Good, Bad or suggestions with Trijicon night sights

[Guest clutepc]

I have a M&P40 compact and I've been looking at the trijicon sights for it,

Is there anything I should be aware of with those?

I'm also curious how noticeable they are if you carry concealed. I've never seen them so I don't know how much glow if any those types of sights put out.

Thanks for the input!

[Marswolf]

If you carry concealed, how will anyone see them? I do have to be careful with my tritium dial watch in some situations.

I find tritium sights less visible in daylight, so I only have them on my P7M8 IWB 9mm CC handgun that I normally carry at night.

[Guest clutepc]

If you carry concealed, how will anyone see them? I do have to be careful with my tritium dial watch in some situations.

I find tritium sights less visible in daylight, so I only have them on my P7M8 IWB 9mm CC handgun that I normally carry at night.

I know goofy question but I just wasn't sure if they light up the area around them at night. I work a lot at night so that's why I asked.

I probably need to hold off on them until I can get a chance to see them during the day.

Thanks for the info!!

[Guest Verbal Kint]

I know goofy question but I just wasn't sure if they light up the area around them at night. I work a lot at night so that's why I asked.

I probably need to hold off on them until I can get a chance to see them during the day.

Thanks for the info!!

They don't illuminate the surrounding area at all. During the day, as I'm sure you know, the night sights look like normal three-dot sights. At night, the tritium (the radioactive isotope of hydrogen inside the vials) makes them glow. The glow is bright enough to clearly see, when aiming down the slide of your gun, but is practically non-existent at any other viewable angle. In comparison, it's like the tritium vials one might find on a watch face. In pitch darkness, it's viewable if you concentrate on them... otherwise you, or anyone else, wouldn't ever notice it.

Hope that makes sense, without photos or illustrations. I'd try to get some pics, but I seriously wouldn't even be able to capture them on film in the dark.

All of my carry weapons have Trijicon night sights on them. You definitely can't go wrong getting a pair.

[Guest gcrookston]

I've had Trijicon "Siglights" on my 226 since I purchased it new in 1990. They are still going strong and I love them.

[Guest clutepc]

Great thanks!!

That answered my concern with them being too bright.

Also nice to hear they hold up through the years.

[Marswolf]

I think the half-life on Tritium is about 11 years. They will get dimmer, but are still quite usable for a long time.

And some of the tritium watches put out enough light to read by. But I agree that you won't illuminate yourself with night sights.

[TGO David]

Mars... I'm interested in hearing about these situations where a tritium watch dial might be bad for you.

I'd look for some Meprolight sights if you can. They tend to have nice thick white outlines around the tritium vial that make the sighting dots more visible in daylight. It doesn't make them any brighter in the dark, though, so no worries there.

[Guest erict]

Mars... I'm interested in hearing about these situations where a tritium watch dial might be bad for you.

I'd look for some Meprolight sights if you can. They tend to have nice thick white outlines around the tritium vial that make the sighting dots more visible in daylight. It doesn't make them any brighter in the dark, though, so no worries there.

+1 on the Mepros. I have Trijicons on my Glock 32 and Meprolight (Tru Dots or Big Dot IIRC) on my 27. The Meprolights are much easier to see in the day time.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

+1 on the Mepros. I have Trijicons on my Glock 32 and Meprolight (Tru Dots or Big Dot IIRC) on my 27. The Meprolights are much easier to see in the day time.

+2 on the Meprolights... I kept saying "trijicon" in my original reply, out of (bad) habit. Meprolights are much easier to see, thanks to the white circle that surrounds the tritium vials.

Either way, you can't go wrong... but I think you'd be a lot happier with the Mepros if you shoot alot. Sorry for the confusion.

[Marswolf]

I have Trijicons on the P7M8 for several reasons. They need to be custom fitted on that handgun for the best results. I installed Mepros on my G23 when I had it. The vial surrounds are better on the Mepros than the Trijicons, but neither is as good in bright light as standard dot sights.

[Will]

Have both, like both but would go with mepro if I was to get another set.

[bteague2]

I have trijcon night sites on my carry gun and I love them. Frank (ETS Inc) convinced me to get them when I bought my gun and I couldn't be happier with them.

[Guest clutepc]

Wow, thanks for all the input!

Another reason why this site is great!

[Guest GT_Rat]

I have Trijicons on my HK and my XD and don't have any problems seeing the dots day or night.

[Sheepdog]

Here's a suggestion regarding the purchase of Trijicons, or any other brand of tritium sight. Try to buy the rear sight in a different color.

The front sights are almost invariably green. If you get green rear sights, too, you might focus on the wrong green dot when pointing your pistol in the dark.

Personally, I prefer orange rear sights (which I have on my Glock 19), but yellow (on an XD45) also works well for me. If you buy from MMC Sights, they also offer red or blue rear dots. (I've never seen these colors in tritium sights before, nor have I used MMC's products--any reviews would be appreciated).

One other option is to go with different shapes--typically, a bar, either horizontal or vertical. I've used the XS Sight Systems 24/7 Big Dot, which is a green tritium front sight surrounded by a largish white dot, and a rear sight that is a shallow "V", with a white-outlined green tritium bar, standing vertically in the center. It is a very fast sighting system, but not the best for long range shooting. Again, MMC also offers several rear-sight bar configurations.

[Marswolf]

Good suggestion sheepdog. I have orange rear and green front dots.

[onebad7up]

i just picked up a Kimber Eclipse and it has the Meprolights on it. The sights are visible during the day or night. I would highly recommend them.

Does anyone know how long they typically stay illuminated?

[Guest Verbal Kint]

Does anyone know how long they typically stay illuminated?

Link : http://www.meprolight.com/tritium.asp

Tritium gas (chemical symbol H-3) is an isotope of hydrogen. It is colorless, odorless and lighter than air. Most of its physical characteristics are the same as hydrogen, but the atoms in tritium are slightly different, causing them to emit low energy radiation in the form of beta rays, or electrons. Tritium is considered "user friendly" because it has the lowest energy rating of any radioisotope. Tritium gas, like other radioisotopes, decays at a known rate. This is usually specified as the "half life" - the time taken to decay to half the initial energy. For tritium, this half life is about 12.3 years.

Light is produced from Tritium when the electrons (beta particles) from tritium energize a phosphor compound which coats the inside of the glass tritium tubes. Phosphor has the property of emitting light when stimulated by electrons, and is used in television tubes and fluorescent lights. The surface of the tritium tube emits light continuously when the phosphor layer is energized.

Technically speaking, tritium products are radioactive, because they contain radioactive material. But in actuality they are not, because no radiation is emitted by the product. In other words, each product contains radioactive material, but the product itself is not "radioactive". Sealed safely inside the product, tritium gas is hermetically sealed into Pyrex glass tubes. The glass tubes completely stop all radiation. Actually, Tritium beta emissions are so weak that even in free air, the particle can only travel less than 1/4 inch. A sheet of tissue paper will stop it. If the tubes break and tritium is released from broken tubes, and the product somehow becomes unsealed, the product could emit a very small amount of radiation - but not enough to be harmful. In fact, the products are very tough, and it would be almost impossible to accidentally break tubes in an installed product. MEPROLIGHT products are built and tested to withstand a battery of stringent requirements, including mechanical shock or drop tests, temperature cycling and vibration.

But let's assume that someone deliberately sets out to destroy the product. We will assume the most conservative, or the "worst case scenario". We can calculate the potential radiation dose assuming that all tubes in a typical product are broken, which in practice would require the outer case and all inner parts to be broken. Released Tritium gas will behave exactly like hydrogen--it's very light and dilutes rapidly in air--which reduces the amount anyone can breathe. But we assume that somehow, a person is standing with his/her face literally inches away from the product, breathing hard for at least 5 minutes during and after a breakage, and absorbs all the Tritium. Under these extremely conservative and unrealistic conditions a person might get a radiation dose about same as a tooth x-ray. Clearly, this is not hazardous.

The half life of the tritium that energizes the night sight is about 12.5 years. So the sight will be half as bright in 12.5 years, 1/4 as bright in 25 years, etc.

[onebad7up]

Thanks for the info.

[Guest HMFIC]

XS sights rule , they work the best for me when the SHIF.