Opinions on XS Sights for pistols?

[Bidah]

I have been thinking of getting these for one of my pistols to give it a try.  Anyone use these?  Ideas?  Opinion?

Thanks.

-Bidah

[canon6]

I have them on Browning HiPower , Charles Daly copy of a BHP. and  am having them installed on a 1911 even as I type.I really do like them,I find the big dot to be the  fastest front sights I can use,65 year old eyes, dont you know.hth   Doug

[wheelgunner88]

I've got a set of 24/7 on a PM40 and another set on a Para CCW.  They work great for their intended purpose, which is quick sight acquisition.  I have found personally, that my accuracy suffers at longer ranges, but I think that is simply because I haven't taken the time to train with them as I should.  I've shot several club level IDPA stages with the Kahr and they do a very good job at close ranges.

[downzero]

I tried the Big Dot front sight on the revolver I use for IDPA, and found it too coarse. The Standard Dot works well, and I've installed on most of my handguns.
Downzero

[ncrguy]

Anyone ever try the one ragged hole sights for their guns? I have been to their site but was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. www.oneraggedhole.com

[Sponsor]

[canon6]

ncrguy,I put a ORH sight on a 94 Winnie ,357.It worked entirely to good, my son took it home with him   

Doug

[Bidah]

Thank you to all who posted.  Hmm..  I guess it is time to try it or stick with the 3 dots.. 

Sometimes I just detest making decisions..

-Bidah

[Michael Bane]

I shot a bunch of them recently at GUNSITE, and I'm going to put a set on my carry guns...

Michael B

[tumblebug]

MY Daly clone HI Power has them the more i shoot i like. They work.

[Kettlebelly Slim]

The XS Express Sights are danged quick to see, but require a different sight-picture for different ranges.  At close range, you just cover your intended impact area with the big dot, but at longer range (25 yards, for example) you have to use a 6 O'Clock hold to hit.  This works fine, after a bit of experimentation - but requires a bit of decision-making while already busy shooting.

Like M.B., I was exposed to them at Gunsite (where they had some very clear posters illustrating the different sight-pictures required at different ranges).  Since my eyes don't seem to be teenagers anymore and are taking longer and longer to snap a sight-picture into focus, I talked to the folks in the Gunsmithy about installing a set of XS sights.  They asked how long I'd been using regular sights on my pistols ('bout 30 years), and suggested that it was a bit late in the game for me to start trying to learn a new sight-picture with a built-in zone-management requirement. 

What they suggested was that I try a compromise they call their "Old-Guy Sights" - an XS Big-Dot with a correspondingly sized round notch in the rear sight, which permits a conventional sight-picture with the top of the front dot level with the top of the rear notch.  There was a comfortable bit of daylight showing around the front dot inside the rear notch, and it didn't look as if it could possibly be very precise.  Corey let me try a couple of magazines through a shop-gun with this set-up on the 6" plates set up 25 yards behind the Gunsmithy.  15 satisfying "Clangs" later, and I was sold on the idea.  The equivalent of "head-shots" as quick as I could spot'em.  Just cover the gong and press the trigger - I was shooting like I was 20 years younger!

So, if you're not too set in your ways, the factory XS Express Sights are definitely a good thing.  If you ARE a bit set in your ways (I prefer to think of it as a set of carefully cultivated conditioned-reflexes ), you might consider the Gunsite Old-Guy Sights.

-KBS