Like most of you, I got about 74 million emails in the days around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the other sales that occur around the holiday season. I deleted most of these EXCEPT for the websites and vendors that were selling some things that I have had on my mind for a time. I had planned on purchasing a number of XS products to upgrade the iron sighting systems on several of my pistols. You will see a number of these write ups. I don’t normally write about products without talking about the accompanying, WHY I like or use that product. You’ll also notice that I don’t write about products I don’t like, because I’m just a dude. Someone else might love what I don’t, and that’s ok. I’d rather be a congratulator than a hater, and since I BUY with my own money, everything that I write about, I am beholden to nobody to provide a quid pro quo, sponsorship, or discount codes.

I have used XS Sights products since 2006, when I first met my friend, the late James Yeager of Tactical Response. I became an instructor for Tactical Response in 2007, and the XS Big Dot was the preferred sighting system of James and thus it was required that his instructors knew about the system, why it existed, and how to teach students (mostly beginners or novice students) to use it. It is a simple system; you put the BIG DOT on what you want to hit, press the trigger cleanly, and deliver the shot. They weren’t target sights; they were not designed for that. They were made for fighting up close, and in force on force training, it was very apparent that many students who were mentally collected could easily focus on the front sight and get hits, while others could remain target focused and STILL see the front sight outline outside of their hard focus and get hits. It was an, “analog,” version of a pistol mounted optic, which in the early 00’s, except for Kelly McCann and a few others (and may surprise you to know, one of them was the late Dr. William Aprill!) were not popular until well after 2015.

XS SIGHTS has continued to evolve and develop more products that work great for everyone, but especially those with aging eyes OR less than perfect vision. If you’ve known me for awhile, you may have noticed that in the past few years, I am rarely seen in public without eyeglasses on. When I was 47 years old, I started to have issues seeing up close and reading without corrective lenses (cheaters or my magnification loupes I wear for performing surgery) on. I went to an optometrist and was prescribed progressive lenses. Luckily, my distance vision is still slightly better than 20/20, but up close, everything is fuzzy. Including iron sights. I am lucky though, because if I close one eye, I can still see enough of the outline of the sights that I can make good hits out to 25 yards on a B8 target. Some sights are more visible than others, and a prominent front sight paired with a rear sight that has visible light around it work best for MY eyes. You MAY have the same visual issues I have. Or you MAY have something else going on entirely. As the old saying goes, “The customer is always right, in matters of TASTE.” What my taste is may not be yours. For personal choices like weapons, holsters, sights, shoes, etc. everyone likes what they like. I figured out early on when as a teenager as I became enamored with the music of AEROSMITH, and I bought their back catalog previous to the album, “Permanent Vacation,” that they didn’t make a solid history of just bangers; some were far better than others. So it goes with guns, holsters, sights, and probably every other choice in the world. I have found a holster that I loved for an M&P say, and then I bought the same model for a Glock 19, and it sucked. It appeared similar in ride height, carriage and weight distribution, but it just didn’t work. Most of us who have been in this industry or hobby for a time have a, “sin bin,” in their garage or storage closet filled with holsters that didn’t work for them, or sights off of guns that just didn’t hit the mark…literally.

I used the site coupon to purchase a number of XS products but I will talk here about two versions of sights for the full size, S&W M&P 2.0 Optic Ready versions. These both are on guns that I have carried, and also used in training classes or tactical competition. They came with the aforementioned, “tall,” OEM sights or these lower profile sights:

I don’t change much on my pistols. In fact, I leave everything alone except for changing the sights or adding an optic (but not always!). I would rather acquire skill through repetition and practice than try and buy it…I spend the money on ammo! In my experience, nothing wears a pistol’s trigger pull and operation in better than lots of rounds downrange. I really loved the OEM trigger on this basic M&P, and I had a well worn carry gun, another M&P 2.0 Metal that I purchased because that is what my mentor, Tom Givens was using. Both have served me well, and thus I thought it was time to improve the sights with products from XS. So apologies for the long-winded intro, but I like you to know the, “why,” of where I am coming from and not just some BS product, “review.”

I have always had outstanding experience with XS SIGHTS. I have used their gear for nearly 20 years now, and I have used their warranty service as well. I use my guns, far more than the average gun owner, and they break! I have lost the, “BIG DOT,” off of the front sights, twice; once on a Glock 19 with about 24k rounds through it, and another set on a S&W Shield (Generation 1) and both were readily replaced by XS with just a phone call. They are good people who like to help other good people! Tell them the Doctor sent you!

Just a reminder, so nobody gets confused, but I paid for these myself, with my own money! I did use the Christmas Season discount that was applied to my cart at checkout. This was all written by me, Dr. Sherman A. House, and NOT AI generated. Thank you for reading and please like, share on social media (I am still and will remain, free from all social media platforms) and subscribe to my feed! Thank you for reading!