Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

[dave38x]

Meprolight ML-10224 TRU-DOT Night Sight System for Glock 9 mm, .357 Sig, .40 & .45 GAP Pistols
Background
Meprolight are a manufacturer of RS sighting systems (amongst other things) - they manufacture the tritium lamps that Glock use in their own sights. Amongst the cheapest (and according to the RS forums), brightest and (according to the majority of RS users that i could find) best night sights on the market.

Meprolight manufacture these sights in three colour options - Green, Green Front/Yellow Rear, Green Front/Orange Rear, with the orange rear being significantly more expensive.

After reading on another forum that KSC Glocks can take RS sights perfectly I took the plunge and bought them. They cost 52 quid including postage from rockyourglock.com*, a US website that ships RS stuff (except barrels, slides, frames and complete pistols) anywhere in the world. The sights arrived 6 working days after despatch (the same day i bought them) in a signed for bubble envelope.

Overview



The sights come in simple packaging that includes a worldwide warranty (warranting the lamps on TRU-DOT sights for 12 years of visible glow - the longest on the market) installation instructions and a small flier for their other products.

They are manufactured from Steel, with the tritium lamps being glass with a white polymer ring behind them for bright light sighting. All of this is capped with (according to the forums, Meprolight's website is sketchy at best)an artificial sapphire which makes the sights very rugged/easy to clean.



The front sight is secured by the standard glock low profile bolt (again made out of steel) - once loctited in this sight isnt going anywhere. This front sight means that these sights are only suitable for the KSC G17,18,19 and possibly the 26 (RS 26s use different sights, however KSC might have used standard mounts across their entire range).

The sights have crisp manufacturer markings, and the rear has TRU DOT in green printed on the side of the sight - this indicates the quality of the Lamps being used. The rear sight also has a batch number engraved on it's underside. The sights are square and chunky, with the front of the front sight being rounded off slightly.


Installation
Please note from here in (unless i say otherwise) fitting is to a PGC Glock 18C metal slide, that has never had any sight fitted to the front sight hole, and only ever had stock KSC plastic rear sights fitted.

I began with the front sight - removing the provided screw and pushing it into the front sight hole. The sight push fit almost all the way in, requiring a few taps with a hammer to seat it the last .5 of a mm. After that i wound the screw into the back by hand, using pliers to tweak it the last bit. You can use the proper glock front sight tool, but i didnt particularly fancy spending another 15 quid on that.



The rear sight (contrary to expectations) was VERY loose, with a noticeable bit of forwards/backwards play. I tried the rear sight on the stock KSC plastic slide, and found it to be exactly the same. In the end i got a range of thicknesses of sheet styrene (plasticard as it's also known) and cut a strip to sit behind the rear of the dovetail, pushing the sight forward. Sight insertion should always be from the right hand side of the slide, as the left side of the sight is tapered for easy fitting.


I found that a sheet of .5mm plasticard worked perfectly, and after a second attempt the plasticard slid in with the sight. I managed to get the sight about 2/3rds into the dovetail before it became too tough to press with my hand, so i used a nylon headed mallet to drift it the last 5mm or so into the correct position. The sight is absolutely rock solid now, i cannot move it at all by hand. - Once again, you can buy the 80 quid Glock rear sight tool if you want, but I wouldnt bother.

Interestingly the sight is narrower in total width than the stock plastic sight, however it is JUST wide enough to cover the hole through which the selector grub-screw is fitted on a G18, and this is a pretty good indicator of whether the sight is central. The rear of the sight overhangs the dovetail, and there is a slight clearance between the slide and the bottom of this overhang, however it is nothing too critical.

Shooting/operation


With installation complete I gleefully reassembled the pistol, loaded a mag and set off around the garden, gleefully shooting various different things. While my hop is not set that well** (really need to get me a Falcon hop rubber) my aim was consistent with these sights, and targets were easy to aquire.

Drawing and holstering the pistol with these sights was a breeze, as they are the same height as standard G17 combat sights. Drawing will result in wear on the top of the holster over time, as the rear edges of the front sight are quite sharp.

Quick aiming with the sights is quite readily acheivable as the front sight is more slender than some night sights (the XS Big Dot system springs to mind here), and the sights transition beautifully from light-gloomy-dark. They glow very well, and produce quite crisp circles. The white polymer rings are extremely visible, and i found the combination of three dots/sillhouette to be very useable when shooting in the dark with a torch (an ASG Xenon bulb, as seen in the photos above).

Finally, the slide (when locked back) can be very easily released by raking the rear sight downwards over clothing, or by pulling back on the front of the rear sight due to its square profile, increasing the flexibility of your preferred drills.

Night Sight Performance:


The second image shows the level of light during that first image.




Summary
Whilst not the cheapest things in the world, I'd recommend these to anyone who has a Glock and fancies playing a few night games (the main reason I got mine) - however they are fantastically functional in daylight (and will suit transitioning from outdoors to dim interiors perfectly). They are a breeze to install if you have something to shim the rear sight with, and they are very ridgidly held in place.

For fitting to an airsoft KSC Glock I would personally rate them a 8/10, with performance/build being excellent. The only slight let down is the fit of the rear sight, which will require some shimming with an appropriate material.

*Rockyourglock.com sell NOTHING airsoft, so are in no way in competition with zero one. If a mod feels otherwise, feel free to edit this post, but I would request the review not be deleted as several people have raised questions about fitting RS sights to glocks, which i believe this answers.

** It's kinda hard to zero your pistol/set hop when you dont have a front sight to aim with.

[Creedy]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

They look sexy

I wan so for my pgc tm glock

[sparrowhawk]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

ive got a pair for my KWA G26C, they are an orange rear and green front, on hindsite id prefer green front and rear, similar to my Trijicon SIGs, anyway i still love them,and when i first got them i spent a lot of time sitting in my wardrobe staring at them in awe, as you experienced they were loose on the rear site, i used a small rod with a spring behind it,which is push up by the screw and locked into place, the front site was a lot more awkward to fit, because i used a dab of super glue, i didnt have thread lock at the time, and it set before i had time to screw it on tight,and the nut was too small to force, i eventually got some small flat nosed pliers,and tightend it up.

great review btw

[dave38x]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

Creedy - not sure if they will fit TM glocks, you could always take the plunge and buy some i guess!

Sparrowhawk - thats an ingenious way of doing it, hadnt thought of that! Good to know they fit 26Cs as well, methinks I might have to get an XS Big Dot system when i buy a 26 (for rapid close range shooting, just what you'd need a sub-compact for). I too spent about an hour last night running around the garden at 2am shooting things - they glow so much!

[Creedy]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

Bloody iPad makes it look like I can't spell!

How much are they? I saw some once for 90$

[dave38x]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

They were $74.95, shipping was $8.95. After thinking about how Sparrowhawk fixed his rear sight I went away and had a play - what I came up with was this :D

You Will Need:
A Grub Screw
Some method of shortening the countersunk screw that holds the BBU in
Some shimming material (optional).


Fit the grub-screw into the nut like this (or just wind it into the slide if youve got a stock KSC slide):


Get your shimming material like so:


At this point i shaved a bit off the surface so it was an easy slide in/slide out fit:


I then sharpied it:


And then fitted the sight in place. Once in place I drove the grubscrew up into the bottom of the sights, securing the sights firmly in place. I then shortened off the BBU screw to fit that in the same hole on top of the grub screw, and job done! Easily removeable sights for stripping my G18 for a deep clean :D

[sparrowhawk]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

well after seeing your new post, i examined my rear site, and felt that it wasnt sitting as flush as yours, having already lost my rear Trijicon off my SIg 2 months ago at the mall, i decided to refit it incorporating your shim method, ditching the spring and using a longer/fatter grub screw....and it looks much better,and i feel its more secure.


regarding where to buy them from, after losing my rear Trijicon off my Sig, i decided to replace it,but with a cheaper clone from guns modify, which cost around $70 delivered irrc from asia, most asian shops charge around $80 but i found a reliable airsoft supplier who charged $60 ex shipping...

btw the gunsmodify ones are trijicon clones,made out of steel,and have very close trademarks, comparing my original steel Trijicon,and the Gm ones,you can tell there is a difference, but for half price airsofting nite sites, they are very good

[dave38x]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

Just an update on this 1000rds down the line. I have used the sights in a night game, as well as plenty of regular shooting. The screw that retains the front sight (which has not been loctited at all) is still firmly in place.

As far as aiming and shooting goes, these sights are fantastic. I often found myself not bothering with my torch at all during the night game, letting other people's torches do the illumination and relying on my (very) bright sights to aim - the result being a lot of kills from people who didnt know where I was as I didnt have a flashlight, but the guy 2m in front of me had a very bright one and was taking all the fire :P

[zaak23]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

I know this thread is a bit old but just saw it and was wondering on the idea of fitting RS would the slide covers they have fit on a airsoft glock?

[dave38x]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

We discussed that one here :
http://forums.zeroin.co.uk/showthrea...k-Custom-Parts

[zaak23]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

Yeah saw just after I posted it then couldn't figure how to delete

[timski]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

May have to look into getting some!

[dave38x]

Re: Meprolight Glock 17 Night Sights (Real Steel)

Definitely worth it - i absolutely love them, and they are still going strong many many rounds later. They are wearing quite pleasantly at the edges too now