OK, so it seems I've stirred up a hornet's nest and then left for parts unknown. It wasn't intentional. I have some health issues I was struggling with to keep from winding back up in the hospital again.
Yeah, it's an excuse, but also the truth.
I did call Springfield. The first lady I talked to was very nice, but not able to help me. She transferred me to the Custom Shop where I talked to another lady, which I believe is a gunsmith/tech that actually works on the guns.
She wasn't exactly Ms. Congeniality, to say the least. But, she was frank and to the point. And the point she made was that my gun was custom ordered as is, with Springfield housings and Trijicon tritium tubes. She says they make it very clear when ordering that they are not Trijicon sights. I wasn't privy to the conversation, so I'll take her at her word. Though, she could have been a little nicer about it, if she'd taken the time to realize that I was the owner, not the person who ordered the gun from the Custom shop.
So, now that the dust has settled, I will admit to being naive about night sights. This was my first set and probably my last. While the Springfield rep insisted that their sans white ring sights are loved by owners all over the country, I doubt that most would prefer the sights without the white ring - either that or Trijicon has deluded themselves into thinking that this is a selling feature for them.
What I will also admit to, is that in the discussions I had with the gun dealer before I ordered it, he did actually tell me that these were Springfield factory installed sights with Trijicon tritium tubes. Me, being unfamiliar with night sights, I ASSUMED these were Trijicon sights factory installed by Springfield. It took a couple of trips to the range before I even figured out they were missing the white rings. What I did know was that I shoot a pretty darn good group with every other gun I own - just not with my XDm9c.
In response to the comments about sight picture, yes... I realize it's possible to acquire a sight picture without the white rings or the white dots. I've been shooting handguns for nearly 40 years, which also explains why "I" need the white rings. My 20/10 vision is down to 20/20 and reading without glasses is a joke. But my sight is crystal clear at arms length. But in the lower lighting of the range, my eyes and those sights just don't play well together and I find it difficult to reacquire my sight picture.
I guess it can be chalked up to "buyer beware". Yes, I got what I paid for and what was ordered. I know that sights can be hard to replace on the XDm's from my XDm 45 experience. I ASSUMED that the advantage to having factory installed sights by Springfield was assurance the sights were installed correctly, since the sights, especially the front one, is so hard to replace.
I'm retired now, but spent most of my career in Information Technology. I always tried my hardest to make sure users I dealt with fully understood things I had told them.
I'm not going to say that anyone intentionally deceived me, but omitting a crucial feature (Trijicon's website seems to think it's important) is at the very least, unfortunate.
In reviewing my conversations with my dealer, I'm confident that he did not intentionally mislead me. But I think he probably ASSUMED I knew these sights were not like the over-the-counter Trijicon's and it's not his job to educate me - my words, not his.
I still stand by my original post. Yes, I was angry when I wrote it, and felt cheated, even though technically, I was not. But my purpose for posting it was to try and prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.
I did more research on the XDm9c before deciding to buy it than any other gun I own, including searching XDTalk. However, I wasn't able to find this information - maybe it's there and I just didn't find it. I've discovered that when you search on a popular topic, the results can be overwhelming and hard to filter. Be that as it may, the XDm9c is still a great gun! But once the sights are changed for ones "I" can see better, it should finally be the gun I thought it was when I ordered it.
BTW - my poor grouping with the XDm9c influenced me to purchase the runner-up in my compact carry weapon challenge, the Ruger SR9c. I was finally feeling well enough yesterday to take it to the range and shoot it for the first time. The SR9c has standard Ruger 3 white dot, fully adjustable sights. Here's how the first 28 rounds I fired through it ended up. This is what I'm accustomed to my targets looking like. When the XDm9c's sights are swapped out for genuine Trijicon's, I expect similar results.
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Warning about springfield oem night sights!!!
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