XS Sights have been around for several years now, but I rarely ever see them on the range or in training courses I’ve taken. Maybe it’s because they are considered to be more of a ‘combat sight’ and not for precision shooting. If your goal is to put rounds on target in as tight a group as possible then the XS sights are not for you. If your goal is to accurately put rounds on target to incapacitate a threat then the XS Big Dot sights will work well for you.
If you decide to pull the trigger on getting the XS Big Dot sights you won’t be disappointed. The packaging they come in is by far the best I’ve seen. Typically when I have ordered sights from other companies all you get is a small package with the sights and maybe some foam to protect the sights. The XS Big Dot sights come in a package that contains everything needed to install with the exception of a hammer. What you get are the sights, red Loctite, Allen wrench for the rear sight, front site tool and a punch for drifting out the rear sight.
Installation of the sights are quite easy once you have your old sights removed. They include detailed installation instructions as part of the package. The front sight goes on just like any other Glock front sight using the supplied tool.
The rear sight may require very light sanding in order to drift the sight into the center of the rear notch. I had to give my rear sight only 2 runs across some fine grit sand paper and it slid right in. Once the rear sight is in and centered go ahead and tighten down the set screws with the provided Allen wrench. The last step, once centering has been checked is to apply the red Loctite around the edges.
Once the Loctite has set, you’re ready to throw some freedom pills down range.
The sight picture is different than your standard notch and post alignment. With the XS Big Dot sights all you need to do is ‘dot the i’. In other words put the big front sight dot on top of the rear vertical line. Superimpose the front sight onto the target where you want your rounds to impact and press the trigger to the rear.
As your distance to the target increases, your hold on the target is going to change slightly. In order to figure out what that hold is you need to get some trigger time. The best way I have found to do that is start at 10 yards and put 3 rounds into the target holding center. Move back in 5 yard increments holding on the center of the target until your rounds start impacting high. Once this happens start holding at a 6 o’clock position and see where your rounds impact. Remember that your grip and trigger press will affect the shot placement too. Here is a good video explanation from XS Sights.
Here are what my targets looks like starting at 10 yards, 15 yards and finally 20 yards.
All in all I really like these sights. The only real criticism I would give them is with the rear sight. I would like to see the rear sight more squared off for single hand slide manipulations. Other than that I plan on rocking these sights for a while.
