Chistian Gun Owner updates

TRUGLO TFO Sights Review

*It's 2019, a different GLOCK, but still using TRUGLO sights. I now use their tritium night sights on a G23. But the TFO sights are still available. 

I took a big step when I installed fixed TRUGLO TFO sights in place of the MMC rear sight, and the Hi-Viz front sight on my GLOCK 22 .40 S&W. They are some of the most innovative glow-in-the-dark-or-anywhere high visibility sighting systems.

Both front and rear sights have a fiber optic insert for ambient light collection. That makes them glow brightly in lighted conditions.

Tritium sealed the deal for the TFO sights

But each sight also has a sealed Tritium cup inserted with the fiber optic so that when you lose light, you don't lose your sight. They glow brightly in complete darkness. And tritium does not require charging by light. It just glows by itself. These sights are green which means they probably would weaken Superman if he got near them.....

Here they are mounted on the gun and pointed down at my deck in the shadow of the house.

Anyway, I agonized over the decision to put in the TRUGLO TFO sights because the adjustable MMC that I had worked well and I shot well with it. And I know that anytime I go to change something out, there is the probability that it will have to be adjusted, filed, pounded, etc. That's why nearly all sight manufacturers recommend gunsmith installation, including these.

Plus, this is a fixed sight set, so if they don't work on the gun, tough. No adjustments. But, if I had to go to a gunsmith for everything I want done to my guns, I would only be able to afford the gunsmith, not the guns. So, as usual, I risked messing things up and proceeded on my own.

Risks of installing your own sights

Installing these TRUGLO TFO sights was scary....at least the rear sight. It is a dovetail to fit the GLOCK slide insert, but guess what. It didn't fit. It went in about 1/3 of the way and then that was it.

So what did I do? What the instructions recommended. I took a mallet to it. No luck. I then took it out and filed it (no returning it now). Then I tried again. Stuck. Pounded. Knocked out again. Filed again. Slide oiled. Pounded in from the other side. Then I knocked it in past the point of no return.

After a full half hour of pounding on it with a steel punch padded with cleaning cloths, I had the sight in position.

The infamous originally-non-fitting-dovetail knocked into place.

The front sight was easy, with a post and screw insert, a front sight screw tool easily installed it.

One thing that I can say with full assurance. These TRUGLO TFO sights are DURABLE. If they didn't break with the pounding I gave them, you would have trouble breaking them with a sledge hammer.

Then I prayed that God would have mercy on me and let the gun shoot great, knowing that if it did not, I would have to get that rear sight out. And that was almost unthinkable.

So, how did they work? From 40 feet, dead on. Closer: dead on. Fast firing: remarkably accurate. One handed (right) from defensive distances: piece of cake. Left handed: as well as can be expected for a lopsided righty.

They glow like kryptonite in bright sunlight and in complete darkness. Thank God. My prayers were answered.

Here are the sights in bright sunlight. They're actually green in the sunlight. My camera just picked them up as white with the bright reflection off of them.

In complete darkness, they glow clearly. To test them, I went into a closet to see if my mediocre digital camera would pick them up without a flash (I really didn't expect the camera to be able to display them) and lo and behold, I actually got a dim picture in complete darkness.

In your hand, it looks like 3 tiny little green flashlights-very clear.

I put these TRUGLO TFO sights on my business gun, my GLOCK 22. It's my favorite gun that I carry daily, (update: used to carry daily, now a G23 with same sights) use as a home defense gun, and shoot most often. If they had not worked, it would have been bad, but the risk turned out to be worth the laborious effort of installing the rear sight.

And the money: a little over $100 with tax locally for the set. I shot about 100 rounds with these new sights installed and it was a pleasure that only people who like shooting can appreciate. Where you not only enjoy the shooting, but the fact that you did something to your gun that resulted in improved shooting and functionality.

BOTTOM LINE: I recommend these TRUGLO TFO sights for any pistol.

One word of caution when using any Fiber Optic sight: Dropping the gun or slide on a hard surface that strikes the sight, may fracture the optic tube. That's the case with any sight like this.

Update: Since this writing, I have installed the TruGlo TFO night sights on several other GLOCKS. All have gone in easily and did not require the pounding of the set reviewed here.

Update May 2012: I continue to use these sights on my pistols. They are great for daytime shooting. And when they have to be seen at night, no problem.

March 2014 NOTE: Sites with fiber optics and tritium inserts can be fractured by impact. The highest quality sites are subject to it. I've trashed the front site on this gun by dropping the slide on concrete. The fiber optic stick still works fine in daylight. The tritium just doesn't show up at night from a fractured container.

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