Where to get Tritium for Armson OEG sight?

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Jefe73

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I have two Armson OEG sights- one never had tritium insert/ the other the tritium went dim long time ago.

Where can I get the tritium replenished or buy correct size tritium insert to fix?

Armson dont do it. Trijicon dont do it etc.

Anyone with some current info?

Thanks for any assistance.
 
Just got a reply from a place called "dragonfly" something or other.

They used to replenish tritium also. No longer.

Any assistance appreciated.
 
Got response from Susan at Tooltech. No do tritrium replacement.

Also received another response from Forrest at Armson . They are working on licensing to replace tritium in their sights.
 
Never found anyone that will replace the tritium...

As is, its OK for daylight, but next to useless at night.
 
Can anyone post a photo of the OEG's tritium lamp or vial?
 
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Good question. What's involved in removing the vial? Is it a big deal? Is it legal, out of curiosity? Or is is simply a matter of a screw or two and popping it out?
 
Q: How does an "O.E.G." sight work?

A: An "Occluded Eye Gunsight" works because of the brain's ability to "blend" the red dot in the sight with the object that you are sighting at. This is a function of "binocular vision" that we posses. It is important to note that both eyes remain wide open while sighting allowing for maximum peripheral vision.

Q: Do the Armson O.E.G. sight requires batteries?

A: No. Armson sights use a light collecting element, and do not use batteries.

Q: Do Armson O.E.G. sights contain Tritium?

A: No. Most older Armson O.E.G. sights do contain Tritium and we are working to be able to provide that option again in the near future.

Q: Can you replace the Tritium element in my older Armson sight if it becomes dim?

A: We are currently unable to do Tritium replacement but hope to have that service available soon.

Q: How durable are Armson O.E.G. Sights?

A: Armson Sights are designed and built to exacting Military standards, and are considered virtually indestructable under normal operating conditions.

Q: How are O.E.G. sights "sighted in"?

A: The O.E.G. sight must be used with both eyes open at all times. The user must concentrate on the target not the sight when aiming.

Before loading the weapon or zeroing the sight, practice raising the weapon and placing the spot on the target until it can be done quickly every time. This will save time and ammunition when zeroing.

ZEROING PROCEDURE:

The small screw in the center of each adjuster must be loosened slightly until the adjuster can be turned by hand (this is important, as the plastic adjustment knowb can be stripped).

Only the user must fire the weapon when zeroing. The sight cannot be zeroed by one person for another to use.

Stage 1: Rest the weapon and line up the iron sights with the target, then without moving the weapon observe the position of the spot in relation to the target. Move the adjusters until the spot is also on the target.

Stage 2: At a range of approximately 25 yards (depending upon weapon type, and the expected range at which the target will be engaged), raise the weapon, place the spot on the target and fire immediately. The sight is then adjusted up, down and left or right until the hits are in the center of the target. The weapon may be moved to 50 or 100 yards for final zeroing if required. When zeroing is complete, retighten the locking screw in the center of the adjusters.

Dry practice without firing is very beneficial and improves skill without using ammunition.

Remember you must fire immediately the spot is on the target.
 
Trijicon does do it, but it may be only their own stuff. I contacted them last year just to find out for when mine do go downhill. Here is their reply:

"Good Afternoon ***** Thank you for your patronage of Trijicon products. Currently, we charge $54 to re-lamp the typical 3 dot sight Trijicon Night Sight set. Reflex is between $150 and $200 depending on model and ACOG is between $250 and $450 depending on model. Service for any of our sighting systems is pending inspection and please use the following link to get return authorization. http://www.trijicon.com/rma.cfm SincerelyEric LockhartTrijicon Customer Service Rep1-800-338-0563 x148www.trijicon.com"

I can't remember the other places that do it, but there are a few. I was looking for lamps for a SUIT and finally found them... ended up not getting the SUIT and thus not the lamps.

US Nuclear, I think, makes most of the tritium used. Tritium is some nasty stuff, and so you don't want to mess with it yourself. Very poisonous. The lamps are sealed glass vials, usually with a manufactured gemstone insert for color. But finding the lamps are easy. Installing them is the problem.

You could try calling US Nuclear and talking to their distribution people. They sell everything from bomb grade fuel all the way down to little nuclear "souveniers" that have a speck of your choice of radioactive element that can be measured with a meter (intended for physics classes). Of course the bomb grade stuff is heavily regulated, the souveniers are exempt.

Sorry I couldn't help more, but it has been a year. If you look around you will find the lamps, though it may be difficult to find someone who can safely replace them. Depending on the sight, it may be cheaper to replace the whole thing. Trijicon charges half what a new iron sight would cost --imagine what it would cost to replace them by someone other than the manufacturer? The only one that looks feasible is the ACOG --$250+ to replace tritium.
 
Very poisonous.

No, not "poisonous". Radioactive and easily absorbed and not easily excreted by the body. It distributes throughout the body and continues to emit ionizing beta radiation causing damage by occasionally breaking DNA chains that may result in cancer until it decays away. It is nasty stuff in that once in the body it can cause cancer.

The beta emitted by the H3 interacts with a phosphorescent chemical in the vial to produce light, not a gemstone. The color is specific to the phosphor.
 
Trijicon only does it for their current products.

Trijicon told me that they do NOT replace tritium in the Armson OEG sight.
 
Can anyone post a photo of the OEG's tritium lamp or vial?



The top photo shows the "heart" of the OEG. It is a cast acrylic assembly, with a slender rod on the forward end. A black plastic cap incorporating a 0.1mm "pinhole" aperture is pressed onto the rear of the assembly.

I pried off the black plastic cap (and accidentally snapped the slender acrylic rod) - the bottom photo shows the rear view of the assembly. The assembly contains a pair of rectangular tritium lamps, flanking the central axis. Each lamp is approximately 6mm long, 2mm wide, and 1mm thick.
I tried to dig the lamps out with a small sewing needle, but I only managed to dislodge small chunks of debris (visible in the photo). The lamps are evidently glued in place with some type of flexible adhesive, similar to RTV silicone cement.

The only practical way to refurbish the OEG with new tritium is to replace this entire assembly. Since Armson cannot do it at this time, we have to fabricate our own. Not easy, but it can be done.
 
It's probably not cost effective to replace the lamps from a business perspective. Someone would have to get a distribution license from the NRC and be subject to all that entails. Most of the tritium items I've had to deal with (mostly exit signs) end up going to Canada for reclamation.
 
Here's what I came up with. I tried both red and green acrylic, and decided that green was better. The little tritium lamp has a greenish glow, and the red acrylic did not transfer the light very well. Comparing the two colors side-by-side in the dark, the "green dot" design seemed to be twice as bright as the "red dot" design.... that would translate into an extra ten years of service life before the tritium lamp needs to be replaced again.




The tritium lamp slides into a hole drilled transversely through the acrylic rod, about 3mm forward from the rear end. The aluminum collar is epoxied to the acrylic rod.
The black plastic base incorporates a 0.2mm "pinhole" aperture, which provides an 8 MOA aiming dot.
 
Excellent work! Reticle pics?

I couldn't find any way to manually control the focus on my digital camera, so I'll probably have to buy some film and drag out the old 35mm SLR.

Are you familiar with the Armson OEG? There's not much to the reticle. The factory OEG displays a 4-MOA red dot against a field of black. My refurbished OEG displays an 8-MOA green dot against a field of black.

EDIT - Update - I learned a little more about my digital camera today :)

Here are two pics of the reticle - on the left, how the reticle looks out in the sunlight, kind of a yellowish green - and on the right, how the reticle looks in a pitchblack room, illuminated by the tritium.

 
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Hey ofitg,
Where did you get the parts for your custom build?
I'm a pretty handy guy when it comes to modifications but
would appreciate any details you can provide.

Thanks,
Brian
 
Brian, the base started off as a short length of 1/2" ABS rod. The aperture was constructed from 10-mil polystyrene sheet. A short piece of 1/4" brass tube holds the aperture in place. The aluminum collar/flange started off as a short length of 1/2" aluminum rod, and the acrylic piece was turned down from 1/4" fluorescent green acrylic rod.

I've got the materials here, and I'd be happy to build this for you, if you can reimburse me for my time..... takes about four hours with my little hobby lathe. If you want to pursue this, we should probably take it to PMs instead of the public forum.

I cannot supply the 1.5x5.5mm tritium lamp. Those things can be hard to find. I was lucky to find a couple on eBay several months ago, and you might want to check out the link posted by dprice3844444 above.
 
I just received one of ofitg's adapters and was very impressed. His solution to this problem is elegant and practical. It was easy to install and I like the fact that with this adapter, the user can service the lamp themselves. Now I am kicking myself for passing on an old OEG at the last show. I will definitely be buying more of his adapters in the future!
 
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