An all-steel version is shown here on a Sig pistol to give you an idea of how the sight looks in profile. This version is installed by Goshen Enterprises.

While at first glance the HexSite may appear to be a variation of a set of standard front post and rear ghost-ring aperture sights, it is actually something quite different. Sheehan’s design consists of a rear hexagonal-shaped aperture and a specially machined front blade sight. The front sight has been designed to collect light from any direction and produce a subtle glint at its top.

The extensively machined rear aperture offers 16 angular reference points that, according to Sheehan--and experienced by me, for one--are subconsciously accessed when the pistol’s sights are aligned with the eye.

The recessed concavity at the rear of the aperture produces a dark shadow. Because this shadow is so much darker than the surrounding environment, you get maximum contrast with the target in every lighting condition. The effect for the eyes is to perceive the target through the sight as being brighter or of higher value, resulting in better focus on the target.

As for operating in extremely low-light environments, Sheehan believes that if lighting conditions are too dark for the HexSite, it is too dark to identify the target and too unclear to shoot at with any sight, at least without flashlight illumination.

Here’s how it works, according to Sheehan: “The HexSite presents six implied equilateral triangles which involuntarily draw the eye to an exquisitely refined convergence at the center of the hexagonal aperture. The angles are reflexively congenial with the eye’s inherent physiological makeup, so that the eye effortlessly locates and perceives the sight’s precise center. One user commented that it was like using invisible scope crosshairs.

“The shooter’s eye simply cannot dismiss the hexagonal structure’s unconscious demand to place the top of the front sight’s unfocused-upon top at the center of the sight, which also places it right on the target the shooter is focusing on.”

Bottom line: While the shooter is seeing the target, the subconscious is “seeing” the sight.

One of the core concepts of the HexSite System is that when used correctly by a shooter in a stressful situation, the sights actually disappear even as they effectively assist the shooter to focus on the target.

While it takes a little time to adjust to this idea, especially if you’ve been using Patridge type sights for any length of time, the validity of the concept can be easily demonstrated while dry firing. Simply stare at an object with pistol in hand, both eyes open, and then quickly and aggressively raise the pistol to eye level while maintaining your focus on the object.

After just a short time of exposure to the HexSite system, what you will repetitively and consistently observe when you refocus your vision from the object to the sight is that the top of the front sight blade has been aligned perfectly in the center of the rear sight aperture and directly on target--all without conscious determination. (Note that this refocusing on the sight is done only to demonstrate the concept and would not be done when using the sights for actual shooting.)

I first became interested in Sheehan’s work several years back, and after working with with the HexSite sights, I began to see what he had accomplished. It is an extremely interesting concept, based on a unique blend of science, superior craftsmanship, physiology, and more than just a little dash of Zen. I was so impressed I felt compelled to include a section about his sights in my book, Police Pistolcraft.