Been shooting revolvers for many years but still have problem with red ramp front sights. Always switch to partridge or gold dot. But they seem popular. To me, it's an elevation problem in the sight picture with the slope and red insert making it difficult to focus on just the front sight. Anyone else have this problem, worked through it?

Oh heck, I haven't used this for a while...



Sights are very subjective. Some people love the red ramp, others, like myself, not so much. All my "gun game" revolvers use a FO front with a black target blade rear. YMMV.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

I, too find the red ramp front sight hard to sight with. I believe Smith has kept the red ramp due to easier withdrawal from a holster. I have converted nearly all my revolvers to a patridge front sight and saw a world of difference.(pun intended).

I didn’t have the problem with red ramps so much until about ten-years ago.

I don’t think the white outline/red ramp was ever really considered to be ideal for precision shooting. It can be very good against a dark background, as in shooting at a black silhouette target, but against a light background the standard black blade rear with black Patridge front is superior to anything else, for me. I’ve been considering changing out the red ramp on a couple of my S&Ws but haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s not really a job for a hobbyist.

I always picked up glare from red ramps when shooting, but I like the look of them on a gun. White outline rear sights are a little distracting, but they also look good. The cleanest sight picture, in my opinion, comes from the Patridge front sight and plain black rear sight. Of course, one could always own two versions of a model -- one for shooting and one for fondling.

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Creation Continues

I also prefer the patridge. I have a couple red ramps that I put a white spec on the ramp about the size of a small pin head to help me focus on it.

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Mike, AmVets Member, Navy Vet

It's getting harder to see as I get older! With any kind of shadow or poor light conditions I can't see black on black sights anymore. Under those conditions 3 dot or F.O. are a huge help now.
My 627 and 629 have F.O. front with the standard rear notch. I keep thinking about ordering a 2 dot F.O. rear to see how it works.

Nobody running gold dots up front?

I think it definitely is an age thing. I'm no longer a good shooter with red ramps, Partridges or gold beads. My Dad has a lever gun with Williams Fire Sights...which my aging eyes absolutely love. I'm going to research and see if I can get a similar set to install on my snubbies. At snubby range, Fire Sights are plenty accurate.

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Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

I too have the exact same issue. I won't even buy anything any more unless it has either a patridge front sight or a pinned front sight. On my semi-auto pistols I have installed front and rear fiber optic sights. I've turned down a couple of pretty nice deals over the last 5 years or so just because of the front sight.

Same problem as my eyes have aged, not to mention no hair and hard of hearing. I have found that the sight black spray in a can works well, and cheaper than changing out the barrel.

Never had a handgun with red ramp sights. All were black or silver ramp or white dot.I have, since the 60’s painted mine with Testers yellow enamel model paint or put on night sights.
I agree with above statements that rear sight should be black.
If I had a red ramp sight, I would grove the red plastic part (So the paint had a good base to adhere) and paint yellow or some other color of my liking.
If it turns out I didn’t like it I would then replace with a tritium front insert.
Just painted 2 new revolvers with yellow front sights. Each person has his/ her own needs. Some good ideas above. JMO

Be SAFE and shoot often!

The best sights I have in my accumulation are on a CZ SP01 Shadow. It has a red fiber optic front and plain black rear. All my J frames have about 2/3 of the front sight painted with a base of white and a couple overcoats of flourescent yellow. That is for up close and personal ranges. For a target revolver I would want black Patridge front and plain black rear blade.

The red ramps are no problem for me and I like the white outline rear. However I have color blindness issues for reds and greens. So I may see them differently than most do. I like gold bead fronts but not enough to change over.

Well, at least I'm not alone. My 3" 686p will probably keep the red ramp due to the snag free design, but my 6" 629 will be getting a new front sight installed. Most likely a gold dot. I just don't like the way FO look on the gun.

Have you tried different colors? I prefer the patridge for precision, but have found that as I get older my eyes work better with a green sight. I have one of the brownells kits to pour new inserts and the last one I did, I tried green. I like my green dot scope better than red, so I gave it a whirl. It much better at least for me. You can always paint the red insert with different colors to see if any work better for you.

I too prefer a patridge set up. Glare off those red plastic inserts really seems to bother me. Also, if the insert gets dinged the problem is even worse.

I wish I could post pictures of what I have done on two of my guns (one of my summer projects is to figure out how to switch over from Photobucket to another hosting site.) On both my M66 and pre 29, I fabricated a little piece of steel that went into the dovetail that was originally the insert. In effect, I turned a ramp sight into a patridge.

Curiously, a plain black serrated ramp doesn't bother me

All of my handguns are potential carry guns so everyone has the same sight picture: red front (either installed or painted) and black rear (flat black covering white outlines or white dots). However, the red front is becoming harder to see with age. When using targets with red centers, I cover that area of the target with masking tape.

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Metro Man

Just for consideration:
I always preferred the red ramp white outline.
Black sights are useless in the field for hunting or SD as I could not see them on dark targets even when I was in my 20s.
Patridge sights are good for target shooting on a light colored target.
You may consider some fiber optic sights or tritium night sights with a outline on the front sight.