The Shield v. Shield project commences, and the first order of business is to upgrade the sights. The project gun came with the standard, white, three-dot sights, so commonly seen on personal-defense firearms. The Performance Center Ported M&P Shield, on the other hand, sports a good set of tritium-powered night sights, also in a three-dot configuration, but incorporating tritium vials into the center of the white dots.
To enhance the standard Smith & Wesson Shield, American Rifleman's Joe Kurtenbach installed a set of Trijicon HD Night Sights which feature a large, bright dot consisting of greenish-yellow luminescent paint with a tritium vial at the center (orange front sights are also available). The rear sight has a U-notch cutout, two tritium inserts—to complete the three-dot sight picture—and horizontal serrations to reduce glare. The sights were chosen to keep with Kurtenbach’s preferences: bold front; flat, black rear; and low-light utility.
Installation was completed using a MGW Sight-Pro Tool, available from Brownells, which is an armorer-grade sight pusher that uses model-specific shoes to secure the firearm’s slide during operations. It’s not an inexpensive tool, but it makes short work of sight replacements on many popular guns.
For Kurtenbach’s commentary on the project, and to see the sights used on the range, check out the video above.
Additional Reading:
NRA Gun Gear of the Week: Shield v. Shield—Concept
NRA Gun Gear of the Week: Shield v. Shield—Trigger
NRA Gun Gear of the Week: Shield v. Shield—Recoil
NRA Gun Gear of the Week: Conclusion
