What makes night sights glow

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Aug 16, Apr 14, Jan 17, Oct 27, Find us on Facebook. GearExpert Community kevin: I've got a tp9sa I think. Even the teeny weeny amount of tritium in the sights costs a lot. Moreover tritium has a half-life of This, in practical terms, means that in Compared to the many advantages provided, having to get a new set of night sights every years is not such a big problem.

All rights reserved. Skip to main content. You must enable JavaScript to remove this banner. About us Contact Archive. Prev article. Next article. The primary concern with iron sights, however, is that they don't work in the dark. That is unless they're self-illuminated! Self-illuminating night sights are an ideal solution for targeting in low-light conditions: they don't ruin your night vision, they aren't bright enough to give away your location, and they last for years without batteries.

Whether they're your primary sight or a backup sight, self-illuminated sights are an amazing invention. Here's how they work. So, how do you create a softly-glowing light source which is small enough to fit onto standard iron sights, which can last for years, and requires no power? Self-illuminated night sights are made from tiny capsules containing tritium gas, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Then the capsule is coated with a phosphorous material, which reacts with the radioactive electrons being given off by the tritium.

Tritium is widely known as a by product of nuclear fusion, in both the energy and weapons-oriented operations. Currently tritium is unavoidably emitted into the air as well as water. This is usually in trace amounts that is later mixed with large amounts of water or air and deemed harmless.

Tritium is also present in the natural world, due to gamma rays that reach the earth. Tritium is also used in self-illuminating exit signs, clock faces and varying glow-in-the dark keychains. Tritium itself does not inherently glow. Tritium is a relatively short-lived surface as its half-life is As mentioned with any chemicals or compounds, you need to take extreme caution in storing and firearm operating tritium night sights.

You should also inspect to make sure that there is no physical damage to the housing of the sites themselves.