Dear Dr. House,

First, glad you are back. I dont know what you were dealing with but hope its settled and you are able to get back to doing what you enjoy.

Second, I am still anxiously awaiting the sequel to the Is the 19 the new K frame which is the is the 26 the new J frame.

Third and my actual question. As someone who has shot revolvers a lot. What are your thoughts on a front site such as an XS? I have thought of installing one on my 60 just havent gotten around to it. I am sure it will make fast up close but wonder how it will effect my 25 yards shots.

Thank You,

Alex

Dear Alex,

1. Thanks man. I was recovering from heart surgery.

2. It’s in the works. The conclusion might surprise you though.  There are things a J frame CAN do that a Glock 26, can’t.  The same can’t be said for the G19/K frame…

3. I LIKE the XS front, the problem is that the rear notch (on the stock revolver) isn’t regulated to the front. Some folks get lucky and get a good POA/POI intersection, and others end up shooting FEET high at relatively close distances (<15 yards). It really depends on the gun.  It also depends on the shooter, and which, “part,” of the dot you are using (meaning, “dot,” centered in the notch, the center of the, “dot,” or tritium vial bottomed out in the notch, etc).  I know a gent that had Jim Fuller at Rifle Dynamics run a ball-end mill through the sight trough of his revolver, opening it up into a semi-lunar shape, which was regulated properly, and served him well.  That was on an all stainless gun, and I don’t know if that same thing would work on an Airweight frame though, as I imagine all of that extra aluminum is necessary for safety and wear resistance.

I thought that the Smith Nightguard series was great, but, they calibrated the C&S rear to fit the height and shape of the front (XS) sight. Why they can’t make an analog of that in J frame format, is beyond me. Silly, really.  I don’t think it would take a tremendous effort to figure out the dimensions on the Novak type rear sight that comes on the Smith 640 Pro, and offer it in other J frames.  I’m sure it would sell among the training community…which means that Smith might sell 1000 of them.  Maybe a few more.  That’s just the brakes of business.

Thank you for the questions!

EXPANSION

XS Big Dots are kind of like Donald Trump…either you love him or you hate him!  There are very few fence sitters when it comes to the Big Dots.  As far as my views on them, I think that they are just fine for defensive purposes.  When I was a younger man, and my vision hadn’t yet been significantly affected by staring into people’s mouths for several years, I would’ve said that the Big Dots were fine, but that there were other sighting options out there that might be better for some people.  However, now that I am dealing with, “approaching middle age vision,” I don’t mind Big Dots at all.  Really, the issues that I have had with them are less about the sights and the sight picture itself, than the construction of the sights.  I’ve had the, “dot,” itself eject from the sight set of a S&W Shields (twice) and I’ve lost the front dot on a Glock before.  Of course, the gents at XS handled that perfectly, and sent me replacements, but it does create a concern for me.  All three, “loss events,” occurred in practice, while I was shooting 5-8 shot strings, in between reholstering.  I drew the pistol, and realized that the dot was gone, or the dot ejected early on in the string of fire.  Bummer either way.  I’ve met people who shoot exceedingly well with Big Dots, both young and experienced, and I’ve seen complete novice’s do really well with Big Dots in both live fire and FOF scenarios.

Sights are like shoes, underwear and yes, even politicians…what I like and prefer, might not be your cup of tea at all.  In the gun industry, there is a big push to say, “THIS,” is what you need.  Whether it’s sights, a holster, belts, shooting glasses, ear protection, or any myriad of other equipment pieces.  But everyone is a different size and shape, and has different abilities.  So no, “one thing,” is going to work for everyone, all the time.  I’m not sure what drives people to want to seek that level of organization.  Perhaps it is the thinking that people use similar to how they think about M4 usage for civilian home/business defense…”It is good enough for the military and my local police, so I NEED that level of equipment, too.”  I get it, it’s proven (maybe) and mil-spec, but don’t forget the context; unless you ARE the military or the police, your mission is significantly different.  So pick what works for you.  Get sights that you can see, and shoot to the point of aim and point of impact of your chosen practice and carry loading.  Then worry about something else!  It’s really easy to get wrapped up and concerned about the gear, but the gear is actually the LAST thing you need to worry about (SEE HERE FOR MORE DETAILS).  In 99% of cases, most gear will do, if YOU will do.

Thanks for reading!