I can’t afford a decent optic for my patrol rifle so I was thinking about getting a set of night sights for it. Does anyone else have these? And are they worth the money?
Thanks
p.s. i tried a search and couldn’t get it to work so forgive me if this is up somewhere else.
I was wondering to, seems like the sights would have to be pretty bright due to the longer sight radius. They work great on a handgun.
If it’s going to be something your going to depend on with your life, spend the money and get a decent flash light.
Many folks just run the night sight on the front sight and forgo it in the rear.
The trouble with night sights (and for that matter, with lasers) on a carbine is that they offer no target discrimination capability.
In certain law enforcement and military situations, where you know that anyone inside of a particular perimeter, or past a certain line on the map, is an aggressor, night sights can mean the difference between a hit or a miss. In most other scenarios, they don’t really help you to determine if the silhouette you are aiming at is a legitimate target, or perhaps a loved one. It is for this reason that illumination tools are a far better choice for most situations in which you are likely to find yourself reaching for a carbine.
Of course, the same could be said of night sights on a handgun, but by definition, a handgun is more likely to be on your person when you are alone in the dimly-lit parking garage, or walking through an alley, or otherwise traversing an area where you might find yourself dealing with an assailant in a low-light environment. In such a situation, the threat is already apparent, and you’re more immediately interested in placing the shots accurately to neutralize the threat.
Bottom line? Night sights will show you where you’re aiming, but not who you’re aiming at. Consider your needs, and configure accordingly, but for most, the preferred solution will be a powerful weapons light.
AC
spot on, chief. in the army, back before surefires and m68s were standard equip, we’d paint out sight posts with white or silver for night ops… but that’s about as useless as an empty magazine for home defense.
absolutely any weapon being used for home defense should have a weaponlight. you can pick up TLR1s for $80 if you shop around- that’s a damn sight cheaper than an aimpoint.
Yeah, I’ve got the light setup already. Went with the Safariland Combo RLS Light/RK-M4 Streichers was selling. It’s not ideal, but it works. Works a lot better with the Magpul AFG I put on it. Maybe I’ll find something else to spend my birthday money on like a sling mount end plate.
It’s a shame the powers that be in your agency won’t buy you a decent sighting system for your rifle. You have to buy all your own accesories? Or just optics?
A long time ago, before my dept authorized optics, I ran a front Trijicon night sight. If you elect to take that route, go with the version that allows the post to rotate independently from the base. This configuration allows the dot (and tritium) to always be faced toward the shooter. Otherwise you have to dial in 4 clicks of front sight adjustment to complete one revolution of the front sight post, in order to get the dot faced toward the shooter again. For my use, the rear night sight was more of an annoyance than a benefit since it is positioned so close to the eye.
Nope we have to buy everything. The department has 2 20" full size rifles but they are a bear to get out of the impalas and they are heavier than sin. I did find a company from here in Michigan that makes what I want called the Quick Shot but they don’t want to send one out for us to test. So if I can’t see it and play with it, I’m not going to buy it.
The sight I was eyeing up was from Trijicon and it looked like it had the independent screw base.
My ‘night sight’ is a LaserLyte K-15 Kryptonite green laser.
My ‘day sight’ is an Aimpoint Comp M4s.
VL laser, but no weaponlight?
i just cant take these guys seriously when this is what they chose to use as a display weapon…
Don’t have a need for a weapon light on my carbine in the environment where I’m operating.
Have one on my sidearm (along with a CT laser), but not on my long gun.
I like the front sight with a little trintium to be honest. It really nice to use if I ever have to pull off the scope. I have yet to use in in the civilian world but also enjoyed it in the military. So not a critical piece but a fun one to be honest.
I am trying to envision that particular environment. A small island, surrounded by sworn enemies, perhaps? Even if NVDs are de rigueur, it would still seem to be an obvious omission.
What am I missing here?
AC
I had the trijicon 3 dot trituim setup on my first carbine, never
was comfortable with it. Have to agree with Eric, that the rear
sights were more of an annoyance than anything else. They
were to close to the eyes relative to the front post, a very
wide spread horizontally.
After getting a good weaponlight mounted I really can’t see
the reason for night sights on a carbine.
You don’t live where I live, and you don’t know what I know.
You work in an environment where the space and everything in it is brilliantly lit 24/7, without any chance of power failure, and without any enclosed spaces?
Educate us. We love to learn new things.
Exactly as I thought, thanks.
AC
Everyone has their own preferences!
Once I got to thinking about what Army Chief said I think I might want to go with the Trijicon front sight only. I like the XS Stripe but it doesn’t look like it has an independent base.
Now lets see if I can put this thought into words.
Me as a police officer I can see where I don’t want to be using my light every time I pull that trigger. Once you’ve lit that room up once and identify friend/foe you are going to be moving. That is where I see that night sight coming in handy. Green dot on bad silhouette! I might not want to illuminate the room again and give away my position especially after I’ve already blinded them the first time.
Does that make sense?
And I wish I had the money for the Aimpoint or Eotech, that laser is was pretty nice too kinda big though. I’m trying to keep this rifle as light as possible but getting the most out of it.
Has anyone tried the tritium stripe from XS? Does it have the independent screw or do you have to spin that whole sight in?
Last time I checked, shooting in the dark was called using the force!