617 sight change

JGH · #1 10-18-2012, 10:21 PM

I am giving serious thought to changing out the sights on my 617. My eyes are to the point that I have alot of trouble with the stock sights.

I am leaning toward's the Hi-Viz sights. My concern is that this changes out only the front sight. My thoughts are that the rear blade will not be the best match up with the new Hi-Viz front sight. Does anyone offer a matching rear blade so that both the front and rear sight are more "suited" to one another. For instance, on my Ruger Mark III...the rear sight is a V sight with a vertical line in the center. This works wonderfully with the fiber optic tube on the front. I am open to any suggestions on various sights. I just need something that stands out like a fiber optic sight. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

gr7070 · #2 10-18-2012, 11:43 PM

The 617 rear blade sucks. No idea why they use that one.

I swapped out the front for a .25" SDM Super Sight and replaced the rear sight blade for the same sight blade on the 686. Works great.

AveragEd · #3 10-19-2012, 08:49 AM

JGH, are you an olde phart like me - 65 or so? And do you wear corrective lenses? If so, changing sights won't help nearly as much as changing glasses.

A few years ago, I started shooting my handguns again after many years of shooting only long guns and found that I could no longer focus on the sights with my regular bifocal glasses. But while shooting one day, I tried it with my glasses upside down and the sights came into much sharper focus while looking at them through my reading Rx. So I bought a pair of drug store readers that made my sights crystal-clear. Unfortunately, they also made the target look like a blurry football standing on end.

I write for Shotgun Sports Magazine and mentioned this in a column as kind of a joke on myself. An eye doctor from New York sent me an email saying that he thought he could make glasses that would allow me to see both the sights AND the target clearly. I really doubted that but sent him the information he wanted - my current prescriptions, the distances at which I usually shot at paper targets and some more. Over the next few months, he sent me several frames and numerous lenses to try and report back. We were sort of doing a long-distance "which is better, 1 or 2?" test. Lens #5 was the winner - I really can see both the sights and the target with about 90% clarity up to 50 yards! They don't replace regular glasses, as beyond that distance, I feel eye strain.

Your gun is equipped with the sights that the vast majority of good bullseye shooters use. Visit your gun club when it is hosting a bullseye league shoot and see for yourself. Think about it - if those glow-worm sights offered more precise aiming ability, all match guns would come with them. About a year ago, I bought a fairly expensive match-grade 1911 and it came with the good old standard target package of a black Partridge front and black notch rear.

Colored sights are great for hunting or other uses in less than ideal lighting conditions. But in good light, nothing beats what you already have. So why not invest some time in yourself and your hobby to see if a doctor near you can help you shoot better? If you can't find a doctor who thinks he can do what the one who helped me did, I will be glad to provide his contact information.

Ed

TSQUARED · #4 10-19-2012, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JGH

I am giving serious thought to changing out the sights on my 617. My eyes are to the point that I have alot of trouble with the stock sights.

I am leaning toward's the Hi-Viz sights. My concern is that this changes out only the front sight. My thoughts are that the rear blade will not be the best match up with the new Hi-Viz front sight. Does anyone offer a matching rear blade so that both the front and rear sight are more "suited" to one another. For instance, on my Ruger Mark III...the rear sight is a V sight with a vertical line in the center. This works wonderfully with the fiber optic tube on the front. I am open to any suggestions on various sights. I just need something that stands out like a fiber optic sight. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Before you go through the expense of changing the sights try painting the upper top half of the front sight with fluorescent orange acrylic model paint. It helped me a lot!

JGH · #5 10-19-2012, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AveragEd

JGH, are you an olde phart like me - 65 or so? And do you wear corrective lenses? If so, changing sights won't help nearly as much as changing glasses.

A few years ago, I started shooting my handguns again after many years of shooting only long guns and found that I could no longer focus on the sights with my regular bifocal glasses. But while shooting one day, I tried it with my glasses upside down and the sights came into much sharper focus while looking at them through my reading Rx. So I bought a pair of drug store readers that made my sights crystal-clear. Unfortunately, they also made the target look like a blurry football standing on end.

I write for Shotgun Sports Magazine and mentioned this in a column as kind of a joke on myself. An eye doctor from New York sent me an email saying that he thought he could make glasses that would allow me to see both the sights AND the target clearly. I really doubted that but sent him the information he wanted - my current prescriptions, the distances at which I usually shot at paper targets and some more. Over the next few months, he sent me several frames and numerous lenses to try and report back. We were sort of doing a long-distance "which is better, 1 or 2?" test. Lens #5 was the winner - I really can see both the sights and the target with about 90% clarity up to 50 yards! They don't replace regular glasses, as beyond that distance, I feel eye strain.

Your gun is equipped with the sights that the vast majority of good bullseye shooters use. Visit your gun club when it is hosting a bullseye league shoot and see for yourself. Think about it - if those glow-worm sights offered more precise aiming ability, all match guns would come with them. About a year ago, I bought a fairly expensive match-grade 1911 and it came with the good old standard target package of a black Partridge front and black notch rear.

Colored sights are great for hunting or other uses in less than ideal lighting conditions. But in good light, nothing beats what you already have. So why not invest some time in yourself and your hobby to see if a doctor near you can help you shoot better? If you can't find a doctor who thinks he can do what the one who helped me did, I will be glad to provide his contact information.

Ed

Ed,

No...I am only 37, but I have a 2 eye disease's that are robbing me of my sight and also eye movement control. Believe it or not, shooting is therapy for my eyes...so I am going to do it until its no longer safe...which hopefully will be a long time from now.

I have read many others state what you have stated above. I am now expert shooter for sure. I just found the FO sights on the Ruger Mark III to be so nice I thought it would be equally as nice to have something similiar on the 617. I will play around some more...and do more research.

Thanks for the reply.

lscocoa · #6 10-19-2012, 02:59 PM

I put a HI vis on my 617 and I really like it , I'm 55 . I also painted the front of my m34 with a flourescent green which works pretty good , too . As far as the rear goes order a white outline blade from S&W on their website.

AveragEd · #7 10-19-2012, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lscocoa

As far as the rear goes order a white outline blade from S&W on their website.

I think it might be safer to buy a rear sight assembly from someone on here, eBay, GunBroker or anywhere that permits you to see the sight you will be receiving. I read a horror story somewhere - it might have been in another thread on here - about a guy who ordered a white-outline blade from S&W and the white on the one he received was so faint it almost couldn't be seen at arm's length. He called only to find that those blades were then on back-order, so he waited several weeks or more for a replacement and it was exactly the same.

I bought a blade kit and the tools to change them some time ago but never used them - I bought complete sights instead.

Ed

jkc · #8 10-19-2012, 08:41 PM

I put a Hi-Viz on my 617 a few years back, and really liked it. Regrettably, I've given up, and added a Burris FastFire, instead.

gr7070 · #9 10-19-2012, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AveragEd

I read a horror story somewhere - it might have been in another thread on here - about a guy who ordered a white-outline blade from S&W and the white on the one he received was so faint it almost couldn't be seen at arm's length.

It's something like an $8 sight blade. Not sure how horrifying it would be to receive an $8 blade one doesn't like??? Meh.

Personally, I put the blade on backwards - the white outline facing forward. I wanted an all black rear blade. Anything taking your focus off the front sight and putting it on the back sight is a poor design when shooting action sports.

sodacan · #10 10-19-2012, 09:21 PM

I bought a used 617 that had a hi-viz front sight mounted. I really like it in my dimly lit indoor range. I have the original front sight blade, but have not even considered putting it back on.

Nightowl · #11 10-21-2012, 12:11 AM

I have tried the HiViz, white dot, and gold bead front sights on my 627. The beauty of the interchangeable front sight system, you know! These show a round area on the sight being put in a square outline rear sight. have found them nice to see, but not as accurate as the old black Patridge front sight and regular rear sight. The only time I have found it an advantage is in rapid fire competition in low light indoor ranges where speed to reacquire is a little more of a priority than exacting accuracy. For me the HiViz sight is not as good as the gold bead. Just my personal experience. Your eyes may see things differently.