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Thread: XS on MK9, impressions and quick review.

  1. #1
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    Oct 2013
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    Default XS on MK9, impressions and quick review.

    My new-to-me MK9 came with a set of the XS Big Dots installed. I have liked the concept of these sights for years, but shoot fine and fast with stock sights, so never looked at the Big Dots as a need. When I saw them on my current MK9, it was a bonus as the price was right, so I figured I would finally try them out and if I did not like them, I would replace them. So here are my initial impressions and a quick review.

    Overall

    Excellent sight acquisition and quick, just like advertised. No issues with some mystic claims being made, and not being able to replicate these said claims due to my unworthiness or not holding my tongue correctly, or whatever. They are sights and if you make a "lollipop" of them and cover the area you want to hit with the "lollipop" you will hit that area out to 10 yards faster than conventional sights...

    Caveat: Keeping a "lollipop" sight picture requires some concentration initially. I had a tendency on follow up shots for the first 100 or so rounds to try and drop the front sight into the "groove" like a more conventional sight, resulting in low hits. Bellybutton hits are still hits, but it was something I had to work a little to overcome due to all other shooting being post and notch standard sights on handguns.

    Specifics

    Front sight is HUGE and works as a draw to your eye, as advertised. Rear sight is almost out of the way in a proper sight picture, but does help with gross alignment in a "flash" sight picture, assisting quick acquisition. Accuracy is there at distances beyond 10 yards, but the large front sight takes more concentration to keep steady during firing. If the front sight was smaller, you would see your movements easier against the target, but as it is large, a smaller movement is not as noticeable. You can still hit minute of bad guy with these, but a called and specific target area beyond ten yards will take me more time to be confident with. I would like to try an outdoor range with steel targets out to 50 meters or so. I feel that a little familiarization on something like that with the immediate feedback steel gives would go a long way towards confidence with these sights at longer range, but I believe the accuracy is there.

    There is no Tritium in the rear sight, and this does not seem to be a problem for me, it still works at night (front sight tritium) and if it is so dark I cannot tell the orientation of the pistol, I more than likely cannot tell what the target is and would have to be at contact distance to have an effective hit anyway... Just my opinion. I do not like the three dot night sights for the opposite reason, the three dots under stress can become misaligned. I have just tritium front sights on the couple of pistols that I have night sights on anyway.

    The one thing that I noticed once I had the XS sight picture down, was that I was shooting WAY high with my conventional sighted CW380.... The "lollipop" sight picture is easier to take to conventional sights than a conventional sight picture is to take to the XS... So now I will go to the range with both, but take a second and do some dry fire between switching sight systems.


    Conclusion

    Any sight replacement and upgrades I want to do to any of my handguns will be the XS Big Dots. I like them that much. The concept is effective and plenty accurate out to at least ten yards for me. It is still minute of bad guy out to 25 yards, but much bigger grouping than conventional sights for now. I feel the benefits outweigh the possible negatives and that is the reason for my choice, based on my experience with my MK9 and the XS Big Dots. I hope this helps anyone on the fence about these.

    Always interested in hearing others opinions, good or bad with the XS sights.
    Comparison is the thief of Joy....

    CW380
    MK9

  2. #2
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    Thanks. Great review.

  3. #3
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    My eagle eyes aren't quite what they used to be and I've been thinking of getting the XS big dot sights for my little friend the P380. I don't have any problem seeing the sights on my CM9.
    Never trust anyone who doesn't trust you to own a gun.

    Life Member - NRA
    Colt Gold Cup 70 series
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    Ruger Mark III .22-45
    Kahr CM9
    Kahr P380

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by muggsy View Post
    My eagle eyes aren't quite what they used to be and I've been thinking of getting the XS big dot sights for my little friend the P380. I don't have any problem seeing the sights on my CM9.
    Based on the threads I've read, you still seem to have no trouble seeing through the BS... Just sayin'.

    Great review ReManG. Thanks!
    ​O|||||||O

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by muggsy View Post
    My eagle eyes aren't quite what they used to be and I've been thinking of getting the XS big dot sights for my little friend the P380. I don't have any problem seeing the sights on my CM9.
    After switching to the CW380 from the MK9, I would get them for your P380. The taller front sight really stands out compared to the standard post. On a P/CW380 that already has "great" sights for a .380 pocket pistol, I would think the XS Big Dots would make a world of difference....
    Comparison is the thief of Joy....

    CW380
    MK9

  6. #6
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    I like the standard sights on my MK.............but thinking about a xs sight on the front of my 1911.

  7. #7
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    My SD shooting practice is threat focused not front sight focused. Could you comment on the effectiveness of the XS sights for those of us who shoot threat focused? Thanx...
    "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  8. #8
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    So you are saying that you point shoot? Not following what you want.. How do you verify the index of the pistol to your target, or is it just squeeze and adjust after you see where the first round went? If you do point shoot, just take your sights off... No need for newfangled stuff like sights holding you back...
    Comparison is the thief of Joy....

    CW380
    MK9

  9. #9
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    I shot my K9 for the first time this weekend that came with traditional, three-dot, night sights. My other Kahrs all have the standard, white lolli-pop factory sights. I have XS Big Dot sights on a full-sized Beretta nightstand gun.

    The Beretta had a different sight picture than "normal" from the get-go. I don't know if the XS sights follow that protocol or not. It seems to take me a couple mags (17 rounds each) to be able to hit paper plate size targets consistently at 20 yards each time I shoot it. I shoot low until I adjust. It is a different sight picture than anything else I have.

    On my other Kahrs, I am okay with the factory sights, but not as accurate at the range as my other pistols.

    I was kind of jazzed with the K9, because I was shooting well from the first round. I don't know how fast target acquisition was compared to the Big Dots, but I do know I hit what I was aiming at.

    That is, of course, wearing glasses. At night, without glasses, I can't tell you what I can put on target best. It sounds like something I should probably figure out.

    Thanks for the great review. Shooting the K9 this weekend did get me thinking about upgrading the other Kahr sights. More playing around will help me figure it out.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by ReManG View Post
    So you are saying that you point shoot? Not following what you want.. How do you verify the index of the pistol to your target, or is it just squeeze and adjust after you see where the first round went? If you do point shoot, just take your sights off... No need for newfangled stuff like sights holding you back...
    Sorry, I confused the question by prefacing with my first sentence. I should have just asked the question... "Could you comment on the effectiveness of the XS sights for those of us who shoot threat focused?" Might be that the XS would be even more effective for those who shoot threat focused.

    [I transition from point shooting to slide indexing to sights as the distance from the target increases but try to remain threat/target focused. When using sights for my SD shooting practice I try not to shift focus to the front sight.]
    "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

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