Any idea how long Trijicon Night Sights are supposed to last?

[mrappe]

I have had mine on my Glock for probably 15 years and I can see them in the dark but not as bright as they used to be.

 

[Koinonia]

"Tritium is a radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen. Tritium is radioactive and has a half-life of about 12.5 years, which means that half of the radioactive atoms will decay naturally in that time."

So based on that, id say youd be able to see it for 25 years, but the last 5 or 6 years might be really dim.

 

[mrappe]

Thanks for the reply!

"Tritium is a radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen. Tritium is radioactive and has a half-life of about 12.5 years, which means that half of the radioactive atoms will decay naturally in that time."

So based on that, id say youd be able to see it for 25 years, but the last 5 or 6 years might be really dim.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

From what I've seen, usually it seems 10 years is the realistic max, and once you go beyond that it seems they get significantly more dim.

 

[19 Kilo]

Yep. 10 years seemed to be when I noticed brightness dropping on some of mine.

 

[Dawico]

I thought they advertised 12 years of life.

I guess the end user really has to decide when they are too dim for noght use.

 

[Acera]

Contact Trijicon and talk to them about replacing the vials. It usually comes out cheaper than replacing the sights, and you get fresher vials than those that may have been sitting on a store shelf for a year or more.

https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/support/return_authorization.php

 

[BIGPAPIGREG]

Contact Trijicon and talk to them about replacing the vials. It usually comes out cheaper than replacing the sights, and you get fresher vials than those that may have been sitting on a store shelf for a year or more.

https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/support/return_authorization.php

that's a good idea right there...^^^^
will they do that?

 

[Acera]

that's a good idea right there...^^^^
will they do that?

Think about how manufactures and the retail system works. A product is manafactured, then it is packaged and sent to a distributor. Next the distributor sells and ships it to a retail outlet. The retailer then places the product on their shelves for customers to buy. Being a specialized product and not a general one, it may sit there for a while until a customer that needs that exact product comes along and purchases it. No telling how a product like those have sit on a shelf waiting for a buyer. Now if it is a new model that has just been released you do have a better chance of getting something that is new than you do a product that has been produced for decades. Trijicon has been doing this type of repairs for years. I would bet that the vials have a pretty good turnover rate in their repair shop. In this instance the shorter time between manufacturing of the vials and them being installed on your gun is important due to their limited lifespan. Not going to save you huge money doing it this way, but you probably get much fresher vials for about 3/4 the cost of new sights that have vials that may not be near as new. Some retailers don't manage their stock as well as they can. If they get a new package in, they don't take the time and effort to place it in the back and rotate older stock to the front. Heck, what in a gun store really needs to be rotated in this manner......well other than this type of sight. Those sights you buy could have been there for years and years.

Good news is you don't send your entire gun in, just the slide.

 

[oldag]

Warrantied for twelve year life.

I have some past that (e.g., beyond 15 years) which are still good. Certainly bright enough to do the job in low light situations.

 

[grumper]

How much do they charge to refill with fresh tritium? I remember seeing somewhere Trijicon wanted $600 to recharge an ACOG.

If it's expensive to replace the vials on night sights and you had a whole batch of them go all at once it might make more sense to just buy a night vision device and IR laser instead.

 

[Acera]

grumpier, last time I checked on it, it ended up being about $80 when you added cost + shipping, etc.

 

[grumper]

grumpier, last time I checked on it, it ended up being about $80 when you added cost + shipping, etc.

Oh, that's not bad at all.

But there's no way I'm sending my ACOG to be refilled. I'll just use it as a fiberoptic daylight only scope when the glowzy fades.

 

[Acera]

Oh, that's not bad at all.

But there's no way I'm sending my ACOG to be refilled. I'll just use it as a fiberoptic daylight only scope when the glowzy fades.

If I recall correctly I think Iran is taking those in for non-factory service these days....................................................................