I’m generally a minimalist when it comes to firearms, especially my carry guns. Toward that end, I carry Glock. And while I’ve never been a big fan of the stock Glock sights, it didn’t seem like any of the other configurations contributed enough to my effectiveness to warrant a switch (i.e. converting all my carry guns to the same sighting system). On all the systems I’d tested, I always seem to have an issue with spending just a little too long getting a decent enough sight picture to feel really confident in my shots. This is especially apparent when working from the draw, while moving, or when acquiring secondary targets. But after a recent 2-day defensive pistol course . . .

with Mike Seeklander at United States Shooting Academy, I finally decided to do some in-depth research and find something that I hadn’t tried before. That’s when I stumbled upon Speed Sights. At first glance they almost put me off, looking just a little gimmicky on their website. But after a little more research I decided to bite the bullet and order a set for my Glock 19.

I opted for the night option which puts a Trijicon vial in both the front and rear sights. I’m generally not real big on night sights (see: minimalist) but I thought I’d give them a whirl. The money-back satisfaction guarantee didn’t hurt the decision either.

Speed Sights utilize a 3-diamond system; the rear diamonds are bright white and the front is either fluorescent orange or green. I went orange. What got me to try them is that it seemed intuitive that it would be easier, faster and probably more accurate to align three diamonds, instead of 3 dots, essentially creating a straight line across the center of the sight picture.

They arrived about 3 days after ordering and they installed in about 10 minutes. I didn’t have a sight pusher handy, but a punch and a hammer did the trick. But be careful, these sights are aluminum so a punch can mar them if not protected. There’s a set screw in the rear sight but it’s not really necessary – just a little added insurance. A few dry fire draws later and I was in love. I immediately packed up my gear for a lunch time shooting session the next day.

At the range, the first two magazines I put through the gun really impressed me; I shot a tighter 10 yard group than I was used to during rapid fire and from the draw. The front sight was easier and faster to acquire than even the brightest fiber optic sights I’d used. Even from the draw, the front sight naturally caught my eye even before it was on target.

The rear white diamonds contrast well with the orange front, making it super easy to get perfect alignment quickly; they almost seem to “lock” into place. The rears, being white, actually made it easier to focus on the bright orange front sight. The front diamond is larger than the rears, so it fills up the dead space nicely.

Something these sights seem to do is reduce the “wobble”, or at least make me think it’s reduced. With a 3-dot system it can be easy to find yourself searching for the perfect picture, jerking the trigger when you finally think you have it and throwing the round. This “locking” feeling seemed to reduce that effect.

The sights are nice and durable, they fit in all of my holsters and I haven’t had any issues with snagging. The rear sight has a flat front to allow for one-handed manipulation of the slide off a holster or belt. I’ve tested this and they work well, giving almost as much surface area as stock Glock sights.

The Trijicon vials are nice and bright, and actually provide very good low light visibility where I could still identify a target. I couldn’t find a lighting condition where I didn’t have a clear sight picture. The bright colors of the sights hold up well under low light and the Trijicons pick up right at the point where it starts getting too dark to see the sight paint clearly.

This system really lives up to its name; I got accurate speed. I’m much more confident in my shots under stress and speed with these in front of me. In fact, I’m getting ready to place an order for another set for my G26. It looks like they’ve got options for Glock, Springfield XD/XDM and SIG models and they say others aren’t far behind.

I paid $79.50 for the rear and $39.50 for the front. Not cheap, but definitely worth it. Especially for something I’m now putting my life behind.

Ratings (out of five stars):

Design: * * * * *
The machined lines look great and they’re designed to not hinder concealability while staying highly functional.

Durability: * * * *
The aluminum concerns me just a little. Since it’s a softer metal, I could see it getting them dinged up in the wrong circumstances.

Overall Rating: * * * * *
These things are sweet. They do what they’re intended to do – help you put lead on target accurately and as fast as possible.

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39 COMMENTS

    • Did they come bk in stock yet I want a set for g27 but I’m not sure best place to get them I’ve seen them several places but not expensive at sum then others but plz lmk if you find them or any sights similar but maybe steel have you looked into tht… Sorry To bombard you with questions just new to this so I hit reply to the 1st 1 I saw

      • Just received mine on Friday. They are back in stock. Call for availability, online may take a while to reflect stock.

  3. Thanks for the review. I had seen these a while ago and was interested but couldn’t find any in depth reviews. Will probably be picking some up in the near future.

    • I was in the same boat… But since they offer a money-back guarantee I figured there wasn’t a whole lot of risk. Luckily they worked out!

  4. Thanks for testing out the sights and posting a review! With some mild astigmatism, I am always on the lookout for nice bright, easily seen handgun sights. I’ve tried the Hex-Sights, Big-Dots, HiViz and TruGlo’s . About the only ones I liked are the truglos.

    These look even bigger and better than the truglo’s! I emailed them from the contact page to request that they move on to making them in a novak cut for 1911’s.

    Great review!

      • Could you post a picture with the three sights aligned? Never mind, I went to their website and they show the three aligned on their photo gallery. Sorry!

  5. How does this functionally compare to the sights on Caracal’s similarly-named, odd-looking model.

  6. By the way, since you basically gave them some free advertising with your wonderful view do you think they’d cut TTAGers a deal?

  7. I’m going to try a set.

    BTW – if you installed the new rears from the right side, you may have pushed them a hair too far. I think I better borrow a sight installer for mine.

  8. Sights?
    Sights?
    brings to mind the story about fishing lures. If I truely needed day glow sights, I’d buy day glow paint

  11. I have been trying to get ahold of them for some time now. The phone number always goes to a voicemail and the voicemail inbox is full and not accepting new messages.

    Perhaps if anyone (Zack) reads this, I was looking at getting some of the sights for my Sig. The FAQ page shows them available for Sig but the store page shows just Glock and XD.

    Whats up over there?

    Michael

  12. Zack I’m curious as to what kinds of holsters you have tried them in. I have a simple belt slide for my XDm that the stock sights catch on because the muzzle protrudes out the bottom of the holster. If these would prevent that I would pick them up in a heartbeat.

    • I’m not sure on the belt slide… They have a slightly higher profile than stock Glock so I bet you’ll still have a problem. I’ve tested them in a leather Bianchi Professional IWB, Blackhawk OWB, and Crossbread Supertuck. Each of those holsters have a healthy sight channel.

      • Thanks for the info. I am looking at picking up an MTAC for it anyway, I’ll probably try these on one of my carry pistols sometime soon.

  14. My Speedsights for my Glock 26 arrived on 6/26/2014. Ordered via the website, everything worked flawlessly.

    Ordering and shipping is now handled by Ramona, that way the inventor can stay in basement and invent. She has taken charge, answers the phone and makes sure the orders go out.

    I have not yet shot with them, but they look great. Installed myself, a little snug but got them on without damaging the Tritium cylinders.

  15. These are similar to both of Trijicon’s Bright & Tough and HD sights. I’ve talked about what Trijicon does to make sights truly unique – tritium vials, bright front posts, and quality build.

  17. Does anyone know if these sight can be exported to South Africa. I know there are some issues because of the tritium but I would like to get a set.

    • Hi RIck,

      they are the same, just being sold by them. They are some other dealers selling the speed sights, as for me leaving outside the US I have been forwarded by Ramona to another reseller to get them exported 🙂

      I have them on my Glock 19 and I am very happy !

      Cheers

  19. I bought a glock 43 for a CC weapon and inroled in a concealed carry class in San Antonio along with my wife. Come time for the range test my wife chose to shoot my glock. The night before the class I had changed sights, when the class was over she was sure it was not the same gun it shot so much better. I hope to get it back soon at least to try it. Thanks for a great new innovation. I would love to put them on my FNH 5.7+28.

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