41magsnub
Member
For those of you who paint the sights on your pistols, what color patterns do you like best?
White rear and red front? others?
I'm looking for ideas...
White rear and red front? others?
I'm looking for ideas...
Painted pistol sight colors
- Thread starter 41magsnub
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El_Tortuga
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- Jun 14, 2010
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Tried your basic white, which was better than stock, but I wasn't happy until I swapped out for some XS 24/7 express sights. Love them.
Sunray
Member
White-out is your friend. Cheap and who cares if it rubs off. White Testor's model paint is next.
gwnorth
Member
I used a white base coat, followed by a very bright orange with a clear top coat - used nail polish for the whole deal. Did my front sights only on a 4" Service Six and a 3" S&W 65-3 and it turned out quite well, I think at least. If I foul it up, just get some acetone out and remove it (these are both stainless steel guns - I have no idea what acetone would do if dripped on blued steel?).
Zerodefect
member
I use Testors White as a base. Then neon green rear and orange front.
The Testors paint is easy to remove.
The Testors paint is easy to remove.
Blaze orange front sight. Very few things in nature or the environment are that color.
I would also suggest..........black. Very few things in nature are black, it contrasts very well with any other color, and doesn't distract your attention from the target like may bright colors. Most of your focus should be on the target.
John Wayne
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- Dec 11, 2007
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White outline back, orange front. Not as good as a set of night sights, but if you have a gun like a SW 442 then it's better than just the tiny stock sights left black.
Yarddog
Member
I would also suggest..........black. Very few things in nature are black, it contrasts very well with any other color, and doesn't distract your attention from the target like may bright colors. Most of your focus should be on the target.
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GreenMTNLife
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- Jun 15, 2007
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- 77
Glad this post came up, I'm getting ready to paint the sights on my LCR. Not sure what I'm going with yet, but I would NOT suggest black. The stock sights on the LCR are black and in low light situations the front sight can be very difficult to acquire. And I'm not talking dark/night situations but even just evening shooting sessions on the range. At this point I'm leaning to a blaze orange like on my 686. It seems to work pretty darn well in a variety of light levels.
GreenMTNLife
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your point? If black sights are difficult to acquire in low light situations, I can't imagine how adding two+ inches of barrel(a Target gun) is magically going to make it easier. And even though the LCR is a close range defensive handgun the sights aren't useless. There are situations where you are point shooting and situations where you are aiming. And by using the sights at the range, you are building muscle memory and trigger control so even your point shooting will be more accurate.
Point shooting
I carry three differant wepons at differant times because of the sights. Each have differant sights depending on situation. My Smith & Wesson SW9VE with Golden Saber 115g HP is my night time choice because of the newly installed Meprolight sights. The Rossi 461 .357 with .38+P 125g Hornady XTP for the daytime. Then the Taurus 738 TCP .380+P with 70g again Golden Saber. This is the point and shoot piece. You use the entire top of the slide as your reference, like a shotgun. Because you are so close that is all you need. I did have to tip the front sight on the Rossi with hi-viz red though. I wear reading glasses and these are the combos that work for me.
I carry three differant wepons at differant times because of the sights. Each have differant sights depending on situation. My Smith & Wesson SW9VE with Golden Saber 115g HP is my night time choice because of the newly installed Meprolight sights. The Rossi 461 .357 with .38+P 125g Hornady XTP for the daytime. Then the Taurus 738 TCP .380+P with 70g again Golden Saber. This is the point and shoot piece. You use the entire top of the slide as your reference, like a shotgun. Because you are so close that is all you need. I did have to tip the front sight on the Rossi with hi-viz red though. I wear reading glasses and these are the combos that work for me.
barneyrw
Member
True, but to reference the sights, it would be nice to be able to see them.
Beach Nut
Member
I've used red auto touch up paint on the front sights on a couple of my
revolvers. It works well, but be sure to apply more than one coat. To
me, it's not worth painting the sights on snubbie revolvers because you
don't have much of a sight picture to start with. Snub nose revolvers are
not designed to be target pistols.
revolvers. It works well, but be sure to apply more than one coat. To
me, it's not worth painting the sights on snubbie revolvers because you
don't have much of a sight picture to start with. Snub nose revolvers are
not designed to be target pistols.
41magsnub
Member
As the OP, night sights were not what I was shooting for. I was aiming for something to contrast the black sights from the black bulls eye.
What I have is my new buckmark that due to some eye limitations I lose the sights in the target frequently. All blacks and dark grays look the same to me. Being a target pistol this is somewhat annoying! I do better with a fiber front sight but would rather have the precision of a traditional sight.
I have both front and rear outline done is testors white model paint which is ok but could be better.
My social work pistols have tritium night sights.
What I have is my new buckmark that due to some eye limitations I lose the sights in the target frequently. All blacks and dark grays look the same to me. Being a target pistol this is somewhat annoying! I do better with a fiber front sight but would rather have the precision of a traditional sight.
I have both front and rear outline done is testors white model paint which is ok but could be better.
My social work pistols have tritium night sights.
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What's the purpose? For a target gun, a thin, black-only blade is great. For fast acquisition and self-defense, not so much.
I painted my LCR sights orange, works great in light but you don't get anything in dim conditions. The XS sight is a terrific solution for a snub.
I painted my LCR sights orange, works great in light but you don't get anything in dim conditions. The XS sight is a terrific solution for a snub.
wally
Member
Whatever you can see best on the front, plain black on the rear. You need to focus on the front sight, anything to look at on the rear is counter-productive.
highorder
Member
My 1911 wears a red front and black rear.
To the OP:
I first painted the whole face of my front sight white. This made it a lot easier to pick up in many cases, but often blended into the background. Then I painted the whole face of my front sight flourescent orange and I find it stands out quite well in almost all lighting conditions. The conditions under which it doesn't work are: with very strong backlighting such as when I'm facing into the sun (during the day), when it is darker than, say, middle twilight (visualize this level of lighting indoors or out).
The brightest flourescent orange paint I've found at our local hobby shop is in the Krylon "Short Cuts" line of miniature spray can hobby paints. Numbers on the label include KSCS050, SCS-050 Glow Orange, and a UPC number of 34504-00050. Don't know what all the numbers mean.
To others interested in painted versus tritium night sights:
I just put a tritium front sight on my gun and painted flourescent orange paint around it, covering the rest of the face of the front sight. Now I can see the front sight under all conditions in which I'm not being blinded by something like sunlight in my eyes during the day, or a bright flashlight or headlights in my eyes during the night.
On the other hand, I am shooting lower than I used to, so I think I'm going to scrape off the orange paint from the top portion of the face of the night sight, which should raise my point of aim. We'll see.
I first painted the whole face of my front sight white. This made it a lot easier to pick up in many cases, but often blended into the background. Then I painted the whole face of my front sight flourescent orange and I find it stands out quite well in almost all lighting conditions. The conditions under which it doesn't work are: with very strong backlighting such as when I'm facing into the sun (during the day), when it is darker than, say, middle twilight (visualize this level of lighting indoors or out).
The brightest flourescent orange paint I've found at our local hobby shop is in the Krylon "Short Cuts" line of miniature spray can hobby paints. Numbers on the label include KSCS050, SCS-050 Glow Orange, and a UPC number of 34504-00050. Don't know what all the numbers mean.
To others interested in painted versus tritium night sights:
I just put a tritium front sight on my gun and painted flourescent orange paint around it, covering the rest of the face of the front sight. Now I can see the front sight under all conditions in which I'm not being blinded by something like sunlight in my eyes during the day, or a bright flashlight or headlights in my eyes during the night.
On the other hand, I am shooting lower than I used to, so I think I'm going to scrape off the orange paint from the top portion of the face of the night sight, which should raise my point of aim. We'll see.
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