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S&W-Smithing Maintenance, Repair, and Enhancement of Smith & Wesson and Other Firearms.


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Old 06-12-2018, 09:31 PM
Blueinterceptor Blueinterceptor is offline
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Default Front sight paint

What kind of paint is good for coloring the front sight but is removable
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Old 06-12-2018, 10:02 PM
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Almost any acrylic paint from Walmart. Start w/a base coat of white then add whatever color suits your fancy.
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Old 06-12-2018, 10:41 PM
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There have been lots of threads on sight painting in case you haven't searched yet.

I've used Testors enamel paint with good results. As Old cop said, a white base coat really helps. The paint came off easily with either acetone/nail polish remover or denatured alcohol. My sights were stainless steel; I'm not sure what effect, if any, either of those solvents might have on a blued finish. Hopefully someone with experience will chime in.

Once you find the color you like, clear nail hardening polish does a good job of protecting it from wear, but is still removable with the above solvents.
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Old 06-12-2018, 11:24 PM
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Nail polish.use white for the first coat.Acetone will take it off
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Old 06-12-2018, 11:40 PM
kthom kthom is offline
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What Old cop said, and the hobby stores have this paint as well. I have used both enamel and acrylic and haven't found one to be much different from the other. Done correctly (complete degrease before application of paint and with a white base coat first and allowed to dry and cure well before a second coat is applied) both last about the same time. Mine usually last a good long while, but I clean the old paint off and refresh them occasionally which give a bit of a brighter color again.

Make sure the paint isn't too thick when applying it. You don't want a gob of paint there, just a nice level coat that matches the level of the sight face. You can do pretty good work applying the white paint base coat with a sharp tooth pick which will allow you to make sure the paint gets completely down in the grooves that are on many sight faces. A very small detail brush works much better than a brush that is too large. You can always add a bit more paint, but if you get too much, you'll have to wipe it off and start over!
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Old 06-13-2018, 07:01 PM
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The BEST I have found is Testor's model paint in the 1 ounce bottles. Sold in hobby shops like Michael's for about $2.50 and comes in about any color you can desire!

Clean all oil and solvents from front sight with Alcohol just prior to application and don't touch with your fingers! Use a wooden Toothpick to apply 2 lighter coats rather than one heavy one. Some apply white as an undercoat then orange, red, yellow, green etc. as a top coat, but I have never found the need to. Allow 24 hours between coats and trim excess after it dries with a new razor blade.

Lasts for years!!
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Old 06-13-2018, 07:15 PM
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I was standing in the check out line at Wal*Mart one Sunday morning.
Just me, a bottle of white nail polish, a bottle of neon orange nail polish and Betty at the buttons.

Some guy walks up to be next in line and I get that crawly feeling on the back of my neck. I glance over at him and he has this big grin on his face.

I felt obligated but before I could get the first word pushed out he says "painting your sights?".

I told him getting old ain't easy and we both laughed.
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Old 06-14-2018, 06:47 AM
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In the old days I'd cut a Dovetail in the front sight like the factory installed ones have and use the insert kit sold at Brownell's. I stopped doing that years ago because I wanted the process reversible! I found out that what works while shooting indoors does not always work outdoors. For me at least, a painted front sight that shows up terrifically indoors fades to gray outside in the sunlight and is actually worse than the standard Factory blue sight. So now there are pistols that I mainly shoot outdoors that I have removed all paint from. That option is not available on a front sight has been cut and a permanent insert has been installed - so that is why I discovered the Testor's paint.
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Old 06-14-2018, 11:08 AM
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I also use the Testor's model paint, and I have found that for me, the florescent green paint works best both indoors and outdoors. If I think it's beginning to "fade", I just redo the paint job. The green color seems to be brighter and more easily seen for me if there is any light at all.
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Old 06-14-2018, 12:12 PM
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A easy to find, inexpensive , flat white is Bic White-Out correction fluid.
Use as a flat white base coat or all by itself as a white color.
The pen applicator is very easy to use, if careful you can do dots with it.

I was going to use it as a base coat for a color but found the flat white worked very well. I keep a pen in my shooting box but so far haven't had to do any touch ups.
Gary
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Old 06-14-2018, 01:03 PM
M E Morrison M E Morrison is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old cop View Post
Almost any acrylic paint from Walmart. Start w/a base coat of white then add whatever color suits your fancy.
that's the way I do it - the white base coat is pretty important too.
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Old 06-14-2018, 08:35 PM
Blueinterceptor Blueinterceptor is offline
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Thanks for the input
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