You guys will probably get tired of me but while I was outside today taking pictures I noticed the rear sight of my 29-2 4" looked weird. I have 4 other Smiths with the W/O rear sight but they are all in a "U" shape. This one has just 1 single line.

I am fairly new to Smiths so excuse me if this is a dumb question but is this sight factory?

I'm no sight expert but I do not recall ever seeing one like that.

Looks like the rear sight blade is not factory.

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First off, nice gun you have there!

Many people don't care for the white outline and find target acquisition much easier with the rear sight being plain black. I may be wrong but I believe your sight is a S&W factory made sight in plain black which could have been ordered that way originally or changed at some time in the past. If you want the complete white outline, they are available for purchase and are easy to change. One question for you ~ Does it look like someone may have just "blacked out" the right and left white verticals?

If it makes you feel any better, I just bought a brand new S&W 500 magnum that has a "very weak" white outline on the rear sight. I spotted that as I examined the gun in my LGS before purchase but, like many others, find it to be much better on my eye when aiming.

Does it glow in the dark ? It almost appears (can't tell from the photo) that it may be some sort of luminescent material applied as a bar under the aperture ?

The upright bars are not blacked out just the 1 single bottom line.
It doesn't "glow" and in the picture it actually looks like a sticker so I just got it back out of the safe to reexamine it.

Sorry if this is a bad explanation but I will try to explain. It appears to have been cut into the rear sight a white line put in the cut then filled with a clear coat.

The standard rear sight for a Model 29 is a white outline although I have heard of a couple that were ordered with a plain rear sight blade. It appears as though your 29-2 had a plain rear sight blade (either original or a replacement) and someone altered it to the configuration it is in now. You can always have a white outline installed. I have never seen a factory sight like the one on your 29-2.

Bill

IMO, it appears that it was a std W/O blade and through cleaning, the "uprights" have disappeared. As Doc stated, easy fix to put new one on.

Thanks for the information. I think I put a new factory style W/O on it and keep this one for future reference.