Hi,
I bought a 9mm Shield a couple of days ago. I just cleaned and inspected it and found that part of the paint on one of the rear sights was missing. So, I need to repaint it. What would be the best paint to use for whiteness?
Thanks
Jerry

I use Testors enamel model paint in the small jars for sight paint.
I have white and bright red for front sights and flat back for rears.


I shoot a 9mm Shield in IDPA BUG and consider the white dot rears to be an abomination for fast accurate shooting. I spend too much time looking at the rear sights already to want any white or color on them.
I shot the pistol first in the classifier with stock sights and then with blacked out rears, with a significantly better score.
Your gun, your choice.

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Science plus Art

Same as my new 9mm Shield. Left dot is almost empty.
Home Depot white appliance epoxy paint apply with tooth pick. Do both so paint matches.
Testors is good too but comes off too easily.

I use Do-It vinyl paint. It is intended for metal fishing lures. It
is tuff stuff, thins with acetone. For replacing dots I put a artist
brush handle in pencil sharpener and turn it to slightly smaller
than wanted dot size. Just pick up a drop of paint and touch it
to spot and lift straight away- perfect dot. Cabelas and fishing
Suppliers have this paint, all colors. I have enamels, finger nail
Polish, Testors- found Do-it the best. I have lots of experience
with dots from putting eyes on hundreds of jigs and lures. Try
your hand at it on a piece of paper, easy to get the hang of.

Testors also makes a fluorescent model paint -- and it's really very visible in lower light and bright light conditions. If you can find it -- only big hobby shops are likely to carry it, locally -- it would be worth a try. A kit of 5 colors (mix small amounts to get the shade you want) can be found on Amazon. Enough for years!

Amazon $12.99 for all three colors.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

I have used these and works great, easy to use. The local Cabela's here in AZ carries it also.

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DAV Life Member

One of the first things I did was get rid of the 3 white dots on my new Shield 45.
Flouresent orange up front, and black rears.
Nail polish from Walmart, a buck or two a bottle. I've also used a Sharpie to back out the rears.

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I was thinking Red for front sight & Green for the rears. Anyone have any ideas? 🇺🇸

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the responses. I'll have to try blacking out the rear sights and see what that does to my sight picture. I haven't fired this gun yet so we shall see.
Jerry

10-8 rear blacked out sights with Traffic Cone bright orange nail polish from Walmart. It pops and works fantastic for my aging eyes still. Dab with a toothpick and done.

I heard that Sharpie makes a paint pen that works well. We have some somewhere in the house. The sights fall out of the M&Ps eventually. I usually use nail polish.

My eyes at getting old. I found Walmart green glow paint. Work so well I did all my handguns. Wife really liked it, did hers also. Any light behind it really makes it stand out. About the same color as Hi Viz and a whole lot cheaper.

Testor's model paint is cheap, tough and easy to find. Clean the sight with alcohol, roll on a thin undercoat of white first to make the top color brighter. Then a top coat of red/green, etc. Use a toothpick as the applicator as you want just enough to cover the sight, not fill the groves.
Lots of previous discussion here on this topic.

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Dave

Houlton, got any pics of the product you used? I've been thinking about doing something like this. You are the 1st I've heard of actually doing it. I would like to know exactly what you used and how you applied it.

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Shield 45, SW40VE, 586, 1000

I did the same to both my 9mm and 45 Shield.

I also used acrylic paint. I painted front green, rear red and put some glow in the dark over the green. I dont use the glow in the dark though, doesnt work well after a day or 2.

I will change the rear sights to orange or maybe even a yellowish orange, i do not like the rear sights red

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Price Comparison Made Easy - FindSimilar.com

If you are going to do it,do it right.

On stock "3 white dot" sights i leave the rear as-is but color in the front with bright orange/red nail polish. That stuff can last a long time, and it gives me something to browse for when out shopping with the wife when she's in stores like Ulta, etc..

That's pretty expensive and if you try it you'll learn that it can be awkward to use. (There are a number of products out there that do basically the same thing.) Be warned, too, that you need to keep the bottle tightly closed, as the stuff can dry out quickly.

Phosphorescent paint must be charged by light before use, and it's meant to be a cheaper version of a night sight. Ot might be okay in lower lighting conditions, like the fluorescent paint, but using it as a night sight can be a problematic -- as charging it (maybe with a flashlight) can give away your location or slow you down -- and other ways of charging it may affect your night vision.

For double the amount you'd spend to get that paint, you can just about get a set of night sights -- and you can certainly get a tritium front sight for not much more than the cost of the paint.

I've been there and done that, and I'd rather have night sights. If I don't have night sights on a gun, I use fluorescent paint. If you just want a vivid sight picture, a light-colored nail polish works well, too.

This product is a copy of Superluminova BGW9 which is used in tool watch divers at only $13.48 a vile.The BGW9 runs $87.00,so this copy is a bargain.These products used on Dive watches have been around many years before night sites,or tubes used in watches.The life span on the expensive BGW9 is lifetime,and glows brighter than night sites.You do have to charge by exposing it to light,but will hold a 8 hr charge when done.Really no more difficult than any other paint to use.And will be impervious to most solvents as Deep Blue watch brand company owner Stan Batise has proved in a video showing the durability of it on a bezel.

re: Phosphorescent paint...

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Colt 45 M1911/S&W M&P Shield 9

Note: When I said, "that's pretty expensive" I was reacting to the price of the bigger kit, not the cost of a single vial. If a single vial will work for you, the price is reasonable.

I've used something called Moon Glow which seemed to be a very similar product. It's great when fresh, but I never found the glow to last long -- not long enough for carry at night, for example. (An hour at initial brightness would be better than what I found in the product I used.) How long does the product above need to be charged (and at what intensity?)

If things go bump in the night, you're going to have to find a way to keep the lights charged so the sights are ready when you need them, as you can't really charge them when you need them. That was the drawback I discovered when using this type of material. If you can get around that, you've got a relatively inexpensive option. It will work in ways the fluorescent paint won't work.

I'll continue to use tritium sights or my Streamlight (TLR-2) LIGHT and LASER for home defense. I've got tritium sights on one of my carry guns and if I need one for night-time carry, that's the one I use.

This product is an alternative product designed to compete with the Swiss made Superluminova. So if it was used in a watch sitting on your dresser all day exposed to sunlight or indoor lighting.Then it will glow all through the night until sunrise where it is just starting to fade Quickly after 8 hours.There Would be no trouble using your gun at 3 am on an intruder. The only way nights site can be better was if you where lining in a mine underground in complete darkness.Its actually amazing in this day and age the the gun industry has not already jumped all over this.

For my M&P, I decided to use Sharpies. Black on the rear and red on the front. Two months, several range/training days, and several hundred rounds later, I find no need to touch up the dots. Starting with Sharpies gives you the option to try different colors/techniques before applying the more permanent paint.

I won't be using paint, but will install new sights instead. Black rear, fiber optic front. Smith & Wesson Sights

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O L James III
CPT Army Ret FA

I use nail polish. It comes in very bright colors, lasts a long time and has a high viscosity that drys down to a tight edge on the sights. Use white first and then the neon color you want. I do get weird looks when I check out at the drug store. My wife doesn't use the colors I like.

It sounds great for a watch, and it may have its uses for a firearm, but I can't (or won't) leave a handgun out for exposure to the sun (or a light source) all day just so that it will be ready for use at night. It'll either be in a holster while being carried, or locked in a small (a bit bigger-than-a-cigar-box) locked gun safe during the day. I have a safe like that bolted to the floor in my bedroom closet for my home-defense gun. My home defense gun is in a bedside (partially-opened) drawer during the night, and locked away during the day.

I also have other carry guns, and if I feel a need to carry during the day, the home-defense gun stays in the closet safe. It would probably be possible to use a small LED light in that gun safe -- with an extension cord to a nearby outlet. The light and safet wouldn't get hot, and also wouldn't present a fire risk. (But, as I said earlier, I have a Streamlight Light/Laser unit mounted on the home defense gun.)

Note: I also keep two sets of relatively inexpensive electronic ear muffs in another drawer of that bedside table -- a pair for me and a pair for my wife. No sense protecting ourselves while simultaneously (possibly irreparably) damaging our hearing if I have to actually fire a weapon inside the house. The muffs also amplify sounds, and that could be helpful in a dark house.

I know you don't understand this product,but you could keep it locked up all day in the dark and charge it under a strong light for just ten minutes.This will keep a charge for 8 hrs throughout the night.This topic is on paint for sites ( not alternative sites ) and this is why I submitted this product for the OP to consider.I think any reasonable shooter can see the value of spending another ten bucks on this over a tester.

You're right about me not knowing THIS product. You've convinced me enough that I might try some, as explained below. I have used similar products, and was NOT impressed.

But, having to charge it before use is the issue for a weapon used in self- or home-defense. You'll just have to be rigorous in your charging practices, as charging it when the threat is there won't work.

Using this paint to give you brighter sights in poorly lighted conditions may be a good use for many of us, because charging it before a range session IS practical. (The materials I've used ["Moon Glow"(?) was one of them] could not be charged so quickly, nor would it remain effective for as long as you say THIS product remains effective)

I might get some to try with the guns I use at a nearby indoor range, as the lighting is never as good as it ought to be. This paint would probably work better than the fluorescent paint I've used in the past.

At one time CZs came from the factory with a light-reactive paint on the sights, but it wasn't solvent resistant, and it just didn't work that well. Maybe they should try this paint -- if they still paint the sight dots like they used to. (I haven't bought new CZ in a number of years.)

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A minor, vaguely-related point: when discussing this stuff, it's going to be used on "sights" not "sites" -- "night sites" are places like Dunkin' Donut Shops, IHOP restaurants or, maybe, 7-Eleven stores. There is a GUNSITE ACADEMY, but it's an actual training site, not something mounted on the slide or barrel.

Sorry trying to fight with auto spell check.These things have a mind all of their own,and like to help you write a sentence.

I too have used paints like you refer to 25-30 years ago.I agree on having to charge them only to last a few minutes. This is what sets this product apart from ordinary glow paint.In the world of professional working divers,their lives depend on reading the divers scale in complete darkness to know how much air they have.

Glad to see you are willing to give something new a try.You sounded a little like me when first hearing about the Presto Blue pen,now I wouldn't be without one.

From what I understand, it doesn't need to be exposed to a light source "all day". I'm not sure what the minimum time required to "fully charge" these phosphorescent wonders.

At any rate, before I turn in for the night, I typically will catch up on some reading or go over the news on my iPad. etc. In doing this, I am in bed with my nightstand light on, with a couple of guns on the nightstand (on top and in an open VelocityVault). So, in the ten minutes or so that I'm reading, my phosphorescent sights would be undergoing a "charge". Is this enough for the sights to be used at 3 AM? It depends, I suppose, on a lot of variables—brightness of the light source, how long I read, what time I turn off the light, among others.

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Colt 45 M1911/S&W M&P Shield 9

While cleaning out the paint from the left rear sight, I got about half the white paint out to where it looks about half as bright as the front and I liked the contrast so I took out about half the paint on the right side also so both of the rear dots are the same brightness. Now I can see the rear sight ok but the front sight which is very bright jumps out at you. I may change the colors or black out the rear sight altogether but I am liking the brighter front sight. I'll shoot it like this for a while and see. Thanks again for all your ideas.
Jerry

I have played with the GLOW ON brand paint on the buttons and this is after a quick charge with my flashlight. I used a 1/8" drill bit to make a pocket in each of the buttons then filled the pocket with the paint. A little clear nail polish seals it up.

It will charge from your nightstand light or a quick 10 seconds from a LED flashlight and it is fully charged. It works pretty good. Glows all night, but gets very faint by morning. In a dark room your eyes see the glow all night. Still works as advertised after a few years now.

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Glenn
FAS1 SAFE

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Alright. I'm sold. I'm just ordered it.

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Colt 45 M1911/S&W M&P Shield 9

I'm almost sold. I think I read that in normal daylight, the paint appears off white. Any drawbacks in shooting at outdoor range during the day? Any worse than factory 3 dot white?

I just got my order of green strontium aluminate powder ($1.75) and tried it on my Shield 9 and bodyguard front sight. I mixed it with some automotive urethane clear which should last a while, I hope. In the daylight it's not as bright as the original white dots but in low light it stands out fantastic and in the dark they're almost too bright. Sorry for the blurry pics, I tried to get my camera cooperate but gave up so these should give an idea of how they look, much brighter in person.

Wow those look terrific!!! Where did you get this for 1.75?


FYI....hold opposite palm in front of camera at focal point (f site or rear site)... let camera focus...move hand...snap piccy

Got it on ebay. Only got 5 grams but it's enough to do a few dozen sights. I used it in auto paint but I bet it would work just as good in clear nail polish.

Green Glow-in-the-Dark Powder Pigment Strontium Aluminate for Sticks/Stars/Paint | eBay

Yes, I'm using florescent red on the front, and green rear dots. This works just fine for me. I used nail polish for the colors, and haven't had any problems, where the original white dots fell out/off after only a little use on the range.