Painting front sight post

I used some of my wife's nail polish. Worked great.

How about your wife's (or maybe your's) finger nail polish??

Testers Model Enamel in the little square bottles works great.
Available in a wide range of colors at any hobby or craft shop, and maybe even Wal-Mart.

Just degrease the sight with rubbing alcohol or something first and it will stay on a long time.

rc

I've used nail polish and even white out before. Whiteout worked the best because it provided a clearer contrast.

They make colored replacement sights.

If you're going to paint it, degrease, coat of WHITE, let dry, then your color choice. (I'd go with blaze orange)

A sight coloring kit is on the market. It really didn't help me any. I agree with the testers or nail polish. The colored post replacements have looked good in pictures on the net.

Nail polish works well and wont wipe off with CLP. Gun scrub will take it off. Its under 2 bucks at the walmarts and I use it to identify my keys too.

I found a random orange paint marker in my tool box and just dabbed a few coats on the front sight post on my AK. That was a few years ago and it was free.

I used white enamel from a rattle can on the front sights of a 9mm semi-auto many years ago (at least 20) and it is still there. Just spray a small puddle on a piece of cardboard and use a very small brush to put it on.

Buckeye71 said:

I used white enamel from a rattle can on the front sights of a 9mm semi-auto many years ago (at least 20) and it is still there. Just spray a small puddle on a piece of cardboard and use a very small brush to put it on.

Click to expand...

That's the method I use as well. Works great.

David E said:

They make colored replacement sights.

If you're going to paint it, degrease, coat of WHITE, let dry, then your color choice. (I'd go with blaze orange)

Click to expand...

^^^THIS^^^

Mainly use nail polish like a bright pink

Like many others I have tried all types of different products such as paint and fingernail polish.

A while back I found was has proven to be the best. I had some Appliance White enamel touch paint that I use for touching up chipped paint on old stoves and refrigators. This stuff dries very hard, is very bright white and is glossy. Since the purpose for me is too help pick out the front sight in dim light I like the glossy finish.

Appliance White touch-up paint is easy to find in almost any hardware store and one bottle probably will do 100 guns.

I use model car paint, white, on front blade and rear square notch. Then I picked out a glow green out of the craft section, both at Walmart, and here's how it turned out. Plus one on wiping with alcohol first.

Neon orange nail polish has been riding on several of my guns for years.

Red oil based paint sharpie marker.

For white, I use a white paint marker.

For orange, I put down a coat of white paint marker, followed by a coat of orange Testor's model paint.

Ive used both Testors and nail polish, with good results. The nail polish usually lasts a lot longer, especially on sights that arent protected and subject to normal wear and tear. The nail polish usually isnt bothers by most gun cleaning solvents, wich will readily remove Testors.

As was mentioned, using a gloss white as a base, dramatically improves the vividness of color you want. This is especially noticeable with the florescents.

Another alternative for the AK's, is a tritium front sight from Meprolight. It offers a larger, sharper front blade, with a tritium lit "dot" that can be seen in total darkness. I have these on all my AK's, and they work very well, especially for quick shooting. The only downside is, you reduce your working range by about 100 yards (they are good out to 200 yards or so) for any kind of precision shooting. You can still make decent COM hits at 300 yards, but the blade is to "fat" at that distance, and usually completely covers an IPSC type target, making it a bit more difficult if youre into shooting "groups".

There are many alternatives that should do the job nicely. There is high-visibility
sight paint that many gun stores sell or you can try some of the other ideas
mentioned here. I have a Taurus 66 that I painted the front sight ramp on with
some red auto touch up paint and two years later, the front sight looks great.

Nail polish works as well as anything I have ever tried. It stays on the sight well, comes with its own applicator brush, is very inexpensive, and comes in a wide range of colors so that you can find one that is right for you.

Tip: go get your own bottle. Don't snitch your wife's. It's not worth the trouble. (Don't ask.)

I used Glow-On,its easy to see in daylight and glows in the dark.

i've tried yellow, bright green, red, white and pink, finally settling on the pink. i just use fingernail polish--no need to buy expensive "sight paint," especially if you haven't settled on a color yet.