Walther PPS Sights

The aftermarket sight options for the Walther PPS are not as robust as they are for other pistols. Few companies – in fact, only four including Walther itself – offer any iron sight options for the compact pistol. The good news is that those companies are considered some of the best.

I confirmed all of the following information regarding what fits properly. Additionally, I’ve included my experiences with the different units presented here.

If you know of another sight option that I failed to include, please leave a note in the comment section below. As time permits, I will update this article to include the new information. The goal is to provide you with the best possible resource for PPS sight options.

Meprolight

Well respected around the world for building top notch iron sights and electro-optical sights, Meprolight supports the Walther PPS with a set of its leading Tru-Dot night sights. While the tritium used in these sights are said to be brighter than that in the Trijicon sights (below,) a number of people advise they are difficult to install.

Walther uses a roll pin in the base of the stock rear sight to apply tension and hold it in place. Other non-Walther sights use more traditional methods, but the Meprolight model uses the same pin. For many people this is not a big deal, a few people have complained that this makes the rear sight very difficult to install.

Trijicon

Trijicon is one of the best known names in the firearms industry. The company makes top end scopes, optical sights and iron sights. For the Walther PPS, the company makes two different sight options: the Bright & Tough and the HD Night Sights.

The Bright & Tough line of sights is the traditional line of three-dot night sights Trijicon has made for years. The sights use a metal body with a self-illuminating tritium vial inserted in them. Each vial is outlined by a thin white line to make a three-dot style sight set.

I’ve used Bright & Tough sights on my police service pistols for years, and always found them to work well. They are not what I consider ideal, but they are certainly rugged and will not fail.

For a self-defense or duty firearm, I much prefer the Trijicon HD Night Sights. These sights are every bit as durable as the Bright & Tough line, but with an improved configuration that makes them easier to use in actual combat.

Trijicon knows that the first person to put accurate hits on target is the most likely to win the encounter. Being able to superimpose the front sight over the target quickly is the most successful way of making that happen. So, with the HD Night Sights, Trijicon created a sight set that helps bring the eyes’ focus to the front sight.

The front sight uses a large and bright orange or yellow (your choice) photoluminescent outline around a bright tritium vial. Even under stress, the large and bright sight helps break tunnel vision and get on the target rapidly.

Trijicon uses a wide U-notch rear sight to help the shooter quickly find the front sight. Also, the rear sight is specifically designed with a hook-like shape to enhance your ability to use it as a tool to manipulate the slide one-handed.

Walther

As one might expect, Walther does offer a sight upgrade for their own pistol. While inexpensive – only $51 – the sights are only a marginal upgrade, and may not appeal to many shooters.

Unlike true night sights that use tritium to self-power, these sights use a phosphorescent paint that absorbs light in bright conditions. In the dark, the paint glows for a short period of time. Unless you know you are going to need to use the gun ahead of time and “charge” the sights with a flashlight, they may not be bright and glowing when you need them.

Another drawback to these sights is the rear sight has a sloped leading edge. This precludes their use in a one-handed, emergency slide manipulation.

XS Sight Systems

The PPS is a self-defense gun designed for concealed carry and as a backup gun for patrol cops. Outside of practice time on the range, its most likely use is when you are being attacked. When this happens, the body’s natural alarm response kicks in and seeing small sights becomes very difficult due to the physiological changes.

XS Sight Systems developed a possible solution to the problem of finding your sights quickly under stress: the Big Dot 24/7 Express Sights.

The Big Dot system uses a bright and large front sight that is easily seen by the eye and then combines it with a shallow rear notch. This allows the shooter to get on target very fast. Both the front and rear sights have tritium inserts so they can be used in all lighting conditions.

While the sights work well under stress, for those of us with aging eyes, that big dot can be a real help when doing a little practice at the range as well.

For what it is worth, I’ve met a number of the people at XS Sight Systems and found them to be good natured, upstanding people who seem to really care about their customers.

Sight Installation

Replacing the sights on the PPS is relatively easy and doesn’t need any specialized tools. Basic hand tools are all you need, and most gun owners will likely have them already. The tools needed include:

• small, flat head screw driver
• non-marring punch
• light to medium weight hammer
• degreaser
• a thread locker (if not included with the sight kit purchased)

XS Sights was good enough to put together an installation video that details the entire process:

While the above video is specifically for the XS Sight Systems product, kits from the other companies should install in a similar manner.

Lasers

As an alternative to a night sight upgrade, you can outfit your PPS with a laser. Since the pistol is small, not every rail mounted laser will work. However, I’ve done the research and determined that the following units will work with the Walther PPS handgun in both 9mm and .40 S&W.

Crimson Trace

Crimson Trace offers a number of light and laser options for the PPS. I have confirmed with the company that the following are designed to work with the Walther pistol:

• CMR-201 Rail Master – tap activated red laser
• CMR-202 Rail Master – 100 lumen white light
• CMR-203 Rail Master – tap activated green laser
• CMR-204 Rail Master Pro – green laser and white light combination unit
• CMR-205 Rail Master Pro – red laser and white light combination unit
• CMR-206 Rail Master Universal – tap activated green laser

LaserLyte

LaserLyte makes budget-priced laser products. One of those is the Lyte Ryder, which is a “universal” laser. What this means is the kit comes with two sizes of housing: one for compact guns like the PPS and a second for larger handguns. The laser module can then be swapped to whichever housing you need.

LaserMax

LaserMax has been making aiming lasers for decades, and the company supports the Walther PPS pistol through a series of compact units that mount on the accessory rail of the gun. The units that will work on the Walther are:

• Genesis – compact green laser with rechargeable battery
• LMS Micro (aka Uni-Max Micro Red) – lightweight red laser
• Micro II – lightweight green laser with ambidextrous switch

Streamlight

Streamlight makes a pair of light and laser units called the TLR-4. One comes with a red laser and the other with a green laser. I own both units, and I have tested both of them on the PPS. While I prefer the green laser unit because of the better visibility of the laser, both models worked extremely well on the gun. The addition of the white light for target identification is exceptionally useful as well.

Last Update: October 19, 2022

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