Speed sights?

[willbdavis]

Anyone here use Speed Sights?

http://www.speedsights.com/index.php

I'm pondering replacing the factory sights on my Glock 17. I've read some good reviews, but they are a little pricey. What do you guys use? If you decided to stay with factory sights, why? If you swapped out your sights, what did you go with, why and were you happy with the decision?

 

[M1911]

Oh ick. Those diamonds are awful. I would have terrible vertical accuracy with those sights.

I can't stand the factory Glock sights. The factory Glock front sight is very wide with very little light on either side when viewed through the rear sight.

I prefer a thin front sight with a wide rear all black rear sight. I put 10-8 Performance sights on all my Glocks. For my carry guns, I use a Tritium front sight. For my competition guns, I use a red fiber optic front sight.

I want my eye to be attracted to the front sight, not the rear sight. So, IMO, dots on the rear sight are a bad thing. They attract your eye to the rear sight, which is not where you want to be focusing.

The only thing worse than dots on the rear sight is a Novak rear sight. The complicated rear sight draws your eye, and the curved corners are such that if light is from the rear or the side, they will catch the light and raw your eye to the corner:

If you want to meet me at Harvard Sportsmen's some time, you can try my Glocks.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

After a high round count pistol class with my bone stock G19 a few weekends ago, I decided I needed to upgrade mine. After a few days of over thinking I went for a set of Heinie Straight 8's. I wanted to give night sights an other shot, but wanted them to be as clean and simple as possible.

Speed Sights, big dots, or some other odd ball sights? No thanks.

 

[Supermoto]

I prefer a thin front sight with a wide rear all black rear sight.

.

Yep
There is a reason why post and notch sights have stood the test of time

 

[Jamie]

I took the same class that edmorseiii took and the instructor pointed out how damaged my stock sights were. I honestly never noticed. I just installed BattleHooks, all black front and rear, on my G17. (Literally. I put them on then signed on here) Just dryfiring at the walls and pets, they are awesome. Very natural sight acquisition for me. I'll do a review after I get it out to the range.

edit: I've never tried, or even seen, the ones the OP showed. Not for me. They look really tough to shoot with.

 

[bill o]

Those are the Frog Lube of sights.

 

[bill o]

Just dryfiring at the walls and pets, they are awesome.

You dry fire at your pets?

 

[willbdavis]

Heinie Straight 8's. I wanted to give night sights an other shot, but wanted them to be as clean and simple as possible.

Which Straight Eights? Looks like they have slant or standard?

 

[greencobra]

They do look "busy" if that makes sense. But I like the color variance of the orange and black. Might look into them further. Aging eyes and shooting are not a good thing.

 

[M1911]

They do look "busy" if that makes sense. But I like the color variance of the orange and black. Might look into them further. Aging eyes and shooting are not a good thing.

I'm 54. I know all about aging eyes. I find that I need a wider rear sight notch than before. If there isn't a lot of light around the front site, I just can't focus on it. Also, full frame sunglasses with a 1.0 reading lens helps a lot. The targets blur a bit but the sights are crisp.

 

[JCV]

You dry fire at your pets?

Hopefully they're just cats

 

[Supermoto]

I'm 54. I know all about aging eyes. I find that I need a wider rear sight notch than before. If there isn't a lot of light around the front site, I just can't focus on it. Also, full frame sunglasses with a 1.0 reading lens helps a lot. The targets blur a bit but the sights are crisp.

front sight focus...2nd biggest myth in shooting

 

[Jamie]

You dry fire at your pets?

Yes. Yes I do. They've all lived to tell about it too.

Hopefully they're just cats

No cats here. Two dogs and previously I've dryfired at the three ferrets I had. They died, but not from having an empty gun go click while pointed at their adorable, fuzzy little heads. I only do it in the basement (where our master bedroom is also located), and never around the kids.

 

[M1911]

front sight focus...2nd biggest myth in shooting

I never will understand how you can shoot target focus so accurately. I don't doubt that you do, I just don't understand how you do it.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Which Straight Eights? Looks like they have slant or standard?

I ordered the slant-pro's.

front sight focus...2nd biggest myth in shooting

I just learned about this and as soon as I wrapped my brain around it, it blew my mind.

 

[ToddDubya]

front sight focus...2nd biggest myth in shooting

Not to derail, but are you saying we shouldn't be focusing on the front sight?


This message brought to you by the letter T and the number 9.

 

[Cloverleaf Firearms Group]

You can shoot fast and accurate by having a threat based focus. Yes. In an immediate threat situation when you draw a gun, you will most likely be looking at the threat, not your sight. It's a good idea to practice shooting that way once and a while, even if you don't plan on ever really consistently shooting like that.

 

[Supermoto]

Not to derail, but are you saying we shouldn't be focusing on the front sight?

Yep. Front sight focus is slow especially when engaging multiple targets because it slows down transitions (target, front sight, target, front sight). For me, I focus on the exact spot I want to hit, when the front sight appears, I break the shot. no need to confirm front/back sight alignment because I know they are already aligned.

Or hard shots, 8" plate 100 yards, shotgun shells at 20y. I find the hard target focus helps even more because with the front sight focus I lose the target.

 

[SJan]

At the end of a COF, I think over what just happened. I often find that I don't remember acquiring hard front sight focus on most if not all targets.

With a wide open metric target at anything less than 25 yards, the sights are just a reference point. With a proper grip i'm making good hits.

I'm pretty sure I started shooting this way after shooting a red dot sight pistol on/off.

 

[iofneedle]

I'm 54. I know all about aging eyes. I find that I need a wider rear sight notch than before. If there isn't a lot of light around the front site, I just can't focus on it. Also, full frame sunglasses with a 1.0 reading lens helps a lot. The targets blur a bit but the sights are crisp.

I will have to try the reading lens next time at the range. My sights are a blurry mess with my old eyes. I am thinking fiber optics might help.

 

[92G]

Fellow NESers turned me onto Ameriglo and the Heine Straight 8 sights and these are now my favorites. The more i avoid 3-dot sights the more I realize they kinda suck (at least for me).

BTW I recently saw a dude install big dots on his Glock 17....it broke my heart.

 

[M1911]

I will have to try the reading lens next time at the range. My sights are a blurry mess with my old eyes. I am thinking fiber optics might help.

It depends upon the fiber optic. For me, I find that green fiber optic is just too bright. The green circle "blooms" so much that I can't see the top of the front sight. I also still need a large rear sight notch, or I can't focus on the front sight.

Try a very mild pair of reading glasses, like 1.0 or 1.5.