I know nothing about sights

[marksiwel]

So what are Target sights? Why does my Browning have an adjustment for the sights, how do I use that?
Are Dot Sights less accurate?
Whats the deal with "Big Dot Sights"
What the heck does this mean "Trijicon Tritium" Night sights
What a Trijicon, whats Tritum (that stuff from Avatar?) how long do Night Sights last?

[cougartex]

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It is an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas that reacts with the human body in the same manner as natural hydrogen. Beta rays from the tritium hit phosphors to create the glow you see. Tritium has a half-life of 12.5 years, which means that in that time the lamp will be half as bright as it originally was.

http://www.trijicon.com/faq.cfm#f9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[USA1]

Tritum is a gas contained in glass tubes that glows in the dark.
It does not need to be charged by an alternate light source.

This is also a feature on some brands of watches such as Luminox as shown here...



Some Tritium can last for 20 years before it finally goes dead.

Edited...Cougartex typed faster than me.

[Excaliber]

So what are Target sights? Why does my Browning have an adjustment for the sights, how do I use that?
Are Dot Sights less accurate?
Whats the deal with "Big Dot Sights"
What the heck does this mean "Trijicon Tritium" Night sights
What a Trijicon, whats Tritum (that stuff from Avatar?) how long do Night Sights last?

Okay, I'll take a shot at sorting these questions out without writing a book. This quick and dirty version leaves out a lot of detail, but will give you some basic concepts to work with.

"Target" sights usually have screw adjustment mechanisms for windage and / or elevation. This makes it easy to adjust the sights to place the point of bullet impact exactly where you want it without having to drift or push a nonadjustable rear sight with a punch or sight pusher, or install higher front sights or file them lower to accomplish the same effects. Many are all black although some have white outlines or other coloration of some kind.

"Dot" sights (usually two dots in the rear and one on the front) are designed to make it easier to get a quick alignment of the sights for defensive shooting without your eyes having to work as hard as they would trying to get the tops of the sights aligned with the same amount of light visible on either side of the front sight as it sits in the rear notch. They also help in low light situations where plain black sights are virtually invisible. Aiming with them is not as precise as with "target" sights, but plenty good enough for defensive purposes. There are variations, with a dot on the front and colored lines under or around the rear sight notch, to avoid confusing which dot is which and to make it obvious to the eye which element is the front sight.

"Big Dot" sights use an oversized round top on the front sight with either a colored rear face or a tritium vial. Some find this naturally draws the eye to the front sight more rapidly than with other sight styles, and thus reduces sight alignment time. This is important under combat conditions. Other folks find this effect less pronounced. Some also find this style is more difficult to shoot accurately at distances beyond around 15 yards.

Trijicon is a brand name for a manufacturer of self luminous sights. Tritium is a radioactive gas that causes phosphors on the inside of a tiny vial inside the sight to give off a glow, creating the same effect as dot sights, but with active lighting that is easily visible in full darkness. Sights that use this technology make accurate sight alignment possible in lighting conditions where non luminous sights would be virtually invisible. They really shine (if you'll pardon the pun) in circumstances where a target can be positively identified but the light levels are too low to enable use of conventional sights.

Most manufacturers guarantee night sights for around 10 years. The glow does diminish with time due to the decay of the radioactive gas that provides the illumination, so they are not as bright at the end of the 10 years as they are at the beginning.

[RPB]

Nothing was said or asked, but I'll bring it up.

TACTICAL SIGHTS

Most Tactical sights allow you to catch the rear of the rear sight on a belt/shoe/holster/corner of something
in order to rack the slide to clear a jam etc. in case if one hand/arm gets injured or is otherwise busy holding something/applying pressure to a wound so you don't bleed out.

I really like Advantage Tactical sights as they allow very very quick target acquisition/sight picture.

Most of my CARRY guns have tactical sights, and a laser for low-light situations. My "target practice fun RANGE ONLY, never carry" guns don't need them

[The Annoyed Man]

Nothing was said or asked, but I'll bring it up.

TACTICAL SIGHTS

Most Tactical sights allow you to catch the rear of the rear sight on a belt/shoe/holster/corner of something
in order to rack the slide to clear a jam etc. in case if one hand/arm gets injured or is otherwise busy holding something/applying pressure to a wound so you don't bleed out.

I really like Advantage Tactical sights as they allow very very quick target acquisition/sight picture.

Most of my CARRY guns have tactical sights, and a laser for low-light situations. My "target practice fun RANGE ONLY, never carry" guns don't need them

The alternative to this are low profile "non-snag" type sights. The USP Compact I recently sold had the above kind of sights (tactical), while the M&P45 I replaced it with has the non-snag type of sights. Both have their advantages. The tactical type, as RPB has pointed out, has the advantage of allowing the shooter to rack a slide one handed by applying pressure on the front edge of the rear sight against the edge of a table or chair leg, or something like that.

The non-snag type sights reduce the likelihood that your gun sights will snag on something like clothing when you are trying to deploy the gun in the first place. That is why a lot of high-end compact model 1911s, like the Kimber Ultra models for instance, come with the non-snag type sights. They are banking on your need to get the gun into action in the first place being more important than your need to rack the slide one handed after having been wounded.

Tritium night sights (tactical type) for your glock:


Tritium night sights (low profile non-snag type) for an M&P45:


Target style sight for a Browning Buck Mark Pistol:


Everybody has their own favorite brand of tritium sights, from Mepro to Trijicon, but pretty much all agree that some kind of tritium sights are necessary to a carry weapon which might be used under low-light conditions.

[RPB]

That's why I like Advantage Tactical sights.

They are sloped and angled on the front face, rear face, and the sides, of the rear sight so they won't unintentionally catch clothing instead of big square corners like those in the tactical sights in the top photo might.
(I've used Meprolight, Triijicons and PT Night sights before, like the top photo ones)
Hard to describe, but sort of an "Arrow" shape > without the snagging "corners" but with at least 4 "angles" on the various "faces" of the rear sight to avoid unintentional snags.
You sorta have to try them to appreciate them ... they are different.
You make a triangle, and you are aimed. With the advantage of being able to operate with only one hand snaglessly.
And operator can choose and change colors if desired (I use orange rear; Yellow front)
On my old PT night sights I used different color PT night sights per caliber, so I knew if i had a 9mm or .40
or a 10mm or .45 Glock in the dark.
As they "burned out" I went to lasers for dark, and Advantage sights for faster sight picture.

Night sights are better than they used to be.
Now I believe:
The warranty on orange night sights is 5 years
Green & Yellow have 12 yr warranty


Advantage doesn't make them for 1911s; but Heinie has "The Ledge" and others make similar Tacticals.
Heinie "The Ledge" Low Profile, rounded corners... but a Ledge you can use to rack slide on shoe sole etc, if needed

Advantage does not currently make "night sights" but when I had sights that glowed, I found them not that useful as they glowed best at times it was too dark to see what or whom would be getting a bullet, like in a cave. .... The Advantage are light bright colors that can be seen in very very low light at night; MUCH faster sight picture in ALL lighting conditions, and I have a laser too. Though the laser isn't really needed at "normal" ranges, I keep it there in case I need to shoot clear across to the other end of Walmart.
I sold or am selling most of my other guns and only keeping/purchasing guns Advantage makes sights for, in the future.
That's how much I like them.
Advantage Tactical Sights