Picatinny Love: Diamondhead Integrated Sighting System (Video)

There are a lot of rail-mounted iron sights out there.  A lot.  Mostly, they’re all variations of the same, basic peep sights that have more than proven their usability; there are few that stray from that established design, but all said and done, iron sights is iron sights.  There’s only so much innovating you can do in that field; fortunately, people do try out new things and that’s how we get Diamondhead USA.  

Diamondhead’s sights are peep or aperature sights in function.  They don’t change that.  But their approach to how we perceive the sight through the aperature is very different.  They ditched the circle.  

You can’t improve a shooters hand coordination with sights, but you can improve their eye coordination.  Or more accurately, the part of your brain that interperets what you see.  Brains like patterns and natually try to arrange things; you see their diamond, or “rotated square” shape and align the points up instinctively.  Instead of trying to center a circle with an infinite number of vertices inside an equally infinite circle, you just have to deal with eight points, on two axises.  

But enough math.  Diamondhead proves that they’re serious with not just one, but a whole mess of “Integrated Sighting Systems” (sights), with different height front sights for ARs with lowered front gas block rails, equal height sights for long flattop rails, short sights for lower one-third co-witnessed sights, hybrid diamond outer/circle inner sights for people looking for the rapid acquisition but a more traditional sight picture, and operator sights with a rotating front elevation post that can be adjusted for shooting out to 600 yards.  

All Diamondhead sights are flip-up, dual-rear aperature sights that have .5 MOA click-adjustable windage controls, and are Mil. Spec. with their stainless steel and Type III black anodized 6061 T6 aircraft aluminum construction.

They are premium sights, and have a fairly premium price, and range from $190 (basic) to $320 (front-adjustable sight) for sight pairs, although that’s not out of line with other premium sights.  They also make modular AR handguards with rails attachment points if you’re into that sort of thing.  They’re standard on at least the Stag Arms Model 3, we know that for a fact.

People who try them usually can’t go back to more conventional sights.  That pretty much says it all.  About the only drawback we can think of is that they don’t have a set that’s got tritium inserts.  Then again, some of Diamondhead’s most enthusastic supporters also have night vision goggles…