Pistol sights are a personal preference for most of us. Some favor the hard silhouette of conventional post-and-notch sights, some are all in for the three-dot flavor, still others give the nod to tritium dots housed in standard post-and-notch sights for dual day/night operation.

While we've trended toward the latter for defensive handguns, we were always left wanting in those murky light conditions. You know...that light level where standard irons are too dark to get a quick sight picture yet there's too much ambient light for the tritium capsules to stand out proudly.

TRUGLO, Inc. recognized this as an issue many handgunners and carry practitioners face and came up with the slick notion of blending the company's expertise in fiber optic sight solutions with the proven performance of tritium.

TRUGLO, Inc. offers several of these tritium/fiber optic hybrid sights, the latest of which is the TFX® Pro Tritium/Fiber-Optic Day/Night sights. We liken them more to "24-hour sights" because their design ensures front and rear sight alignment no matter how bright or dark the ambient lighting conditions. This is made possible due to the configuration of a Swiss tritium vial is placed behind (from the shooter's perspective) a fiber optic core. Both components are then arranged in a hermetically sealed capsule and secured in a robust, CNC-machined sight housing. The capsule is made to withstand the effects of oils and harsh cleaning solvents that have been known to deep-six some tritium vials over time.

Channels in the sight housing expose the fiber optic to ambient light, providing enhanced visibility in everything from low- to bright-light conditions, or the shooter can simply use the post-and-notch silhouette when ample light is available. In utter dark conditions where there is no ambient light for the fiber optics to gather, the fiber optics funnel the tritium glow toward the shooter.

Additionally, the TFX Pro includes a red focus ring on the front sight to aid in fast alignment.

Another feature we appreciate in the TFX Pro design is the rear sight's forward-angled profile. This provides a solid "catch" should you ever need to cycle the slide one-handed.

Some time ago, we picked up a well-worn GLOCK 17 that had been used for training Tier One groups. It had already been upfitted with tritium units, but as with all tritium sights, these had begun to dim out. We figured this would be a good opportunity drop in a set of TRUGLO TFX Pro sights and illustrate the installation process for you.

A lot of handgun owners have considered upgrading their OE sights with an aftermarket set such as these or, like us, found it time to replace their old night sights. Many folks don't do this because of the perceived difficulty or the cost of having a gunsmith do it for them. We wanted to show you how to do this on a GLOCK because it really is simple. Yes, there is an investment to be made in a quality rear sight installation tool and, in the case of the GLOCK, a front sight tool. The thing is, these tools typically pay for themselves after a couple of sight jobs. So, if you are a handgun fan and plan to do this more than once, it only makes sense to get right tools for the job and do it yourself. Plus, if you ever need to adjust the windage of your GLOCK, you'll need a proper rear sight tool to do it.

Begin by ensuring there is no live round in the chamber and then separate the slide from the frame. Next, remove the barrel and guide rod/spring assembly.

Use the GLOCK front sight tool to remove the front sight screw from inside the slide. The screw head is extremely shallow, so make sure the tool positively engages the head as you loosen the screw to prevent damaging the head. This may take a firm twist if the screw was installed with Loctite.

If the front sight doesn't pull out by hand, use an appropriately sized punch to help persuade it out of the slide.

A rear sight adjustment tool is designed to push dovetail-style sights on and off a pistol slide. Follow the tool manufacturer's guidelines for this procedure. We used an MGW GLOCK rear sight tool by simply securing the slide in the tool, aligning the sight within the press, then rotating the press ram to push the sight out of the dovetail. Remember, always remove and install sights from the right side of the slide. Here we are pushing the old sight off toward the right side of the slide.

The TFX Pro kit for our GLOCK 17 includes the front and rear sights, a pre-installed pre-Gen 4 front sight screw, a Gen 4-only front sight screw, and an Allen wrench to tighten the rear sight set screw.

Begin the rear sight installation by pushing the sight into the slide's dovetail with finger pressure only. Again, install from the right side, pushing toward the left side of the slide. The sight should stop about a third to halfway onto the dovetail.

Position the slide in the sight tool and align the press over the sight. Rotate the ram to press the sight into the slide. The goal is to center the sight on the slide. It is good practice to stop pressing just a hair shy of center and then measure. You want to avoid pressing the sight past center (too far left).

Use a metal ruler or, as seen here, the depth gauge end of a dial caliper, to measure both sides of the sight in relation to the edge of the slide.

The point of measuring is to have equal distance from the edge of the sight to the edge of the slide on both sides. This will put the sight in true center. It may be necessary to repeat the press-and-measure process a few times before dead-center is achieved.

Once the rear sight is centered in the slide, tighten the set screw with the supplied Allen wrench.

Moving to the front sight, place the correct-style front sight screw into the GLOCK front sight tool and clean the threads with denatured alcohol to remove any oils or grease.

Place the new front sight into its alignment slot in the slide.

Apply a small amount of Loctite Threadlocker Blue 242 to the front sight screw threads and secure the sight. Again, be careful not to damage the screw head while tightening.

Our veteran GLOCK slide is once again ready for duty...whatever the light may bring.