We’ve owned a set of TruGlo TFO Tritium Fiber Optic sights for a Glock 32 for years. As we wrote in our Buyers Guide, these have become our favorite handgun sights. Bar none.
A Clever Acronym: TFO
The idea behind the TFO sights is to combine fiber optic tubes with tritium power sources. This accomplishes two things:
- Provide outstanding visibility in daylight conditions. The brighter it is outside, the more your sights jump out at you. Using the high-tech ruler etched into our Leatherman Wave Multi-Tool, we estimated each of the fiber optic tubes to be just about 1/2 inch long. The tube collects available light from the top and concentrates it at the base of the tube, thereby creating a really, really bright dot sight.
- Provide outstanding visibility in low or no light conditions. This is where the tritium comes into play. At the muzzle end of each fiber optic tube is a tritium lamp which emits light through the tube. This creates a glowing dot powered by tritium instead of light collected by the fiber optic tube.
So now you know where the TFO (Tritium Fiber Optic) name comes from.
Yellow For No, Green For Go
TruGlo TFO sights are now available in either all green (front and back sights) or a combination of yellow and green. The combination unit we tested on a Glock 26 Gen 4 features a green fiber optic tube on the front sight and yellow tubes on the rear sight. The yellow sights on the rear are deliberately less bright than the green. This helps the front sight to visibly stand out from the rear sights – which is especially important in low light conditions. With a bright green dot flanked on either side by yellow dots, there is simply no way to confuse sight alignment. After using the all green version of TFO sights for years, we noticed that the front sight is noticeably faster to pick up when the rear sights are yellow.
Built To Last
We’ve only been using the new Yellow / Green TFO’s for about 2 months on the Glock 26, and not surprisingly, have not had any durability issues. However, we’ve been using an older, identically constructed, set of TFO sights on a Glock 32 for several years. The Glock 32 is a daily carry gun and has many thousands of rounds of fairly snappy recoil .357 Sig ammunition through it and we’ve had no issues with the TFO sights. They are as solid as they were day we installed them.
The Fiber Optic tubes are enclosed on three sides by CNC machined steel frames so there is minimal risk of damage to the tubes. We should also note that the sights are closed at the muzzle end, thereby preventing anyone from seeing the glow – day or night.
Installation
If you’re installing these on a Glock, this screwdriver tool set from Brownells greatly simplifies the process. You’ll need the proper Glock front site tool to remove the factory site and install a new one anyway, so it’s a good time to invest in the complete Glock toolkit.
To install the rear sights on the Glock 26, we used a Glock compatible sight pusher tool from MGW. If you’re doing the installation yourself, we highly recommend using a proper sight pusher tool. If you don’t have one, or can’t borrow one, any gunsmith can install the sights quickly and easily. This is not an appropriate time to break out the hammer!
Our Rating
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Four Nuns! The green front sight, yellow rear sight option is fantastic. Day or night, it’s very easy to pick up the front sight rapidly. |
The Truglo TFO Sights are available at Brownells
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Put Truglo fiber optic sight on the front post of my AR-15. Shot it a few times, then hung it on a custom rack in the closet. Picked it up several months later and the fiber tube was broken at the base! No it was not a mishandled weapon !!