XS Big Dots

[Banger19]

I have been looking for sights for my 1911 and have narrowed it down.
I think I want one of those fast aquisition sights for combat. The big dots would be great for that, and they look kinda good in the 1911 style.
I have been doing alot of reading about these and some people love them and some dont. I know they are not for long distance, but there is a video of a guy shooting pepper poppers at 100 yards with em, but I just want them for a carry gun where first hits are the ones that count the most.


I already know how the glock guys like them, now I want to know what the 1911 fans think about them.

[squareball]

XS sights are great! For a guy like me with bad eyes they acquire very quickly.

Squareball

[JRI]

I've looked at them and just can't make up my mind. It's [no fun] getting old but there is no stopping it. I think the laser grips are the way to go because the "iron" sights really get lost in low light where the laser shines.

[MLee]

I put a set on a Glock 23 and liked them very much. They are great for quick target acquisition and work fine in all lighting situations. I think the large dot front is a little big for anything past 10 to 15 yards - for me. I'm sure that the guy in the video is a much better shot than I am - I would be hard pressed at even 25 yards with those sights.

Mike

[Bill Hale]

Banger19,
I've got the XS Big Dots on my Colt Officers ACP. For my old eyes they work great! I can't see regular sights without reading glasses.
They're very fast at reasonable ranges, say out to 20 yards or so.
One drawback is cost. The price of the sights plus cutting a front dove tail came to $200. For me, well worth it.

[Ping Ping]

Beware of guys demonstrating anything by using to shoot at 100yds. Chances are better than not that that guy can do it without the gizmo... specifically, without any sights at all.
Big Dots are nice sights notwithstanding. They are well made, make for very fast aquisition and all reports are that they are the cure of choice for "shortening of the arms syndrome." ;)

As far as I know, the only people who don't like them are novice shooters who buy them to improve accuracy. When they don't, they "dis'" them. Older, experienced shooters, who can already hit what they aim at, tend to swear by them.

[tonka]

Looking at Big Dots for RIA, as well. I'm not building a Nat'l Match pistol; I just need minute-of-dirtbag accuracy, and reliability.

[JDLV4_0]

My wife has them (standard dot) on her Kimber Ultra, I had the Big Dots on a Sig 220 that I had, we both liked them alot, but I still prefer the Heinie straight eights.

I'm in the middle of over coming an eye dominance issue and the larger sight picture of the Big Bot front sight helped alot.

I prefer the big sot over the standard dot, but that's just me, if it's a carry gun, you may want to check the sight channel in your holsters, I had an issue with one holsters sight channel not being deep enough for the big dot, it doesn't happen like that often from what I hear, but it can happen.

[tonka]

JD-

good thought; my girlfriend may have to use my pistol, and the XS sights are just her cup of tea, in that they're fast to acquire and self-explanatory. On the other hand, God help the Goblin who finds himself looking down the bore of the .22 Woodsman that sleeps on her nightstand...............

[JDLV4_0]

This was my inital experience with the Big Dots which I copied from another site:

I recently received my XS Big Dots in the mail, Lima was able to mount the rear on Thursday. I got the front sight mounted today and went to the range.

This is my second target with the dots, the manufacturer states that you pretty much just "Dot the I" but it's not quite that easy, there is a little fine tuning of sight alignment that needs to be done, so the first target was a test run, once I figured out how they need to line up the results were favorable.

I only shot at distances of 7-10 yards for part 1, unfortunately by the end of the first 70 rounds the rear sight was coming loose, I don't think Lima used the thread lock compound that came with the sights, but that will soon be taken care of.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/jdlv4_0/SIG/IMG_2480.jpg

As you can see from the picture above, they work pretty well.

They align very quickly on the follow up shots.

Once I get the threads Loctited down I'll go out to further distances and see how they fare.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/jdlv4_0/SIG/IMG_2482.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/jdlv4_0/SIG/IMG_2481.jpg

The only problem I have is that the Big Dot is taller than the factory sight and my OWB belt holster's sight channel is too shallow, but I think I can manage to make it deeper.

For the rest of the thread:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=26927

[AirForceShooter]

I got them when I picked up my Charles Daly Hi-Power. My first reaction was
"well that's interesting". After a few range sessions I love them. That monster front sight is great. Now, they're not target sights. Defnitely combat sights though.
And follow up shots got a lot easier.

AFS

[tonka]

Has anyone tried the smaller front dot? I'm inclined to think that the small dot would make more precise aiming possible, though like AFS says, they're not target sights in any case.

[bbeard]

Big Dots are great for close range shooting. I have had them on a Glock 19 and J frame revolver. They are BIG and aquire very quickly at closer ranges. After I put them on I dry fired at a light switch across the room. Oh my goodness these are FAST was my first thought. At longer ranges you have to be a bit more careful with alignment. Unless you are gaming shooter IPSC IDPA where the shots can go out to 50 yards you will like them.
I wouldn't pay the extra money for the tritium rear. If you want tritium go with front only.