There’s nothing more intense than fighting for your life. The cost of losing is just too great to take anything for granted. For police officers, whose job it is to seek out those who would prey on the weak or innocent, the risk of encountering such a situation is amplified. Cops need the best equipment they can get, but gear will never replace a well trained, alert and fully prepared street cop.
There s no doubt, a gunfight is a rough situation and preparing for these is a paramount responsibility for all who carry a badge. These skills are perishable and need to be practiced regularly, particularly shooting the handgun which is a complex motor skill a skill that requires a mixture of gross and fine manipulations in order to get it right. Anything you can do to help the process is worth exploring.
Such was my thought process when I discovered a new sight system that might very well ease the process of finding the sights of your pistol under duress.
The debate over point shooting vs. sighted fire rages on, and, admittedly, I don t see a big difference between the two. Why? Becauseit s body manipulation that aims the pistol, not the eyes!It s the coordinated motion of the torso, arms and hands that brings the gun to the eye/target line and a smooth depression (defined as a consistent pressure to a breaking point i.e. triggerpress) of the trigger that does not interrupt muzzle alignment that achieves an accurate hit.
The sights are used at the very end of the process to confirm what the body should have accomplished. But isn t it a great thing to have that confirmation?! To know that your pistol is on target and will stop the threat?! Since it is logical even necessary to look at your attacker to keep track of where they are and what they re doing, sights must be designed to interrupt the field of vision and be easy to align without any guess work.
This was the intention when Advanced Design and Engineering created their Diamond Speed Sights, a sight system that is easy to reference while under duress as well as assure they are square on target.
Well, square might not be the right word. These diamond-shaped sights are aligned not by looking for equal space on each side of the front sight through the rear and level across the top the traditional sight picture. When using these sights, all you need to do is touch the points on the sides of the three diamonds and the sights are on. Due to a series of fluorescent colors (orange, lime green, white or yellow, combined with white rear diamonds) using the sights even when the eyes are pulled to the target is much easier to do.
I ve had the good fortune to have been a prototype tester for the last six months and I ve seen great success by new shooters who use this sighting concept. In addition, I ve also spoken with individuals who ve used the Diamond Sights in actual close-quarters combat, and they have nothing but praise for the system. Even before they were introduced to the public, the Diamond Speed Sight was proven in combat how many products can you say that about?
Manufactured from the finest materials, these sights are cut from a solid block of 7075 T6 aerospace-certified aluminum alloy.7075 T6 is used for military and civilian aircraft, missile components and many gun parts such as hand guards, frames and other components. It has a rated hardness greater than many common steels.
The sights are then Mil-Spec anodized for durability and corrosion resistance. The diamonds can be purchased with different rear sight elevations to more precisely accommodate different calibers and zero preferences. The rear sights are also available in a Novak-style ramp back configuration or in a more traditional block style that will allow the slide to be cycled one handed off the belt or holster. The sights are currently available for the Glock and Springfield XD pistol with additional models coming soon. Advanced Design also makes a sight system with a triangle shape, but the company readily admits that they believe the new diamond shape is the preferred configuration.
For those that prefer tritium in your sights, no worries! The Night Sight option features genuine Trijicon brand tritium lamps, installed by Trijicon at their plant. With the largest surface area and the brightest pigments currently available, the tritium diamonds offer superior low-light visibility along with quick visual access even in inconsistent light environments.
They really stand out during that transitional time when it’s too dark to see your sights clearly but it’s too light to really see the tritium, or when going suddenly from a bright environment into a much darker one when the eyes must adjust. These sights, along with red dot reflex sights, might very well be the future of combative handgun sights. If you aren t happy with what you currently see on top of your service pistol, you might take at look at these.
Advanced Design and Engineering
1240 W. Sims Way
Suite 103
Port Townsend, WA
98368
530/913-2565
- Diamonds for the Rough - March 5, 2010
- The 12-Gauge Shotgun - December 22, 2008
- The Off-Duty Conundrum - November 14, 2008
