Jerry reported being able to see the Big Dot sights from XS Sights in Fort Worth, TX. His eyesight has apparently not deteriorated as far as mine has - I sent the slide from my Colt Commander to them and had them install a set of the Big Dot sights and send me an extra Medium Dot front sight just in case the Big Dot was too big. I always hated trying to shoot a .22 rifle or handgun with sights so big they completely covered a small target (like a can) at distances beyond 50-60 feet and I was afraid these Big Dot sights might do that - and they did. I specified the express-style rear sight (a wide sight with a shallow V and a bright painted white vertical line marking its center instead of a Tritium glowing bar). I asked for painted bright white sights because I can't see so-called night sights in poor light - they look like glowing, indistinct blobs to my eyes unless it is too dark to identify a target in which case I wouldn't be shooting anyway... The front sights are all Tritium-lighted but there is so much white paint around the Tritium vial that it just serves as a dark dot that helps you quickly find the exact center of the white painted dot.

The idea with these sights is to put the golf ball front sight on top of the vertical white "Tee" of the rear sight and your sights are lined up. The Big Dot front sight was so big I couldn't shoot the gun accurately at all so I switched to the Medium Dot and discovered that it was only slightly better. The literature says that for accurate close-range shooting you should line up the front and rear sights and then put your desired point of impact at twelve o'clock on top of the front dot. The rear sight is not adjustable for elevation and I found that to do this I had to bury half of the front sight's golf ball dot below the top of the rear sight and then put the point on the target where I wanted the bullet to hit at twelve o'clock on top of the front dot. I finally realized that these sights required me to work a visual puzzle every time I tried to shoot the pistol and I took the sights off and put the white three-dot sights back on. My eyes can line up three dots instantly (no puzzle working) and even though I can't see the smaller dots as well I shoot more accurately with them than anything else I've tried.

I still have Bo Mar all black sights on my old competition 1911 and I can no longer see them well enough to shoot with them quickly. If I have all the time in the world and wear my "computer glasses" I can shoot pretty good groups with it in bright light but I can't see the all-black sights anywhere near as well as bright white dot sights.

As for having an all-black rear sight and a dot front sight - I'm finding out that doesn't work any better for me than all-black sights, maybe even worse than all black sights because there is nothing to line the front dot up with. I have a Springfield XDM 5.25 in 9mm and it has a red fiber optic dot in the front sight and an all black rear sight. When I bring the gun up to shoot I see the red dot brightly and clearly when shooting inside or outside, but the rear sight is a vague dark mess - I can't tell where the front sight is in relation to the rear sight's invisible square notch. I'm going to either have the rear sight changed for one with two dots (so far I can't find anyone who makes such an aftermarket sight) or I'm going to have my local gunsmith put two painted dots on the factory all-black rear sight. I wish Springfield offered an optional rear sight with fiber optic dots as bright as the one in the front sight. All fiber optic sights are not created equal - some are much brighter than others. Those that aren't bright enough are hard to see indoors. The longer and less covered or shaded the plastic light bars are the brighter (and less protected from breakage) they are.

This describes the way my eyes and brain work together when shooting a handgun but you will have to waste a bunch of sight money experimenting with sights to find out what works best for you unless you have shooting buddies with a broad variety of sights on their borrowable handguns . And, once you figure out what works for you now you will probably find that as your vision "gets older" what works best will change.

It's just one of the fringe benefits of living longer...