617 with dull front sight that glows slightly green for a second when lit with light

[frankr]

I have a new-to-me 22lr Smith and Wesson 617 revolver. It has one of the internal locks, so it had to have been made in the 90s or early aughts. Getting it ready for my first range trip with it and I noticed that the front sight post is a very dull whitish orange. Shining a bright flashlight on it causes it to turn green for a second before going dull again.



Is this a burned out night sight? I am not super familiar with the term partridge sight used on the spec sheet and the SW product page for the 617 doesn't show what a normal front sight dot is supposed to look like.


Should I just plan on painting the front sight post a bright color with model paint or possibly changing it out?

This is a fun gun for me, not something I will be competing with.

 

[AzShooter]

I'd change it out for a Dawson Precision Green Fiber Optic. Here's mine and it's very easy to see.

 

[IraIII]

Dont know what sight you have but Heckler&Koch uses a sight that is charged by light then glows for a while. They can be really bright for a while
Your [Complete] Guide To H&K P30 Sights

 

[ronbwolf]

Post a photo of your siggt. Most likely it has been painted with a phosphorescent paint, or nail polish.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[frankr]

Looks like it was a former paint job. Scratched it off with my fingernail to reveal a different red painted dot - unsure if that was original or was also from the previous owner. I do not have a photo of the stock front view of the sight blade to compare.

 

[frankr]

The red layer was under the former dull layer I scraped off with my finger nail.

 

[Inusuit]

I think at one time there was a phosphorescent paint that could be applied to sights. Not a great idea because the luminescence was very short lived as you have discovered. As though you would use a flashlight to activate the paint before using the firearm in low light.

 

[stansdds]

Yep, in all likelihood it is phosphorescent paint, not a tritium vial night sight.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Just replace it with a new Fiber Optic. You'll be amazed at the difference.

 

[kamloops67]

Effective or not I’ve never liked the looks of fibre optic sights , an SDM gold dot partridge sight would be my choice if I were to change it out
Looks exactly like what you have there .

 

[CH4]

I also like the SDM gold dot sight, I have one on my 610. I also have several guns with FO front sights, they work well in daylight. The phosphorescent paint was fairly popular with cops in the 70s and 80s before tritium was an option.

 

[MygunisaS&Wrevolver]

Probably not pertinent to the post but I remember back in the old days.....It was a popular thing to take one of those old green phosphorus phone stickers that had emergency numbers and usually the number of the local mortuary who provided them to everyone with a phone. We would cut them into front sight stick on's. It worked great if you left your gun out of the holster when off duty to absorb light. That way they would stay lit during when you were holstered and on duty. But usually after awhile the adhesive would fail and it would fall off leaving a bunch of adhesive goo on your front sight.

 

[Wee Hooker]

The gold dot sights worked fine when my eyes were younger. Now they just absorb light and get fuzzy. The gold dot sight was the first thing I changed on my 627PC. To each their own.