Brass bead front sights?

[nortac]

Anyone run a brass bead front sight on their pistol? If so, what are your impressions?

 

[Ad Astra]

Olde-tyme classic, for sure.

Today, we'd need ... um, better eyesight?

Fiber-optic has no soul (such as that brass bead), but sure works well.


AA

 

[ralph029]

I have a Colt Defender that I have a brass bead on. Considering the recoil forces out of a 3" .45, nothing would stay put until I put a brass bead in it. The brass is easy to see and I'm able to pick it up in my line of vision quickly when pulled from a holster. My defender is a self defense weapon so point and shoot is critical and the brass bead works very well. I don't think it excels in aiming any more than any other option on a fixed sight, but for draw, point, and shoot, I like it a lot.

 

[nortac]

Fiber-optic has no soul (such as that brass bead), but sure works well. AA

I'm getting conflicting info on how well FO works, I'm sure it works well out in the open and under sunny conditions. Obviously a YMMV kinda thing. Some people love it, some not so much.

I have a Colt Defender that I have a brass bead on. Considering the recoil forces out of a 3" .45, nothing would stay put until I put a brass bead in it. The brass is easy to see and I'm able to pick it up in my line of vision quickly when pulled from a holster. My defender is a self defense weapon so point and shoot is critical and the brass bead works very well. I don't think it excels in aiming any more than any other option on a fixed sight, but for draw, point, and shoot, I like it a lot.

That's important, thanks for your input!

 

[Tiny_MN]

Never heard of doing this before, only on front of scatterguns.

What's the benefit of it over the traditional sights?

 

[TheGrimWeeper]

Folks that were raised with them in whatever type of shooting they do often still like them. My eyes don't dig them. But I don't use center-of-blade beads of any type for anything but aiding acquisition; unless the range is real short, or it's real dark.

Never done bullseye shooting, but the classic target kind of brass beads seem like they'd be good for that. Then again, some IPSC/USPSA Intergalactic Master types swear by them so what the hell do I know . This is a long-winded way of saying I reckon YMMV.

 

[nortac]

@Tiny_MN , Just like with a scatter gun, quicker acquisition of the front sight. With aging eyesight, it has become harder to focus at any distance quickly.

 

[Tiny_MN]

@Tiny_MN , Just like with a scatter gun, quicker acquisition of the front sight. With aging eyesight, it has become harder to focus at any distance quickly.

Thanks. I was thinking that, but was also thinking that accuracy would suffer since don't have the rear sight to align to and with the shorter barrel, might not have alignment right such as when shouldering scatter gun. What about Tritium or other illuminated?

 

[nortac]

Thanks. I was thinking that, but was also thinking that accuracy would suffer since don't have the rear sight to align to and with the shorter barrel, might not have alignment right such as when shouldering scatter gun. What about Tritium or other illuminated?

There is still a rear sight and the brass bead is placed on the face of an otherwise square profile front sight, its not a round bead on top of a post like a shotgun has. So in profile, it still has the same alignment and precision of standard sights. Tritium doesn't show up well except in the dark and decays over time.

 

[nortac]

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server...U_Notch_3__86053.1379260948.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

This is the set up I'm contemplating for my Glock 19. The link above the pic of the front sight is for the U-notch rear sight that is used with it.

 

[ralph029]

Thanks. I was thinking that, but was also thinking that accuracy would suffer since don't have the rear sight to align to and with the shorter barrel, might not have alignment right such as when shouldering scatter gun. What about Tritium or other illuminated?

What are you trying to accomplish? That's what should be driving any decision. I don't think there is a finer option in a self defense or practical pistol situation since "aiming" is not really involved. If you're target shooting then there are so many options, you'll have to find the one that works best for your eyesight. You can take all the time in the world to acquire your sights when target shooting. I use a Nova for home defense and it has a brass bead on it BUT the aiming of that weapon is nothing like the aiming of my defender.

 

[nortac]

@ralph029, I think the above sight would serve both purposes equally well, rapid "rough" alignment with the bead and precision alignment, when time allows, with the square profile.

 

[Acmemfg]

Probably my all time favorite. I have brass bead sights on all my shotguns also. Not a fiber optic fan at all.

 

[nortac]

Sweet!, just like your camera, my eyes don't focus that well, at least not quickly, but you can still see that brass bead!

 

[Raissermesser]

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server...U_Notch_3__86053.1379260948.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

This is the set up I'm contemplating for my Glock 19. The link above the pic of the front sight is for the U-notch rear sight that is used with it.

Interesting. The rear sight is essentially like the groove on a shotgun barrel. Have never heard of brass sights on a pistol until today.

 

[Raissermesser]

@Tiny_MN , Just like with a scatter gun, quicker acquisition of the front sight. With aging eyesight, it has become harder to focus at any distance quickly.

+1. Brass sights were/are used on express rifles for quick target acquisition.

 

[ralph029]

@ralph029, I think the above sight would serve both purposes equally well, rapid "rough" alignment with the bead and precision alignment, when time allows, with the square profile.

@ralph029, I think the above sight would serve both purposes equally well, rapid "rough" alignment with the bead and precision alignment, when time allows, with the square profile.

I agree and that's what I was saying. My only definitive statement was that I preferred the bead for point and shoot situations.

 

[Acmemfg]

Somewhat of a better image. For certain the bead sight picks up very quickly.

 

[shoelessjoe]

I’ve always been fond of Heirloom Precision’s 24K gold front sight line inlay ... some day, I hope to have my .38 Super Colt 1911 spend some time on Jason Burton’s bench.

 

[nortac]

That would work to.