TNVC has had a long relationship with the folks at VTAC.  In fact, we are proud to count them as personal friends.  Over the years, they have released some incredibly innovative products.  But, their latest release, the Viking Sight, is one of the best!  The Viking Sight is a new take on pistol sights and truly shows that someone had their thinking cap on.  Currently available for the Smith & Wesson M&P series of pistols (more makes and models to follow), these are drop-in replacement iron sights that take functionality to a whole new level and literally need to be experienced to be believed.



At first glance, the Viking Sights look complicated.  I admit that I was skeptical when I first saw them.  I mean, after all: there's six dots.  But, knowing who designed them, I knew there was more than meets the eye.  I got behind the sights and was amazed that my eyes immediately were on target and drawn to the front sight blade.  My eyes saw all six dots, but my brain only saw the top three fiber optic dots.  Cool.  Now, I have never been a big fan of fiber optic dot sights because they are lousy at night, but they are great for competition because they draw your focus in daylight than any other type of sight.  OK, so the sights were fast and my mind wasn't getting fouled up by the six dots (I actually had to really focus my brain to "see" all six dots.  The bottom three naturally disappeared when I pointed the gun).  But, the vast majority of my operational work in my previous life took place at night and I currently work for a night vision company.  So, how did these expensive sights work in low light?  I stayed behind the sights and began walking from a lit room across the hallway into a dark room.  Holy Shit!  All of the sudden my brain was seeing the lower three tritium dots!  the transition point was imperceptible.  The transition was the smoothest I have ever seen on a pistol.



OK, OK, but we're a night vision company.  Why are we selling pistol iron sights?  Good question.  Most folks don't realize it, but it is possible to engage targets/threats using pistol iron sights while wearing night vision goggles!  It's not ideal, but then again; neither is combat.  You use what works and along the way, you pick up little tricks.  Using tritium iron sights, you can successfully engage with a pistol while wearing NVG's.  And, since Night Vision, without peripheral gear, is a liability, we wanted to make sure our customers have access to the best night vision support gear.  That, and these things are just that cool  If you want to learn to shoot pistol irons with NVG's, come to one of our classes.

Back to the sights.  The Viking Sights are well made, machined steel.  All edges are chamfered and corners are rounded making them ideal for carry.  I have a set on both my work gun and CCW and there are no snag hazards.  The back faces are serrated to diminish glare.  The front face of the rear sight is flat to allow for one handed slide manipulation off a belt or holster.  These sights are a bit taller than the stock M&P sights, measuring in at 0.25" tall.  But, they still fit fine in my Safariland and Comp-Tac holsters with room to spare.  

To sum it all up, these sights are tits.  Are they expensive relative to other night sights?  Yes.  Are some guys gonna spend more time making clever remarks about what else they could buy with that money?  Yes.  Are they overlooking the total functionality of the Viking Sights and how much faster the combination dots are than regular night sight?  Most definitely.  I have tried a lot of other night sights, but these are the first ones I have stepped back and said "Holy shit, we have to offer these on our site."  They really have to be seen to be believed.

Anyway, here they are.  They will rock your socks off.