One of the most common upgrades for Glock pistols is replacement sights. Many gun owners cite durability concerns over the stock polymer construction and U-notch and front-dot sighting system, often finding them inadequate.
For most shooters, deciding whether to replace the sights is a matter of personal preference, based on improving shooting comfort or durability. Most aftermarket sights use steel or aluminum in their construction instead of polymer, and many offer various sighting systems, from the classic 3-dot to more unconventional designs.
A specific subset of shooters owns Glocks fitted with suppressors or red-dot sights installed on their handguns. Pistols configured this way cannot use stock sights, requiring the installation of suppressor sights.
Best Glock Suppressor Sights
1. Trijicon Bright & Tough Suppressor Night Sights
Trijicon is a parts manufacturer known mostly for its optical sights, such as the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG), a well-known fixed-power scope in service with the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The company also manufactures reflex sights, red-dot sights, and iron sights for rifles and pistols, many of which are favored by military and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The Bright & Tough Suppressor Night Sight series is a line of suppressor-height tritium night sights. Several models are available, compatible with over 20 Glock models, and offered in various tritium lamp color options (green, yellow, or orange).
All Bright & Tough sights employ robust metal bodies, serving as durable housings for the tritium lamps, giving shooters confidence and peace of mind in all situations.
In low-light situations, the tritium phosphor lamps glow naturally with no batteries. The tritium lamps are capped with sapphire jewel cylinders, evenly distributing the light produced and protecting the lamps from debris, impacts, chemicals, and cleaning solvents. The sapphire-capped tritium lamps offer a bright and sharp sight picture, allowing for accurate sight alignment even in complete darkness.
During the day, high-contrast white rings surrounding the tritium lamps improve sight picture clarity, helping the shooter make adjustments to their aim more quickly and comfortably.
The front blade height sits at 0.365”, whereas the rear blade height sits at 0.361”. These sights can perfectly co-witness with red-dot-sights such as the Trijicon RMR.
Like all tritium night sights, the lamps’ glow will eventually fade, typically after 10 to 12 years for green and yellow models and 5 years for orange models. If your sights dim out before that point, Trijicon offers a tritium glow warranty, providing repairs or replacement at no cost to the customer.
2. TruGlo Brite-Site TFX Suppressor Height
TruGlo is a world-leading manufacturer of sighting devices for firearms, bows, and crossbows, with over 25 years of experience in the industry.
The Brite-Site TFX Suppressor Height sights for Glock pistols are suppressor night sights, employing a 0.425” tall front sight and either a 0.504” or 0.520” rear sight, depending on the model of your pistol. Compatible with most Glock models, these sights are tall enough to clear most suppressors, yet short enough that purchasing a holster compatible with suppressor-height sights is unnecessary.
TruGlo TFX sights employ a snag-resistant design, reducing the risk of catching onto clothing or holster material and improving the shooter’s confidence when performing holstering and unholstering drills.
The high-quality Swiss-made tritium lamps provide shooters with a battery-free, 24/7 glow, ideal for aiming in low-light conditions and warranted by TruGlo to last at least 12 years before losing half of their original brightness.
The TruGlo TFX sights remain effective even during the day, employing 2 black rear sight rings and 1 white front sight ring for fast and intuitive target acquisition.
The TFX sights’ CNC-machined metal housing features a high-durability Nitride finish, making the sights impervious to the elements and resistant to oils, chemicals, or cleaning products. They will not break or suffer damage even through ultrasonic cleaning processes, ensuring that your sights are as durable as your firearm.
3. XS Sight Systems DXT Suppressor Height Sights
The XS Sight Systems DXT Suppressor Height Sights are designed primarily for fast target acquisition and intuitive, fast shooting. These suppressor-height night sights fit most short-frame and large-frame Glock pistols.
Instead of a traditional 3-dot sighting system, the XS DXT sights employ a unique V-notch rear sight with a single-dot tritium front sight. The rear sight features a central tritium vial, designed to align with the front sight to form an “i” shape. The front tritium dot is available in white, orange, yellow, or green, in 2 sizes (standard and large).
This “dot-the-i” sighting system is straightforward to use and intuitive, increasing target acquisition speed and allowing shooters to become faster and more effective on the range and in the field.
Although this sighting system is relatively different from a traditional 3-dot system, it can shoot more quickly and effectively with the DXT sights. All it takes is getting used to the “dot-the-i” system and a little practice.
The suppressor-height version of the XS DXT sights is compatible with Glocks of all generations and co-witnesses with commonly used red-dot sights such as the Trijicon RMR, the Holosun 507c, or the Vortex Viper.
4. Heinie Glock 42/43/43X Ledge Straight Eight Night Sight Set
In recent years, various handgun manufacturers have offered red-dot-ready carry pistols. One of them is the Glock 43X MOS, a version of the Glock 43 featuring a pre-cut slide designed to accept a red-dot sight.
If you own one of these handguns, the Heinie Ledge Straight Eight for Glock 42/43/43X is the set of iron sights for you. Inspired by military combat sights, this set brings technology from the battlefield to benefit civilian shooters and concealed carriers.
The Straight Eight set features Heinie’s trademark Ledge design, with serrated rear faces, contoured edges, a wide front sight post, and a single tritium lamp in the front and rear sight each, forming a vertical 2-dot aiming system. According to the manufacturer, the 2-dot system is clear and intuitive to the human eye than traditional 3-dot sights, leading to faster follow-up shots.
The rear sight features a lip, facilitating one-handed operation, such as racking the slide against a table corner. The robust metal construction features a rust-resistant finish, requiring no maintenance.
This sight set can co-witness with all the sights recommended for use on the Glock 43X MOS, such as the Shield Sights RMSc or the Trijicon RMRcc. It is also compatible with the standard Glock 43 and the .380 ACP Glock 42.
5. AmeriGlo Tritium Front & Rear Tall Suppressor Set
AmeriGlo is a leading manufacturer of 100% US-made pistol sights, supplying law enforcement agencies, military units, and civilian enthusiasts.
The AmeriGlo Front & Rear Tall Suppressor Set is compatible with nearly every Gen 1 to Gen 4 Glock pistol. This set features a tall, triangular rear sight and a wide, square front sight post with a single tritium lamp.
Two rear sight options are available: All-black, forming a single-dot sighting system, or classic 2-dot, creating a standard 3-dot sighting arrangement.
The front tritium lamp is encased in a large colored circle, attracting the eye and helping the shooter focus on the front sight, which most shooters recommend when practicing the fundamentals with iron sights. This circle is available in 3 colors: Orange, white, or luminescent green.
The luminescent green option possesses a unique feature. It will remain bright after exposure to light for up to 10 minutes, increasing the brightness of your front sight post and improving your sight picture.
This sight set can co-witness with red-dot sights such as the Trijicon RMR, the Leupold DeltaPoint, or the Burris FastFire 3, and is an excellent addition to any Glock MOS or any other red-dot-ready Glock pistol.
Why Specific Pistols Need Suppressor Sights
On a standard, unmodified pistol, the iron sights are the topmost element, protruding from the top of the slide and allowing the shooter to make adjustments to their point of aim.
Accurately shooting a handgun with iron sights depends on two factors: Correct sight alignment and a clear sight picture.
- Sight alignment is the process of leveling the pistol’s front and rear sights vertically and horizontally. Correct vertical alignment is when the top of your front sight is aligned with the top of your rear sight, whereas correct horizontal alignment is when your front sight is centered between the notches of your rear sight.
- The sight picture is what the shooter sees when aiming down the iron sights. A shooter has a clear sight picture when they can tell clearly if the rear and front sights are correctly aligned, making adjustments as needed.
With a set of standard sights, installing a suppressor or a red-dot sight may obstruct the sight picture.
- With a suppressor installed, the suppressor body may block the sight picture ahead of the front sight, obscuring the target.
- With a red-dot sight (RDS) installed on the slide, the RDS housing sits in between the front and rear sights, making it challenging, if not impossible, to get a sight picture with the iron sights.
Suppressor sights are tall enough to clear the obstruction caused by a suppressor, allowing the shooter to get a clear sight picture and aim normally.
Many shooters also use them on pistols fitted with red-dot sights to obtain a co-witnessing sight picture. A co-witnessing sight picture combines the iron sights and the aim dot produced by a red-dot sight.
There are advantages to co-witnessing:
- Better sight alignment: If both the iron sights and the RDS are properly zeroed and aligned, the dot projected by the RDS lines up with the iron sights’ point of aim, giving visual confirmation and boosting the shooter’s confidence.
- Backup sights: If the red-dot sight is damaged or runs out of batteries, the shooter can continue aiming using the iron sights alone.
In Conclusion
Every time you change the sights on your Glock pistol (or any other firearm), your point of aim changes. Spend some time at the range and shoot a few groups with your favorite target and defensive ammunition to ensure that you are shooting to your intended point of aim.
Assume a point of aim at the center of a target with a set of fixed, non-adjustable sights. If you find that your Glock shoots too far to either side of the center, you may need to drift your rear sight with a sight adjustment tool until your groups are centered again.
