Night Sights for XD-45

[bonedog]

XS big dot sights
pro quick target acq. very bright
con, can be difficult to install

[lharrell79]

Originally Posted by Sidewayz

My XD45c slide will be back from James at XD-HS2000 in a day or two with new Trijicon HD's installed. I had TFO's on another 45c so I'll be able to comment on comparing the two.

Where you able to give a comparison yet?

Thanks, Lucas

[Sidewayz]

I did get my slide back from James @ XD/HS2000.com with new Trijicon HD's installed. Turn around time was one week and the install is perfect. Thanks James!

I've been so busy at work I have'nt time time to shoot it yet. But...

Form:
The Trijicon sights just look much better IMO. The rear sight extends to the rear edge of the slide giving you a 1/2" more sight radius. The TFO's do not extend to the rear. I've always disliked pistols & sights that are not mounted as far back as possible. Why give up sight radius when you don't have to? Also, the TFO's are just overly long looking( due to the fiber tubes, I get that).

Fit:
This has a lot to do with who intalls them. Especially on an XD. But they fit perfect. The TFO's fit perfect as well.

Function:
For me the Trijicon HD sight picture is much better than the TFO's. The rear notch is larger which makes it very easy to center the bright orange front sight in the notch. Making for a fast flash sight picture. The rear sight is basically black in day light as the tritium tubes only make faint dots in day light. IMO no dots in the rear is better. The black rear sight really makes the orange front pop. The TFO sight picture is great if you like 3 dots. And they are very bright in daylight.
Night/darkness sight picture on the Trijicon's is good & great. The tritium glows very bright, front slightly brighter than the rear, but reverts to a 3 dot system. Though the bigger rear notch helps. BUT, if you hit the front sight with 2 or 3 seconds of bright tactical light the orange dot will glow strong for about 20 seconds. Bringing back that awesome daylight sight picture where it's easy & fast to center that front sight in the big rear notch. The glow starts to fade after 20 seconds or so. TFO night sight picture is pretty good. Mine were green front/yellow rear so picking up the green front sight was pretty quick in darkness. The TFO tritium had plenty of glow to it also, slight dimmer in the rear as the yellows are not as bright as green.
Two other things I like about the Trijicons. The rear sight forward edge is vertical and slightly angled forward making it perfect for an emergency slide rack on cover, your belt or holster or whatever you can get too. This will be helpful if your other hand is not usable for any reason. The TFO's pretty much are useless in that regard because they are ramped & have only a very short forward edge.
Last the Trijicon rear sight back face is angled back slightly and serrated. That'll reduce chances of any kind of glare on the rear sight. TFO's have no real rear sight face due to the way they are made. Though I didn't ver have a glare problem with them.

Bottom line, for a defense/combat sight on a defensive carry pistol the Trijicon HD's are my top choice. I will install Triji HD's on my wife's pistol and any other pistol that I use. I think these would be great for competition too. Which I hope to try soon

Phone pictures are not great but...

[devildog66]

I use the TFO day/night sight and I really like the 24/7 pick-up of the sight even though it does shorten the length of the sight plane.

[Rotorhead]

I have factory installed Trijicons on my XDm9. I installed a set of Trijicons on my XD9sc. I love them both. However, when I went shopping for a set for my .45 I settled on a set of Truglos (non fiber, tritium only). They are brighter as the rods are slightly larger than the Trijicons. I also like the non-snag design of the rear sight. The factory Trijicons are non-snag but damned if I could find any for my XDsc. I have an MGW Sight Adjustment Tool for the XD/XDm and it makes sight changes (and adjustments) a breeze compared to hammering them in and out with a punch. Which I might add is something I would NOT advise with tritium sights. So to answer your question, I would recommend the Truglos. I found a pair on Amazon for less than $60. http://www.cgwgun.com/TruGlo-BRITE-SITES__TRU-TNS.aspx

[Shepherd]

Just had the TG TFOs installed today. Here's a pic taken in a dark room...

[TARFU]

I passed on the last batch of Trijicon Orange HD's that James had to preserve my marriage (my wife gets pissed when I buy myself stuff during the holidays). Now I'm probably screwed. God knows when he's going to get more in and I'm probably down the list to boot.

[TARFU]

Update - So I reached out to James and he hooked me up with a set of Sig Orange HD's. Evidently, the XD and XDm use the same dovetail as a Sig Sauer. The standard Sig sights #8 Front #8 Rear are the same as the "G" marked XD sights and are interchangeable.

He said some LEO's actually prefer the Sig version of the sights because they are a little bit more vertical like the regular Trijicon night sights and not swept back at an angle therefore being easier to emergency rack. The downside is you don't get the extra sight radius since they are similar in position to the stock XD sights. I'm not sure that is going to bother me that much. I'd take it if I could get it, but the sight radius is fine on my XD45c and I'll be no worse off.

[Rotorhead]

Just installed a set of green Truglos on my XD .45. I have Trijicons on my other 2 XDs. Factory installed on my XDm 9 4.5" and self installed on my XD 9 subcompact. I read in several posts that the green/green sights were the brightest of the colors. They are brighter than the Trijicons as they have larger rods (I think they advertise theirs as 20% larger). I have an MGW sight tool for the XD/XDm and it made installing and adjusting the sights a snap. Found my Truglos on Amazon for $70.