good news is, we’ve got you covered.
With dozens of sight options on our website alone, the decision can certainly be overwhelming. But we’ve narrowed it down to a few of our most popular options. First up, we have the Trijicon HD Night Sights.
The Trijicon HD’s have found popularity among all types of shooters: from casuals to competitors, and especially concealed carriers. A large U-notch in the rear sight and a bright, colored front sight make finding your sight picture fast and easy in virtually any lighting. What really makes these sights shine (literally and figuratively), is the aforementioned Tritium inserts.
Tritium, in case you weren’t aware, is a hydrogen isotope commonly used in glow-in-the dark signs and lighting. Fortunately it doesn’t take much to provide some real illumination, so even tiny capsules will enable you to see (your sights) in the dark.
Our other most popular option, the Truglo Tritium/Fiber Optic Sights (more commonly referred to as the TFO’s) take this technology a step further with the addition of Fiber Optic material. Not only does the Tritium keep the sights glowing in the night time, the Fiber Optic rods will absorb light in the day time, giving you a nice, bright sight picture any time of day.
Of course, both of these options are still categorized as traditional sight sets; one post up front, notched sight in the back. While this system is tried and true, it still takes some time to line up your target and build a proper sight picture. Training can reduce this process to fractions of a second, but what if you wanted to go faster?
A lot of competition shooters have asked this same question, and found the answer in Red Dot Optics, aka RDOs. Red Dots have long been popular with rifles, offering a true “point-and-shoot” experience, as opposed to the classic methods of lining up a ring and post, or blade and notch. Basically, wherever your RDO was pointing, that’s where your round was going. This fast and accurate method of shooting was quickly adapted for combat and competition by shooters around the world.
Truthfully, Red Dots have seen use in competition for years, but have really sprung into popularity as the technology got smaller and more compact. The forerunner in these pistol sized optics was the Trijicon RMR, which still holds the title as the industry standard in quality and reliability.
Not wanting to be left behind, other optic companies have contributed to the Red Dot Optic market, such as Leupold with their DeltaPoint Pro, which offers one of the widest and clearest lenses available; and Holosun, with the 507c and its innovative Solar FailSafe power system.
Now that you have an idea of which optic to choose, the important question is, how do you get one on your Glock? Well we’ve got the solutions to go with just about any option.
The most straightforward, and frankly the most popular way of mounting an optic is by milling the slide. This offers the most stable mounting for your optic, along with bringing it as close to the barrel as possible, reducing the difference in point of aim versus point of impact. In other words, you’ll be seeing and shooting as straight as possible!
Alternatively, if you’re not 100% sure you want your Red Dot permanently attached to your slide, we recommend a solution like the Red Dot Backup, or RBU. This mount replaces your rear sight, with the added benefit of built-in iron sights in case your battery runs dead, or you just don’t feel like using your optic.
And if backup iron sights sounds like the kind of thing you’d want with your milled slide, you’re in luck. You can also have your slide milled to leave your rear sight dovetail intact, allowing the use of taller sights like the Trijicon Suppressor Height Night Sights. This gives you a convenient “lower-third” sight picture along with your Red Dot.
Like we said before, the options for sights are almost endless, but we’ve got what you need to help you see the difference in performance.
