Night Sight Question.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:56 pm

Say you keep a hand gun zipped up in a pistol rug and
stored inside a night stand most of the time.

Will the night sights still glow in the dark if you had to
pull it out in the dark?

Or do they need to be brought out in the light on a
regular basis for a recharge?

jengel · Post by **jengel** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:20 pm

If you are talking about the night sights that are the like of Trijicon and meprolite, then yes, they will glow for years without any charging. Tritium is an isotope of Helium that has a half life of around 12 years. That means theoretically, they will be half as bright in about 12 years. Tritium is actually radioactive but it is a very low level and there will be no harm to anything. There are some luminescent paints out there that need to be charged from a light source before they will glow. I would stay away from them for a defensive firearm.

I have a 1911 that I put meprolite sights on somewhere around 1993. They are still bright enough to see in the dark.

Rimfire McNutjob · Post by **Rimfire McNutjob** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:25 pm

If they are tritium based, they will glow always ... until the tritium decays too far of course. I'm not sure what the total life of the sights are ... but I believe the half life of tritium is about 12 years. I would bet the sights would be good for 20 years easy ... just glowing away.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:50 pm

Wow!

That is interesting.

I didn't know that is what the night sights were made of.
I thought they were like the old glow in the dark toys and
watches.

I was refering to the night sights that came on my Sig P239.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:52 pm

Night sights are necessary equipment in my book. At least for handguns.

canonsix · Post by **canonsix** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:04 pm

All of my handguns have nightsights and one rifle.They are a valuable tool in ones war chest

Doug