Trijicon vs. Meprolight

Peeweester40 · 05-18-2009, 11:59 AM

Through the years, like everyone else, I've heard supportors for either Trijicon or Meprolight night sights say why their brand is best. Now that I have a set of each on a Glock pistol, I've made my own observations.

I had my first experience in night sights with MMC, Miniature Machine Corporation; they were an adjustable set in the 'box/bar' configuration in which the front sight was the typical white outlined tritium dot, and the rear sight had tritium bars on either side of the notch and one bar below. These served me well on a Glock 23 for many years....(Thank the Lord I never had to use them defensively). It actually was probably close to a dozen years of usable light I got from the sights. These were retired, and replaced with a set of Meprolight Tru-Dot sights. The new set was the standard 3 dot set up with the tritium vials outlined in white for better daytime visibility. They glow bright at night and are very easy to see in the daytime. I also have a Kimber Pro-Carry that wears the Meprolight 3 dot sights from the factory. Just the other day, I installed a set of Trijicon 3 dot sights on my Glock 36. The tritium lamps on the Trijicons are more 'intense' and deeper, clearer green than the Meprolights, but the dots are slightly smaller. The Meprolight sight (the metal itself) seems to be a little better quality, as the tritium vials on the Trijicons seemed to be sealed in the sight blade with some kind of Billy Mays putty and not cleanly finished on the backside of the rear sight. The Meprolight sight blade is smooth on back, like it was machined. I noticed (but not before I had the Trijicons) that in bright sunlight at the right angle, the Meprolights can have a good bit of glare from the clear lens over the tritium. This doesn't seem to be a problem with the Trijicons (exclusive sapphire lens?). I suppose time will tell as far as lamp life goes; both sets are about the same age, and both are said to be warranted for 12 years (though this is said in the warranty not to be for the tritium getting dim, however, so I'm not sure what they warrant other than if the vials fell out of the sight).

My initial observations are that the Trijicons have a slightly better lamp/lens in the sight, and the folks at Meprolight seemed to have taken a little more care in the finish of the sight. Advantage: Trijicon, but not by the miles I've heard others claim. YMMV

2rogers · 05-20-2009, 10:56 PM

had tritium inerts fall out of both brands. only the rear. but i never really liked a 3-dot. ive change or painted all rear sights now. tritium only on the front seems to work very quickly for me. i tried a millet bullseye rear on my 5903 with a meprolight up front, its a good combo but not worth the $. we all like night sights, but i dont want to be so confident in them as to loose focus on the low light target identification. recently boght a trijicon front post for the AR rifle and its weaker than any other tritium ive ever owned including the other trijicons. i fully agree with the meprolight sunlight glare problem, but its not so bad after it gets a little grime on it.............

05-18-2009, 11:59 AM	#1
Peeweester40 Who Dat? Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: In The South Posts: 626	Trijicon vs. Meprolight Through the years, like everyone else, I've heard supportors for either Trijicon or Meprolight night sights say why their brand is best. Now that I have a set of each on a Glock pistol, I've made my own observations. I had my first experience in night sights with MMC, Miniature Machine Corporation; they were an adjustable set in the 'box/bar' configuration in which the front sight was the typical white outlined tritium dot, and the rear sight had tritium bars on either side of the notch and one bar below. These served me well on a Glock 23 for many years....(Thank the Lord I never had to use them defensively). It actually was probably close to a dozen years of usable light I got from the sights. These were retired, and replaced with a set of Meprolight Tru-Dot sights. The new set was the standard 3 dot set up with the tritium vials outlined in white for better daytime visibility. They glow bright at night and are very easy to see in the daytime. I also have a Kimber Pro-Carry that wears the Meprolight 3 dot sights from the factory. Just the other day, I installed a set of Trijicon 3 dot sights on my Glock 36. The tritium lamps on the Trijicons are more 'intense' and deeper, clearer green than the Meprolights, but the dots are slightly smaller. The Meprolight sight (the metal itself) seems to be a little better quality, as the tritium vials on the Trijicons seemed to be sealed in the sight blade with some kind of Billy Mays putty and not cleanly finished on the backside of the rear sight. The Meprolight sight blade is smooth on back, like it was machined. I noticed (but not before I had the Trijicons) that in bright sunlight at the right angle, the Meprolights can have a good bit of glare from the clear lens over the tritium. This doesn't seem to be a problem with the Trijicons (exclusive sapphire lens?). I suppose time will tell as far as lamp life goes; both sets are about the same age, and both are said to be warranted for 12 years (though this is said in the warranty not to be for the tritium getting dim, however, so I'm not sure what they warrant other than if the vials fell out of the sight). My initial observations are that the Trijicons have a slightly better lamp/lens in the sight, and the folks at Meprolight seemed to have taken a little more care in the finish of the sight. Advantage: Trijicon, but not by the miles I've heard others claim. YMMV __________________ A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power. -Abraham Lincoln

05-20-2009, 10:56 PM	#2
2rogers Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3,504	had tritium inerts fall out of both brands. only the rear. but i never really liked a 3-dot. ive change or painted all rear sights now. tritium only on the front seems to work very quickly for me. i tried a millet bullseye rear on my 5903 with a meprolight up front, its a good combo but not worth the $. we all like night sights, but i dont want to be so confident in them as to loose focus on the low light target identification. recently boght a trijicon front post for the AR rifle and its weaker than any other tritium ive ever owned including the other trijicons. i fully agree with the meprolight sunlight glare problem, but its not so bad after it gets a little grime on it.............