fingernail polish

[coronel]

Has any one here tried finger nail polish to enhance the visability of their iron sights?

 

[10-Ring]

Somebody did because I spent some time w/ the old solvent to get pink polish of the front sight on my pre-owned Python

 

[briansp82593]

Somebody did because I spent some time w/ the old solvent to get pink polish of the front sight on my pre-owned Python

poor python.. i almost did that but on the old smith with the serrated front sight i was like so hows that going to come off

 

[chris allen]

polish

Works great.
cheap ,durable ,lots of color choice

make sure to use a color that compliments your skin tone!

 

[gpr]

i like testers hobby enamel...88cents at wally world....gpr

 

[packarat]

I used liquid white out on my GP-100 at the advice of my uncle. Comes right off if you want to go back to a stock sight.

 

[eden892]

I have used it on revolver front sights for years works great with lot,s of color choices.

 

[bpisler]

I prefer to use a matt fluorescent orange
paint,gloss paint reflects too much light
for my liking.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I used my buddy's wife's silver nail polish, then wiped off the ridges, so I could focus on the contrast in the poorly lit indoor ranges I shoot at.

 

[1911 guy]

Yup.

Painted the front sight on my carry gun with my wifes' polish. Woks well, so far. Two years with no touch-ups. A few coats of the stuff gets pretty durable.

 

[KI4LIV]

Instead of crayon?

I've seen many people color the engraved logos and writing on their handguns with crayons, then wiping the excess off..

Anyone tried nail polish for this purpose? I would think it would work well, but interested in knowing how a real life experiment turned out!

 

[jad0110]

Anyone know of a good Gold nailpolish to approximate the famous Partridge Gold Bead "McGivern" style front sight?

 

[10X]

Nail Polish - sure

I've used bright red nail polish for years. My wife is fascinated to see this. With the slightest light behind you the sights really show up. The red makes a good contrast with dark targets. Polish doesn't come off without some effort i.e. scraping.

This started back in the 1970s for me when S&W made the red ramp front and white outline rear sights. I thought the red made a good contrast.
If the red ramp didn't quite go all the way to the top of the front sight I would add a bit of red nail polish.

Later I used nail polish on the tiny front sight of GI 45s.

 

[Ala Dan]

I've heard that the bright colors of model airplane paint work best in
enhancing the front sights of handguns; but I have NEVER tried it~?

 

[Zero_DgZ]

For my airsoft guns I have a small tin of exceedingly raucous neon orange - for redoing the orange flash hiders or thread protectors when the urge strikes me.

On a whim I painted the impossible-to-use front sight of my Mac-11. Suddenly it became possible to use. So I did the sight of my MP5 and it worked just as well. Later I did the front sight of my AR-15 (actual gun this time) and in indoor lighting it did wonders for picking up that little tiny black pin... Though now that fiber optic front sight replacements are cheap I plan to pick one up soon even though it'll force me to re-sight my gun.

So it goes.

For best results, put down a layer of white to act as primer on dark surfaces (blued, parkerized, other black sort of finishes) and your brightly colored paint will work much better. For shiny surfaces like stainless it shouldn't be required.

 

[bluetopper]

My wife's red Revlon polish works great on the front sights on my Makarovs. Surprised me how durable it is too.
I've always wanted to try Maybellene brand however.

 

[morcoth]

Yupp

Even used 2 colors, so my superblackhawk is "Skunked" makes lining up the long barrel faster.
Y R Y
e E e
l D l
l R l
o E o
wD w


Morcoth

 

[sig228]

+1 on the white-out

 

[RTFM]

I'm with packarat on the whiteout. Have used it several times on rifles that were hard to discern the front post on a black target.....

A little fingernail action and it's back to boring old black. No harsh acetone to remove the polish when you need to remove.


RTFM

 

[kokapelli]

I use fingernail polish of most of my pistol's sights.

I use a toothpick to apply it.

 

[Roberta X]

Fingernail polish works great, especially as I have become farsighted over the years. Acetone will take it off but be very careful. I have never had polish remover damage blued or plated metal but it could be bad on wood or polymer.

 

[RexDart]

I've seen many people color the engraved logos and writing on their handguns with crayons, then wiping the excess off..

Anyone tried nail polish for this purpose? I would think it would work well, but interested in knowing how a real life experiment turned out!

I bought my wife a used XD-9SC, and the previous owner had used red nail polish to highlight the XD logo, the serial number and all the other engravings on the slide. The tiny lines of dark red over the base black gave a sullen pinkish glow to the lettering. My wife hated it, and spent some time with acetone and Q-tips removing the offending polish.

Neither of us could understand why one would want to make the sides of the slide more ornamented, especially on a carry gun.

 

[kokapelli]

I have used my wife's polish remover to redo the sights in a different color. It was easy and fast.