Gold bead on ccw

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MCFLYFYTER

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I am seriously considering a gold bead with black rear for my glock 22 I EDC. I have had trijicon hd on my last 2 carry guns, and thinking about trying something different. Anyone have a good reason not to go gold?
 
I had a gold bead on a 7.5" Ruger Redhawk .41 Mag. My old sight was a bit narrower than the Vickers, I found it impossible to see in reduced lighting... especially with a dark target behind. I know that seems counterintuitive since the gold color is supposed to reflect light, and maybe at high noon on the border it would, but without bright sunlight it was so bad I replaced it with a Hi-Viz fiber optic blade.

YMMV.

Stay safe.
 
Riomouse911 said:
I had a gold bead on a 7.5" Ruger Redhawk .41 Mag. My old sight was a bit narrower than the Vickers, I found it impossible to see in reduced lighting... especially with a dark target behind. I know that seems counterintuitive since the gold color is supposed to reflect light, and maybe at high noon on the border it would, but without bright sunlight it was so bad I replaced it with a Hi-Viz fiber optic blade.

YMMV.

Stay safe.
Click to expand...
I ended up going tritium after walking around with a piece of the wifes jewelry and it was not as easy to see as I expected. That was with 24k, and most sights seem to be 14k. My findings align with yours.
 
It’s not a glock, but I carry this Iver Johnson .38S&W most days and when I cut it down a brass bead seemed like the logically way to go to replace the front sight.

0BA599AD-4BFE-482D-ADC5-8370D6116334.jpeg

There’s no way to equal the utility of a self-luminous sight with a brass or gold bead, but it’s much better than standard sights that lack contrast. Having just about any ambient light makes it easy to pick up on the bead.

One thing I couldn’t say is if a simple blaze orange dab or stripe wouldn’t be just as good or better. I suppose it would come down to the particulars of which gun it’s going on.
 
I can't see gold beads worth a crap anymore, but they sure look nice in photos.

For a carry gun, I need a dab of white paint, or a dab of bright orange paint on a front sight.

But really, I like a red fiber optic front sight surrounded by white paint even better. Which works well with light behind me, above me, or in front of me.
 
chicharrones said:
I can't see gold beads worth a crap anymore, but they sure look nice in photos.

For a carry gun, I need a dab of white paint, or a dab of bright orange paint on a front sight.
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John Harrison (Harrison Custom) on sights from his FAQ page.

http://www.harrisoncustom.com/FAQ.aspx
I install a lot of 14k Gold beads in front sights, as well as White dots made from pure white synthetic rod. I think they offer a way to give the shooter a contrasting bit of color in the front sight with none of the negatives of the fiber optic (breakage) or the tritium (doesn’t offer much contrast in daylight and has a limited lifespan). Either material will last forever and give good service. If pressed for my favorite, my eyes like the white dot (.062" diameter) better than the Gold Bead (.082" diameter). To me, the appearance of the White Dot stays more consistent in varying light conditions than the Gold Bead does.
Click to expand...
 
RevolvingGarbage said:
It’s not a glock, but I carry this Iver Johnson .38S&W most days and when I cut it down a brass bead seemed like the logically way to go to replace the front sight.

View attachment 987179

There’s no way to equal the utility of a self-luminous sight with a brass or gold bead, but it’s much better than standard sights that lack contrast. Having just about any ambient light makes it easy to pick up on the bead.

One thing I couldn’t say is if a simple blaze orange dab or stripe wouldn’t be just as good or better. I suppose it would come down to the particulars of which gun it’s going on.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of putting a brass BB on my chopped snubs, but I don’t know how it’s done. How do you “sight it in” ie how to you make sure the BB is in the right spot?
 
I don't like round things on open sights. I have a much harder time lining up blobs rather than clean angles, whether taking my time or in a hurry. Lots of folks may be different, but that's my reason for avoiding beads.
 
pairof44sp said:
I was thinking of putting a brass BB on my chopped snubs, but I don’t know how it’s done. How do you “sight it in” ie how to you make sure the BB is in the right spot?
Click to expand...

Honestly, it’s guesswork followed by testing and iterations if it doesn’t work the way I wanted it to. What I do to make things easy is just not tap the hole I’m installing the bead into. This way you can try out various lengths of simple brass rod as a front sight until you find the height you need for your final bead to have the exact POA/POI you want. Simply friction fitting a brass pin into the hole I’m eventually installing the bead into has always held well enough for me to take test shots to walk that final height in.

What revolver did you have in mind? And do you have the original front sight on the barrel stub still?
 
.38 Special said:
I don't like round things on open sights. I have a much harder time lining up blobs rather than clean angles, whether taking my time or in a hurry. Lots of folks may be different, but that's my reason for avoiding beads.
Click to expand...

I have used just about every kind of iron sight available, and the only two I’ve ever had an issue with are the standard glock white bracket and ball, and the blaze orange square in the white outlined black rear of the classic S&W revolver sight picture. Almost anything else I can work with, including the brass blob in a tiny grayish metal U notch that is the sight picture on that Iver.

E259056A-9406-4069-B79A-C9DACB6B2C4C.jpeg
39EFB2CD-D1AF-4461-BD06-8ACBFC88D3C4.jpeg
A7A2E428-5527-4E8A-B835-E5F07EE39293.jpeg
 
RevolvingGarbage said:
I have used just about every kind of iron sight available, and the only two I’ve ever had an issue with are the standard glock white bracket and ball, and the blaze orange square in the white outlined black rear of the classic S&W revolver sight picture. Almost anything else I can work with, including the brass blob in a tiny grayish metal U notch that is the sight picture on that Iver.

View attachment 987368
View attachment 987369
View attachment 987367
Click to expand...

I'd be just as well off throwing that Iver at the target!
 
RevolvingGarbage said:
Honestly, it’s guesswork followed by testing and iterations if it doesn’t work the way I wanted it to. What I do to make things easy is just not tap the hole I’m installing the bead into. This way you can try out various lengths of simple brass rod as a front sight until you find the height you need for your final bead to have the exact POA/POI you want. Simply friction fitting a brass pin into the hole I’m eventually installing the bead into has always held well enough for me to take test shots to walk that final height in.

What revolver did you have in mind? And do you have the original front sight on the barrel stub still?
Click to expand...
I have Charter Bulldogs with chopped barrels and no front sight. so there is just raw metal where a bead would be.

I thought that with enough practice, I could hit distant targets without a front sight. But these are turning out to be 5-yard guns. So a little something on the front to line up with the rear sight-channel would be nice.
 
pairof44sp said:
I have Charter Bulldogs with chopped barrels and no front sight. so there is just raw metal where a bead would be.

I thought that with enough practice, I could hit distant targets without a front sight. But these are turning out to be 5-yard guns. So a little something on the front to line up with the rear sight-channel would be nice.
Click to expand...

Thats about where I was with the I.J. I could hit a personish sized target no problem from less than ten yards just aiming down the top strap and picturing it like a runway the bullet was taking off from. It’s good for point blank but personally I like being able to take an accurate shot if needed and that requires a front sight.

A good place to start might be trying a few shots with a .250 height front sight. Most guns will fall near that for front sight height. From there you can either file it down if you’re hitting low or make a new slightly taller one if you’re hitting a little too high.
 
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