Glock factory sights questions

Hello, all. This is my first post in the Glock sub-forum and I am a newbie to pistols in general.

I'm considering several guns for my first purchase and from just handling them so far, the Glock 19 is my leading candidate. From what I understand, there are three sight types available from Glock: fixed, adjustable and night sights. I talked with a guy at the local gun shop today and he made it sound like the adjustable sights may or may not be available on the 19, so I was wondering if anyone knows. And if the adjustable sights are available, does anyone know the cost for that?

My other question about the sights is this: are the adjustable sights and/or the factory nights sights worth it on the 19? The adjustable sights seem like they'd be useful. As for the night sights, I hear some people dislike them and prefer other low-light offerings.

Your opinions and experience are welcome. Thank you in advance.

I have a G19 with the standard fixed sights. If you are going to be shooting mostly at targets at the range, then I would recommend getting the adjustable sights....but I cannot tell you for sure whether you can get them from factory (I would assume you can). night sights are useful in lowlight situations (I have trijicons on another gun), but can be harder to see during the day.
BTW, I got the standard glock fixed sights because they are "fast" for me. I use the G19 for IDPA competitions and "putting the ball in the bucket" type of glock sights are fast for ME to acquire......you may be different.

The standard Glock fixed sights are pretty nice really. They always seemed to be pretty easy to get a sight picture with. They are not my favorite style (I really like the straight 8 style) But I would like them over a few other types.

Agreed with the other reply. Unless you are doing a lot of target shooting and at longer than average distances you probably not need an adjustable sight. With the sight radius of the G19 they in my opinion are not the most useful anyway.

I recently owned a Sig with night sites and now own a G26 with stock fixed sights....I have only used my Glock at the range so far (about 900 rounds), but I must say that I like the stock sights quite a bit....my buddy who I sold my Sig to used my gun the other day and commented on how much he liked the sights and how easy they were to pick up at the range....it also didnt hurt that he put a tighter group in on his first mag with my Glock than he had all day with his Sig.....I tried not to rub it in too much:anim_lol:
Anyway, I guess it depends on where you plan to use the gun, I would say the stock sights will be great for everything except night time shooting, and you have to be honest how much of that you plan to do....I use my G26 for every day carry, so for that reason I plan on getting some night sites for mine, its a good chance that if you have to use the gun for defense it may be night time, and the night sites will help.....although, and I cant speak from experience, but I am also thinking that in a crisis situation you probably wont be aiming carefully with your sites, you are going to get them center mass and let her rip...I have hear some people dont like the stock sights at all, but they are the cheapest and worth trying....some people love them and with my short experience with the gun, I also like them quite a bit....mine came from the factory dead on, no need to adjust them...however I want to be prepared for anything and for that reason I plan on putting night sites on my gun when I get the extra cash....otherwise I would definitely keep the stock ones on...
B

also if you get the stock sights and dont like them, you can always upgrade in the future....my local range offers Trijicon sights installed on the Glock for 100 bucks, not a bad deal....

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Originally Posted by flieger67

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My other question about the sights is this: are the adjustable sights and/or the factory nights sights worth it on the 19? The adjustable sights seem like they'd be useful. As for the night sights, I hear some people dislike them and prefer other low-light offerings.

Your opinions and experience are welcome. Thank you in advance.

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First, I have to tell you I am a huge fan of Glock handguns: I own several, and shoot them regularly. I mention this up-front, because you may not believe I'm a fan after reading what I'm about to type.

Stock Glock sights suck. It is the primary (only?) weak point in their handgun design, in my opinion. They are usable, but very easy to damage; accidentally bang the sight(s) against something solid, or (cringe) drop your weapon, and the sights will probably be toast. The adjustable rear sights are even worse, in that they have less durability and are not even as user-friendly as the stock fixed sights, having less top-edge surface area to align with the top of the front sight due to the design. This is what the adjustable rear looks like:

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/6787/sight.jpg

It requires a tiny screwdriver to adjust, the elevation only has three or four "steps" to choose from, and you can see how small the "adjustable" portion is, compared to a stock rear sight.

I heartily recommend the factory night sights, or those made by Meprolight (my personal favorite) or Trijicon (have owned some of these also, a set is currently mounted on my son's G19, and only a tiny preference separates them from the Meprolights in my mind). I would choose the stock fixed sights over the factory adjustable sights, but I'd only keep them for as long as it took to save-up the money to replace them with Glock factory night sights, Meprolights, or Trijicons.

If you absolutely don't want night sights, but want something more durable than the stock sights, I believe Glock also offers a set of plain steel sights for a small upgrade fee.

Here is the address for Glock's website, showing available accessories and options:

http://www.glock.com/english/index_acc.htm

Select "Options" from the top menu bar, then click Rear Sight or Front Sight to see the different options side-by-side. Disclaimer: the Night Sights don't shine as brightly as the goofy rear sight illustration seems to indicate; unless it's dark or nearly dark, you won't see any illumination at all. For best results in daylight shooting, the dots should be ignored and the conventional sight picture of front-sight-centered-in-the-rear-notch, and top-of-front-level-with-top-of-rear should be used.

Thanks for the responses - I appreciate them.

DJ Niner - thank you for the link to the Glock. I'd seen their website but hadn't seen the info on the different sights.