Last October, I ran a story about dots on sights, Dots. In response to that piece, John Harrison, President of Harrison Design and Consulting, sent the following missive: "Hi Rich, "Like you, I have found conventional three-dot sights to be unsatisfactory, compared to a black rear sight and a front sight with a color-contrasting feature, i.e. a white dot, gold bead, fiber optic rod, tritium lamp with a white ring, etc. Having anything on the rear sight is a distraction from seeing the front sight clearly and with speed. I agree with you that the combination of black rear sight and a front with a color-contrasting feature is the best combination to allow you to see sights quickly and make accurate hits. I also think night sights are good gear, better to have and not need than to need and not have. The trouble with rear night sights is that they either had white rings around the lamps or they were flush-mounted so the lenses would be reflective and visible. So to be able to utilize the glow from the lamps you had to make a compromise with the day time sight picture. Or you used a Straight-8 rear sight.

The Harrison Extreme Service rear sight has the Trijicon lamps high and close onto the notch. The vials are set deeply into the sight. While dimming them compared to the white outline front, they are plainly visible in conditions of adverse light.

"When I decided to make my own rear sights and offer them to the shooting public, I was determined to offer a better sighting solution. A plain black sight is certainly easy enough to make. What I wanted to offer was a rear sight that was plain black in appearance in any ambient lighting from high-noon, down to really dim, yet when it got just a little more dim, you would see the glow from tritium lamps. I didn't want these lamps to be visible and distracting in the day light and I didn't want them to appear larger than the lamp in the front sight in the dark. "So what I did was to install a pair of slightly smaller tritium lamps in the rear sight so the size of the glowing dot appeared the same in the dark. I installed these lamps .060" below flush with the rear blade, so the lenses will not reflect light or be otherwise visible. I call these sights (and many of my other products) "Extreme Service". I use this rear sight with a front sight having a tritium lamp surrounded by a white ring. "This gives you a daytime sight picture of a plain black rear sight and a front sight having a color-contrasting feature and at night time, you have a 3 glowing dot night sight pattern. I have been using these sights for several years now and have found them to give me sights I can see in all lighting conditions. They have been durable, have all edges and corners radiused to be snag-free and have enough of a "hook" on the front side of the blade to allow one-hand slide manipulation."

The Dawson front sight is sharp and clear. The Trijicon tritium insert is flush-set and features the white outline -- visible across lighting conditions.

I replied that I tend to need lots of light on each side of the front sight with non-express sights. We chatted about installing his sights on a Ruger SR1911CMD. He had a sample with a .165" notch width and 2 lamps, a square notch design instead of the "U" rear notch. We chatted about that and then dropped the ball. A lot of time passed as other projects intruded but I didn't forget our discussion and stayed in touch. We finally got together and I shipped the slide to him. The rear sight was as described – and massive without being ungainly. The notch is wide and allows lots of light. The front sight, a Dawson, has the large white outline around the Trijicon vial. The rear sight, as you can see, has the twin rear vials unmarked, they are recessed into the sight and they are close to the notch and high on the rear sight. Virtually invisible in daylight, they shine in the dark but are noticeably dimmer than the front vial.

Five shot string, 15 yards, standing with six o'clock hold with Hornady 200 grain XTP rounds. The slight left bias is due to the aging shooter, not the sights.

To check zero, I took the assembled gun to the range and shot it at fifteen yards. With Hornady 200 grain XTP, I used a "six o'clock" hold and got hits at the point of aim. Someone will point out the slight (ca. ¼") bias to the left – my "wobble" zone is more than that at fifteen yards these days. I followed up with ASYM 230 grain Bonded JHP. A dead-on hold put five rounds clustered in the black – point of aim was point of impact. This is a rugged rear sight. When he says "extreme duty," he's not joking. The Dawson front is sharp and precise. Take a look at Harrison Custom parts here. These are great sights. - Rich Grassi