Ruger GP100 Front Sight Change

[Pat Riot]

I recently acquired a slightly used Ruger GP100. Being a Smith & Wesson guy I am becoming more and more impressed with my GP 100. I do like it very much…all except for the front sight. Basically when aiming and looking at the sights the front sight is a solid fluorescent chartreuse green. I do not care for it.



I went on a mission to find a better front sight. Unfortunately there aren’t many choices out there. Probably because of supply and demand issues or some other unknown. Even plain black front sights are unavailable.
Then I found the Hi-Viz Lite Wave front sight on the Ruger website for $35 + shipping. I also found the sight on Natchez for $20 + $13 shipping. Then I found it Amazon for $26 + free shipping and I bought it.
I was impressed how easy it was to change the sight just by compressing the front sight plunger and then removed the factory sight and installed the Lite Wave sight.
I am looking forward to trying out these sights now.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Dont see a lot of blued GPs out there these days, nice score!

 

[sabbfan]

I’ve ran that same front sight on a GP100 and a SRH, it works great. Ruger really did get that front sight setup right.

 

[cosh]

I have that sight on a GP-100 also. It seems to sight on target a little faster than the original sight. I'm more used to round dot sights for the front. Green works a little better for my older eyes and astigmatism.

 

[Pat Riot]

I have that sight on a GP-100 also. It seems to sight on target a little faster than the original sight. I'm more used to round dot sights for the front. Green works a little better for my older eyes and astigmatism.

After installing the white pipe or rod I am thinking the green one might be the way to go. For some reason red fiber optic sights and red dots blob out on me if they’re too bright. I have astigmatism as well and pretty crappy eyesight with glasses, so I do understand.
I will say that this sight stands out better for me than the factory sight. I am looking forward to hitting the range with it this week.

 

[cosh]

Pat, that is what happens to me too. I had lasik some years ago but astigmatism came back. Red shifts even on a red dot sight, but green seems 2x better. My glasses are progressives to help reading and remove some astigmatism, but hard to find a sweet spot using them with red sights. Green is better with the glasses too.

Have fun at the range - great way to de-stress!

 

[357 Terms]

Definitely an improvement. I have the same sight on my 4in GP.
I bought a FO/tritium for my 5.5in Redhawk, it fits the GP, although not too much "gap" between the notch in the rear sight and the sides of the front on the 4in GP.
Still an (inexpensive) tritium option.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QM52Y7G/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_5AW6F6RJDD58VMSJF1X2

 

[JDeere]

I have the 5" blued GP and was going to put that sight on her. I decided to try the florescent orange fingernail polish on the stock sight. Worked out well for me. I think I may try a Dawson next as you can order them at different heights.

 

[Pat Riot]

Definitely an improvement. I have the same sight on my 4in GP.
I bought a FO/tritium for my 5.5in Redhawk, it fits the GP, although not too much "gap" between the notch in the rear sight and the sides of the front on the 4in GP.
Still an (inexpensive) tritium option.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QM52Y7G/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_5AW6F6RJDD58VMSJF1X2

I did not come across that front sight in my search. I have that one saved for the future. Thank you.

 

[RugRev]

There are a number of sights but one might need to do an in-depth search. Ruger has a solid blue front sight or did. At one time they offered a set of 4 different color florescent plastic sights and also a gold bead front sight. Mepro makes tritium sights for the GP. At one time XS had tritium front sight for the GP. Some years back Millett offered front sights either in a highly visible bright orange or in white. Gemini Custom offers some front sights including a patridge gold bead.

 

[ThomasT]

The best Ruger sights were the Express sights they used to offer. My bud bought a used Redhawk for $250 many years ago that came with express sights and I really like shooting that gun because of the sights. Me, I just paint mine florescent green and let it go.

Nice gun OP. I have two GPs. A 4" and a 6". I used to shoot the 6" in falling plate matches. I probably have more rounds down the barrel of that gun than any other of my center fire handguns. Well over 5,000 rounds. Most target WC loads. Its as tight as the day I bought it.

 

[Pat Riot]

The best Ruger sights were the Express sights they used to offer. My bud bought a used Redhawk for $250 many years ago that came with express sights and I really like shooting that gun because of the sights. Me, I just paint mine florescent green and let it go.

Nice gun OP. I have two GPs. A 4" and a 6". I used to shoot the 6" in falling plate matches. I probably have more rounds down the barrel of that gun than any other of my center fire handguns. Well over 5,000 rounds. Most target WC loads. Its as tight as the day I bought it.

Thank you.

I did a search for those “express sights”. I could not find anything definitive. What did they look like?

 

[ThomasT]

Just a shallow V for the rear and a small bead for the front. Ruger stopped selling them many years ago. I don't know why either. They sure worked good. And were more precise than the big fat blade that comes on the guns. I thinned my blade on the 4" and like it a lot better.

 

[Pat Riot]

Just a shallow V for the rear and a small bead for the front. Ruger stopped selling them many years ago. I don't know why either. They sure worked good. And were more precise than the big fat blade that comes on the guns. I thinned my blade on the 4" and like it a lot better.

Thank you for that explanation. In one of my searches I found the modern version by XS that look like this and are from Midway USA, but they have none in stock.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ecurity-six-steel-matte-tritium-big-dot-front

I do not care for the express sights like this. I tried them on a J Frame and I tried them on a Glock. They don’t trip my trigger…pun intended.

That new sight I installed appears a tad thinner than the factory blade. The sight picture is better and clearer. I plan to shoot it Friday and then I will know.

 

[sparkyv]

I put HIVIZ sights on many of my handguns. They work really well for me.


What didn't you like about these sights?

at the sights the front sight is a solid fluorescent chartreuse green

 

[Pat Riot]

What didn't you like about these sights?

They blurred out on me. It was like they got hazy and I couldn’t quite tell when they were centered with the rear sight. They looked fine until I focused on the front sight when shooting, then they got blurry. I like contrasts in my sights, I guess.

 

[ThomasT]

Thank you for that explanation. In one of my searches I found the modern version by XS that look like this and are from Midway USA, but they have none in stock.

The Ruger sights had a shallow rear blade like that but a fine bead up front that doesn't cover up the whole deer at 100 yards.

 

[Pat Riot]

Yeah, the “big dot” isn’t that great. I have one on my 327 NG. It took some getting used to.

 

[Tacoma]

It shouldn't be hard to find a factory black ramp front sight for a GP 100. Either new from Ruger or a take off from someone who replaced theirs with a Hiviz. ( Watch Ebay)
Personally, the ability to quickly change that black sight to a FO in 30 seconds for under $30 was one of the big draws to me when I decided to try a GP100. ( You usually don't see that option on a S&W until you get into their Performance Center offerings) My aging eyes demand a nice contrasting sight and the Hiviz did that for me. Yet, I can go back to the black ( or other colors) in seconds if I found a need,,,,Just getting back from a range trip with mine today. Love those sights!

 

[Pat Riot]

An update:

I tried the sight out today with the white pipe and the green pipe in the front sight. I must say that at the indoor range the white pipe made for a very nice sight picture. I like it.

 

[Riomouse911]

Just a shallow V for the rear and a small bead for the front. Ruger stopped selling them many years ago. I don't know why either. They sure worked good. And were more precise than the big fat blade that comes on the guns. I thinned my blade on the 4" and like it a lot better.

My 7.5” .41 Magnum Redhawk came with those sights. Your eyes must be a lot better than mine as I completely lost the front bead whether shooting indoors or out .
I kept the V-notch rear and went with the Hi Viz front. Now my peepers can make out the sights a lot easier.

After installing the white pipe or rod I am thinking the green one might be the way to go. For some reason red fiber optic sights and red dots blob out on me if they’re too bright. I have astigmatism as well and pretty crappy eyesight with glasses, so I do understand.
I will say that this sight stands out better for me than the factory sight. I am looking forward to hitting the range with it this week.

The HiViz sights were stock on my 3” .44 Spl. GP. That front sight works so well for me, like you I bought a HiViz front sight for my latest Ruger, a 4” GP .357. I thought about swapping the pipe from green to white, but the green just seems to work with my eyes so well I left them as-is.

Let us know how it shoots for you when you get a chance to give your GP some exercise.

Stay safe.

 

[ThomasT]

An update:

I tried the sight out today with the white pipe and the green pipe in the front sight. I must say that at the indoor range the white pipe made for a very nice sight picture. I like it.

You can shoot only as well as you can see. I like the white pipe. I like the FOS as long as they aren't so big they cover up too much of the target.

 

[Pat Riot]

Let us know how it shoots for you when you get a chance to give your GP some exercise.

It’s better than before. Or I should say, I am shooting it better than I did before. Of course these are the best targets I shot today, but I am pretty happy with the results.
Load: 158 grain TMJ-FP over 6.1 grains of W244 at 10 yards.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Pat, I've used fiber optics on a number of guns, do like them, and the green serves best. Do a lot of shooting in the Club indoor range; the light is good, but not great.
The white rod is something new; hate to say it, but I can see Glock OEM sights about as well as anything. I've got Dawsons on some SIGs; kinda wish white were one of the choices, but the green rod is good.
Really wish Smith sights were easier to change; only one I've got with the spring load is a 986.
Moon

 

[Tacoma]

I'm going to remember to bring the red and white pipes with me next time out. Today I found myself shooting at some green bulls with a green FO and the results weren't spectacular.