ces777 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Are tritium sights really worth it? And an even more interesting question - is it possible to order your own tritium bars for self installation? looked around and found this site - sent them a message - worth a shot just for shits and giggles...http://www.perkinelmer.com/products/consumables-accessories/default.xhtml
planeflyer21 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Back when I had better eyesight and less money, no they weren't.Now tritium is pretty kick ass! Heine Straight-8s!Jon
edgecrusher Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 I like tritium, have hk style Troy sights <thumbsup>
Dusty44 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Tritium itself, I think, is a radioactive element. As used on gun sights and other things that need to glow, like wristwatch markings for night use, the Tritium is mixed into a paint or coating that contains phosphorus compounds. The radioactivity causes the phosphorus to glow. The dots on the gunsights are drops of this paint. The radioactivity is very low-level and has a half-life of only a few years. Check Wikipedia for something more accurate and definitive.
ces777 Posted October 13, 2012 Author Report Posted October 13, 2012 yup - just need to find a way to get my hands on some of that paint and a kit- it is only dangerous if injested in quantity.
tolbndfishin Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Im thinking the nuclear regulatory commission probably prevent the sale of that stuff to individuals, seeing as how its radioactive. I know its not weapons grade uranium, but radioactive materials on the regulation lists usually dont come off that im aware of. There are a couple companies that will install the capsules for you in whatever sight you wish. I feel ur pain, and hope im not 100% correct and you actually find a vial for your use.Russ
Dusty44 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Looked it up. Used to be that Radium was used in a paint. Mostly that is no more. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It is a gas. It is put in a glass tube, high tech stuff, coated inside with phosphorus material. The electrons/radioactivity of the Tritium makes the phosphors glow. Short half-life; working life of the glow tube is 5 to 20 years depending on how much Tritium is used in that specific tube. It is all tightly controlled by the gubment as an atomic substance because Tritium is also used to make atomic bombs. Do the search engine & Wikipedia. It is short and interesting.
tackleberry2000 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 I have tritiums sights on several of my guns for low light / night time use if needed. I like them Meprolite make some nice bright sights. Have a set of trijicons and they dont seem to be as bright but are still nice to have.
Magwa Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Are they worth it ? hell yes no better piece of mind than waking up in the middle of the night and seeing those baby's glowing on the night stand no looking for the gun just pick it up like a runway to peace of mind.. I have them on my Kimber tac 2 custom and my old eyes love them....
Robocop1051 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Are tritium sights really worth it? Do you shoot at night, or in the dark? If not, then you would be better off with a day glow sight (fiber optic). Tru-Glo makes a tritium AND fiber optic sight. I have seen this on a few dept Glocks, and so far they look nice. My Sig elite has sights very similar to the Meprolight Day/Night sights, and they work fine for me so far.If you had a firearm that you wanted for defense at night, then I highly suggest it. I always have them put on my duty weapons. If you have a firearm that you plink with at the range or up in the mountains, don't waste your money.I too bought the Troy Di-Optic battle sights with tritium for one of my rifles. I think they were a total waste of money, and wish I had spent the money on Magpul instead. I also bought a trijicon tritium front post and installed it in a Magpul MBUS... Again, not really functional. In my ongoing effort to make a better front AR sight, I just ordered this for a 7.62x39 build I did a while back.... (click the pic for the link)We'll see how it turns out when I get home from vacation.
Robocop1051 Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 If this was directed for a pistol application, here are some links to some decent reviews on the tritium sights I mentioned above.Meprolight vs TruGloExtended TruGlo review (day)Extended TruGlo review (night)
ces777 Posted October 13, 2012 Author Report Posted October 13, 2012 it's for an LAR-8.maybe i will just go get some kids glow in the dark paint and paint my sights, then if i need to shoot in the dark i can just shine a flashlight on them for a few seconds and fire away...<laughs> :cookoo:
seasprite Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 Looked it up. Used to be that Radium was used in a paint. Mostly that is no more. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It is a gas. It is put in a glass tube, high tech stuff, coated inside with phosphorus material. The electrons/radioactivity of the Tritium makes the phosphors glow. Short half-life; working life of the glow tube is 5 to 20 years depending on how much Tritium is used in that specific tube. It is all tightly controlled by the gubment as an atomic substance because Tritium is also used to make atomic bombs. Do the search engine & Wikipedia. It is short and interesting.If my memory is working right its used for boosting the yield. Remember watching something about it on atomic bomb movie, more a documentary than movie back when they did all the testing at Bikini.
unforgiven Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 The Sig nite sights are bad ass.Not crazy about replacing them after aprox.10yrs.
Microgunner Posted October 13, 2012 Report Posted October 13, 2012 maybe i will just go get some kids glow in the dark paint and paint my sights, then if i need to shoot in the dark i can just shine a flashlight on them for a few seconds and fire away...<laughs> :cookoo:The factory night sights on my HK 45C are flashlight activated glow in the dark, not tritium, and they work extremely well.
MikedaddyH Posted October 25, 2012 Report Posted October 25, 2012 I bought a paint product which charges with sunlight and glows in the dark. It is applied in the clear coats, it is in powder form and sold by the oz. Life span is under two years. I beleive the product name is Nite-Glow. You could coat the post on you sight with it.
ces777 Posted October 27, 2012 Author Report Posted October 27, 2012 actually seen a review of glow paints on youtube - this stuff supposedly lasts 24 hours http://glowinc.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=11not a bad option if you don't want/need to spend the money on tritium- I will try it out and post back how it works. I think another plus side to glow paint is adding it to certain items in your bugout/prepkit - like first aid items etc...
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