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Last week I was practicing for the week end US Steel Challenge match we host every month at our local club. I was using my Ruger Hunter with a fiber optic front and square notch rear. I was using the club rack with six plates at ten yards. My average was 3.397 for six shots with an average miss rate of one per string. Times were okay but the miss rate was not good. I tried using my heavier Competition model Ruger with it's plain iron sights and my times improved slightly to 3.32 but my miss rate went down to .357. An email exchange with shooting friends confirmed that they agree that iron sights are faster and more accurate after a shooter has become more proficient with a pistol. I switched the front sight to the lighter Hunter and used that during the match last Sunday. My time at the match was a new low for me @ 97.++ seconds overall and I finished 12th out of 40+ shooters at the five stage event. I'm encouraged for someone older than dirt, shooting only my 4th match.

Good,

I think the fiber optic sights are quicker to pickup but the v rear sight causes the problem. The V (dot the i) is slower to get aligned up over a std sq notch. most users including me have trouble seeing that little line. I think the "i" setup is more accurate but most shoot the sq better, go figure. A lot of users replace the rear sight to the sq for this reason.

Personally I prefer a quality red dot sight such as the UltraDot MatchDot. If for some reason that isn't an option then I will go with the square sights.

I have a Mark III Hunter with the V rear and FO front. I don't care much for this set up and plan to replace them with an Ultradot. My Mark II has FO front and square knoch rear, which works quite well for me. My Mark III 22/45 has square post/ square rear and I have trouble seeing them on a black background. I want to replace the front with a FO, but this is the gun my wife shoots on occasion, and she likes them "just the way they are", so I will probably leave them alone and keep out of trouble.

I don't know if this helps you at all, but the set up on the Mark II really works great for me on targets. Fast to pick up an plenty accurate for my needs too.

Y

Finally, something I can comment on...
Get two drill bits, a 1/4" and a 3/8", and something with a 1/2" hole drilled in it. Now insert the 1/4" bit in the 1/2" hole and center it by eye then repeat with the 3/8" bit. The 3/8" is easier to center for most people because the eye and brain have less to focus on, the more gap the more your brain repeats the visual measurment or "centering."
Now compare the factory front sight size to the fiber optic sight size, the part your eye focuses on. Same thing happens. Your eye and brain are trying to compensate for the larger gap with repeating the alignment process, hence slowing sight alignment, maybe accoutning for a miss here and there because that clock is ticking you know...
The Williams rear fiber optic sight has a smaller notch than the factory rear sight, which in turn makes the alignment easier and/or quicker than trying to align the fiber optic up in the bigger slot of the factory rear sight.
My experience is that with enough practice one can overcome this for the type of shooting described, close range. Muscle memory is your biggest friend. Did I mention muscle memory?