Front Sights for Handgun Hunting

To be a successful handgun hunter you need three things:

1. Your handgun has to have sights you can see.
2. You handgun needs a good trigger.
3. You need to practice, practice, and practice.

Experienced hunters know that the best times to see game is often in the early morning and late evening. Many handguns come with black sights; sights you cannot see in the early morning or late evening. Some hunters paint their front sights with their wife’s red nail polish and others install a brass bead front sight. Both are an improvement but neither is the best answer.

After sending my Blackhawk to Gary Reeder, who is a very experienced handgun hunter, for a custom action job – a good trigger is the second thing you need – I began practicing – that’s the third thing you need to do – with it out to 50 yards. In the bright of day I was doing fine but when I moved targets into the woods to simulate hunting situations the sights all but disappeared.

The answer was a fiber optic front sight. Gary installed one on my Blackhawk and my shooting in low light improved dramatically. I was so impressed with how much easier I could see the fiber optic front sight on the Blackhawk that I ordered one for what has become my in the woods companion – a Ruger Single Six in .32 H&R.

Both the Williams Gunsight Company and HiViz offer a wide selection of fiber optic sights for handguns and if you are going to get serious about hunting with a handgun I suggest you give them a look. Most options are red and green and for me green has proven to be the brightest. The fiber optic front sight on my Blackhawk proved its worth on the first day of buck season when a young buck slipped in to about 30 yards in the early morning gloom. Thanks to a little piece of translucent green plastic, there is venison in the freezer!