The clever See All tritium lit sight for handguns is a one-piece, fully adjustable, open optical sight from Oversight Shooting Technologies, LLC. It is the first sight of its kind and it is designed, manufactured, assembled and packaged in the USA.

This is a lightweight, low mount, optical sight intended to replace the pistol's iron sights. After removing the pistol's stock rear sight, the See All mounts in the pistol's rear sight dovetail.

The See All Pistol Sight (without mounting hardware) weighs only one ounce per my digital scale, so it adds very little weight to the top of the slide. It is 2-3/4 inches long, one inch wide (maximum) and 5/8 inch tall.

It is shipped in a foam padded box with a dovetail base for a specific make of pistol and hex wrenches for mounting and sight adjustment. A brief instruction pamphlet is included. The 2017 MSRP is $179.95.

Advertised Advantages

• Provides optimal illumination in every situation, day or night.
• The speed is instantaneous.
• The reticle is focused on the same plane as the target.
• The accuracy is unsurpassed by any sighting system without the use of magnification.
• Its durability far exceeds any sight on the market.

The See All pistol sight is built on an aluminum alloy base with an open optic lens onto which is projected a tritium lit triangle and crosshair reticle. (A post with crosshair reticle is optional.) The optic lens magnifies and focuses the reticle.

The reticle appears in the same optical plane as the target, much like a holographic red dot sight, allowing the shooter to focus on the target, rather than the sight. (Ignore the pistol's front sight, which will be obscured by the See All when the pistol is aligned on the target.) Having the sight and the target visually sharp at the same time is the See All sight's biggest advantage over conventional iron sights.

The line of sight is directly across the top of the optic glass. The idea is to look at the target over the sight while placing the crosshair at the very top of the optic. Align the point of the triangle on the target where you wish the bullet to hit. It is easy to shoot with both eyes open when using a See All sight, another important advantage.

Unlike a holographic red dot sight, there is no view through the See All sight's optics. You sight across the top of the optic. Everything below the point of aim on the target is obscured, much as with open iron sights, only a bit worse.

Since the optical system is illuminated by tritium, no battery is required and there is no off/on switch to remember or fumble. The sight is always "on." I found the tritium illumination to be excellent in both full daylight and the darkest night. Tritium illumination is the See All sight's principle advantage over holographic and conventional (tube type) red dot sights.

Two tiny Allen head screws (adjustment wrench included) are used to adjust the sight for windage and elevation. The elevation adjustment screw is located on top of the sight and the windage screw is located on the right side toward the front of the sight.

Turning the elevation screw counter-clockwise moves the point of impact up. Turning the windage screw clockwise moves the point of impact to the right. 1/16 turn moves the point of impact one inch at 100 yards. There are no clicks, so adjustment is continuous. From the center position there are 75 inches of adjustment in both the up/down and right/left directions (150 inches total).

Warning: The elevation screw will come out of the sight if turned more than three full turns. DO NOT REMOVE THE SCREW. Do not turn the windage screw more than 4-1/2 turns in either direction.

Mounting the Sight

I mounted the See All pistol sight on a SIG Sauer P220 Match Elite Reverse 10mm Auto pistol. This is a powerful, long slide autoloader best suited for hunting and use in the field.

The instruction pamphlet that comes with the sight provides very sketchy mounting instructions. Basically, it says to go to your local gunsmith to have the See All sight's dovetail bar installed in your pistol (after the factory rear sight has been pushed from the dovetail slot in your pistol's slide). The instructions then say to place the See All pistol sight over the dovetail bar and use the supplied 6/32 screw to attach the sight to the dovetail bar; tighten securely. (There is a 6/32 hole drilled and tapped in the center of the dovetail bar.)

Fortunately, there is a video on the See All website (https://seeallopensight.com) that provides more detailed instruction and illustrates the process. I strongly advise purchasers to view this video before mounting their new sight.

Having removed and replaced lots of sights over the years, I managed to drive the SIG's rear sight from its (very tight!) mounting dovetail and replace it with the See All sight's mounting bar. This dovetail mounting bar has a five degree taper and it is a tight friction fit; there is no set screw to keep it in place. All of the See All pistol sights are the same, only the supplied dovetail bar varies to fit the individual brand of pistol, which must be specified when the sight is ordered.

The bottom of the See All pistol sight has a notch milled with a five degree taper intended to precisely fit over the dovetail bar's matching taper. Once the dovetail mounting bar is centered in the pistol's slide, place the sight over the dovetail mounting bar with the mounting hole in the sight aligned with the hole drilled and tapped in the bar. Insert the supplied 6/32 screw. Use the thumb of your weak hand to press the front of the sight against the top of the pistol's slide and tighten the mounting screw securely.

The sight is held on the pistol by this single attachment point, so the mounting screw must be really tight. The video says to tighten the screw as tight as it can be turned without breaking the supplied hex wrench. The dovetail mounting bar is chrome-moly alloy, so the hex wrench will break before the screw can strip the threads. You can use Lock-Tite on the mounting screw, but it is not necessary. The screw should be so tight that it will not come loose, even after firing thousands of rounds.

Once the sight is mounted to the pistol, there will be a small, uniform gap between the bottom of the sight and the top of the slide (except over the mounting bar). This is normal and proper. After mounting, there was absolutely no initial play between the sight and the SIG pistol.

Using the Sight

Guns and Shooting Online staff members Rocky Hays, Jim Fleck and Bob Fleck helped me evaluate the See All pistol sight. Once the pistol is properly sighted-in, the point of impact should be where the tip of the triangle touches the crosshair. Simple in principle, we found the See All sight more difficult to use than expected.

First of all, the reticle is not easy to acquire. The eye must be aligned very precisely with the sight (and hence the axis of the pistol) for the reticle to be visible in the sights's optic glass. Despite the claim that the sight's "speed is instantaneous," we found it slow to acquire the reticle and achieve a proper sight picture against the target. We all judged the See All to be slower than holographic or conventional red dot sights.

Once your eye locates the reticle, it appears to move in a disconcerting manner. Tiny hand movements cause the reticle to jump around on the optic. Like other optical pistol sights (scope and red dot), the See All lets you see how unsteady your pistol really is, even when shooting over sandbags!

The field of view is even worse than with conventional, Patridge type, open iron sights, as the See All sight covers more of the target. The Company states this is a 100 yard (maximum range) sighting system and we are inclined to agree.

We can do better long range handgun shooting with conventional Patridge sights, by elevating the top of the front sight blade above the top of the rear sight. This is impossible with the See All, as elevating the pistol to move the sight above the target obscures the target. In our opinion, for applications where long range pistol shooting may be required, especially hunting and general field use, red dot sights and scopes are easier to aim, more accurate and out-range the See All sight.

Test Shooting

I did the test shooting at the Izaak Walton range south of Eugene, Oregon. I shot from a bench rest at slow fire (bull's eye) pistol targets, using a Caldwell sandbag to steady the pistol for sighting-in.

The good folks at SIG-Sauer had previously provided me with a supply of their fine Elite Performance 180 grain FMJ and V-Crown ammunition for use in this pistol. Thanks to SIG Sauer for their help!

I started shooting at 25 yards with the SIG Elite Performance 180 grain FMJ load and, fortunately, the first bullet hit the paper, although it was about six inches low and nearly as much left of center. After firing five shots to form a group, I used the supplied hex wrench to turn the elevation screw to raise the point of impact and also gave the windage screw a twist to move the point of impact to the right, making semi-educated guesses at how much to turn the adjustment screws.

My elevation guess turned out to be pretty good, as the next group was at about the same elevation as the center of the bull's eye. However, the windage needed more adjustment to the right.

When I went to make the required windage adjustment, I found that the sight was now perceptively loose on its dovetail mount bar. I could wiggle it with my fingers! I immediately checked the tension on the 6/32 mounting screw, but it could not be tightened any more. The looseness was between the dovetail bar and the base of the rear sight, although the mounting screw was completely tight.

At this point I was unable to continue shooting, as the group size had expanded to about six inches at 25 yards due to the loose sight. (This pistol normally shoots groups averaging around one inch at 25 yards with this ammo.) Having the See All sight shoot loose after only 10 shots was discouraging, to say the least.

Afterward

I e-mailed and attempted to telephone my contact at See All. The e-mail was successful, but my phone call did not go through. Their attempt to return my call was also unsuccessful, so we failed to hook-up via telephone. In any event, I am returning the See All Pistol Sight to the Company. Hopefully, they will be able to evaluate the problem and implement a solution.

In fairness, the 10mm Auto is, for practical purposes, a magnum cartridge. It is the most powerful cartridge normally chambered in conventional autoloading pistols and its ballistics approximate those of the .357 Magnum revolver cartridge.

Even in a relatively heavy pistol like the SIG P220, the 10mm Auto cartridge generates considerably more recoil and a higher slide velocity than standard auto pistol cartridges, such as the .40 S&W or the .45 ACP. It is a severe test of any sight mounting system. Perhaps the See All pistol sight's mounting system would have proved more satisfactory on a less powerful handgun.