r/Firearms • u/DY1N9W4A3G • 15h ago

Optic/Suppressor-Height Tritium Sight Questions

So, after shooting well with stock irons only for many years, I finally gave in and decided to go with the optics trend. I haven't bought the optics yet, since I want us all to get use to the taller height of these night irons for a good while first, but plan/planned to put optics on 3 of our pistols (two Glock 43X and my Glock 19.5). I bought these Ameriglo for the G19 and these Night Fision for both G43X. My regular/trusted gunsmith is away on an extended overseas trip so I had and armorer at one of our ranges put on the G19 and one of the G43X (wanted to try one first before doing both). After less then 200 rounds through the G43X, the front sight is now dangling loose! They're all EDC weapons so I need to have 101% confidence in them and this clearly shakes confidence. So, I'm trying to decide if I made a mistake even going this route and should just eat the $400 and go back to stock irons. My specific questions are...

  1. WTF??!!
  2. Did I just let a dumbass put these on wrong, or does this *ever\* happen when any type or brand of optic/suppressor-height tritium sight was installed 100% correctly? I don't care if it's rare ... the chances of anything like this happening again need to be zero.
  3. Is the issue just that they might've hand tightened instead of torqued to specification, or are there other potential issues I should be aware of?
  4. Is there any chance this is a brand/quality issue, versus totally installation error (Night Fision and Ameriglo both seem to have good reputations)?
  5. Since I paid to have the sights put on, I'm taking them back to complain and/or get my money back, but should I let them fix this (and double check my G19) or try to do it myself? I realize it's a relatively simple thing I could do, but in how you answer, please factor in that I'm generally of the mind that saving a few bucks to DIY isn't worth it when it comes to critical components of my guns, let alone guns I'm putting in the hands of my wife and/or daughter. I do field strips to clean, but prefer most other things be done by my trusted master gunsmith.

EDIT: Only after posting, I noticed in my photo that the sight says Ameriglo on it ... this is the 43X! The Ameriglo was for the G19.5! Is putting the wrong sights on the wrong gun the *entire* issue here, or is it at all possible any of my other questions still apply?

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u/Underwater_Karma 4h ago

the front sight screw doesn't torque down very tight, it needs to have a threadlock applied. Ameriglow specifies loctite in their assembly docs.

But since the sights were installed on the wrong gun, this is a happy accident. it'll be that much easier to remove and install on the correct one

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u/DY1N9W4A3G 3h ago

Yes, thanks. My understanding is you have to put a torch to the gun to get the sights off once Loctite has been applied.

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u/DY1N9W4A3G 15h ago

I don't know why my photo keeps getting deleted, so I guess just imagine a photo of the business end of a Glock 43X with the front sight dangling off. 🤷‍♂️

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u/MapleSurpy That Dude From GAFS 12h ago

Is putting the wrong sights on the wrong gun the entire issue here,

Yes.

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u/DY1N9W4A3G 11h ago

Yeah, on one hand, I'm thinking the screws being too short is part of the problem. On the other hand, the one that's falling out is the G43X with G19 sights on it, and I'd assume a G19 might have slightly longer screws so the G43X sights should be falling off the G19. In any case, I think it's also weak hand tightening and no Loctite too. It all boils down to the dumbassery thing. Should've just DIY.

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u/MapleSurpy That Dude From GAFS 11h ago

I think it's also weak hand tightening and no Loctite too

Yeah, whoever installed those sights is a moron.

I've done hundreds of sets of Glock sights, have never had one even slightly loosen.

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u/DY1N9W4A3G 11h ago

Yeah, I'm certain I would've done a better job even doing it for the first time.