One of my handguns has had a set of XS big dot sights on it since I go it. It has 20,426rds through it. The gun has been retired and unused for at least the last 5-6 years. I have only held onto it because it is in bad shape, broken multiple times, and I would not feel good about selling it to anyone. I made some bad decisions in where I attended firearms training when I first got started. One of the places that I took several courses was a place that highly recommended the XS sights and as far as I know they still use them on most of the instructor guns and loaner guns. I followed the organization prior to training with them and felt their argument for the sights just made sense.
The above listed gun went through multiple training courses, a lot of practice sessions and even some local IDPA matches. I did get lucky one time and make a head shot at 25yds with them. Are they good up close? Yes. Are they good at shooting moving targets? Yes. Are they good to use when shooting on the move? Yes. However, attaining a high level of accuracy is not nearly as easy as standard notch and post sights. You know how it is, some guns are just easy to shoot well. To me XS sights at distance are hard to shoot well. Can it be done? Yes, and I have done it lots. However, all in all they were not was best for me. The benefits of the sighs to me at close distances eventually became null and void. Due to the amounts of repetitions with presentations, I could get hits (better hits), and faster with notch and post sights. To me at the distances that XS sights are supposed to help the most, they really didn’t do me any benefit.
However, I will admit that I think they are a better option for people that do not shoot a lot. In my opinion more switched on shooters will not see as much benefit from them as people who practice little or none at all.
The only true benefit that I got out of them was while shooting on the move and shooting movers. To me that was the only tasks that the sights performed better than standard sights.
Since that time I have used various sight configurations. Secretly I had been dying for a set of sights that would give me all the benefits of notch and post sights (high level of accuracy at distance), but also give me the benefit of being more usable and intuitive while shooting on the move and shooting movers. I thought that was a wish that would never be fulfilled. However, when the Ameriglo Hackathon sights came out a couple years ago, that is exactly what I got when I started using them.
Hackathorn sights have a wide rear notch (no tritium), a front post that is not too wide but more importantly there is a tritium vial in the front with a large, orange, luminescent ring around the vial. I prefer sights that have a single tritium vial in the front and a plain black rear. They also sit low on the slide which is something that I prefer. The orange ring draws in light in daylight, and ambient light in normal indoor lighting conditions. The combo of the notch width, post width, and orange ring make them very quick to pick up. The Hackathorn sights give me the ability to attain the level of accuracy that I require at distance, and the speed and efficiency at shooting on the move and shooting movers.
I have conducted various tests with these sights while shooting on the move. 15yds and in, I can place the orange ring on the desired target area of the threat, squeeze the trigger straight and to the rear and attain fast, accurate hits on target. I can literally disregard the rear sight all together in this context. Same thing for movers, keep that orange ring on where you want the rounds to go and squeeze the trigger properly.
To me they are literally the best of both worlds. All of my Glocks have Hackathron sights on them and I do not plan to change. From the context of a defensive handgun they give me everything that I need and are easy to use. These sights which were designed by Ken Hackathorn is one of the many ways that Ken has helped me get to where I am today.
