In shaded or cloudy conditions I have trouble seeing the factory red front sight. Other shooters have advised using a 'green' front sight insert. What would you recommend installing? Can I do the swap myself? Thank you

If your front sight blade is pinned, it's fairly easy. Drive the pin out, put the new one in, mark the hole and drill it on a drill press. You 'can' drill it while it's in the gun (clamp it so it doesn't move), but you risk opening the hole in the ramp and ending up with a loose pin. Similar, you can drill the blade by hand (again, clamped in something), but you have to be sure you are drilling at 90 degrees (insert temperature joke here) or the pin holes won't match up.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

I have a Dawson Precision front fiber optic, I still prefer red over the green, they will provide you with both red and green so you can change if you wish to do so. The red seems to have more contrast. They offer front sights for the pinned S&W.
Karl

While my 4" 629-2 MR was at MagNaPort for an action job and porting,
I had them put a High-Viz green tube on the front.
I am happy with it but will admit I have never hunted at twilight with it.
Indoors or during the day I see it much better than the red or black ramps.
The 396-1 came from the factory with sights like these.

Attached Images

MountainRevolver500GripsR800.jpg (263.8 KB, 20 views)

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Since I'm not a fan of FO sights, personally I'd go with a gold bead like from SDM.
Gold Bead and Tactical Target

Gold bead works great too.
I got the factory GB and V-notch when I got my Redhawk.
Then I put a vertical white line on the rear notch.
(I put the dot on the 396 rear as well).
This is very much like the old double rifle sights.

Attached Images

	396-1HiVizFrontSight.jpg (26.9 KB, 27 views)
	396-1RearVnotchWhiteDot.jpg (39.8 KB, 29 views)
	RedhawkFrontBead.jpg (28.8 KB, 28 views)
	RedhawkRearVnotchWhiteLine.jpg (38.9 KB, 29 views)

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NEMO
"Everything 44"