Painting K Frame Fixed Sights

[Walter Rego]

Here is the front sight I did on my Model 65. It was done with a coat of Testors flat white first, followed by a coat of flat orange. I experimented with a piece of blue painters tape first to see where to start in the serrations so the paint was only in the serrations visible with a correct sight picture. The paint may need to be thinned a little, it will prevent it from filling up the serrations and just presenting a blob. Clean up any that gets on the side of the blade with a cotton swab and acetone.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I usually just do the front sight , and usually use nail polish . That works ok with my eyes , and I DISlike dots on the rear sights .

Papa- T 's set up looks interesting , I'm going to have to try something like that .

My local establishment that recently closed did carry Testors , but their selection was spotty . I guess I'll have to go to the website .

 

[Biggfoot44]

Had daughter pick up the florescent orange and florescent green for me fro Hobby Lobby for me , but haven't had chance to get artistic yet .

 

[rockquarry]

This was sort of a fad in the '70s. White Out was the most popular. Like red ramp front sights, fluorescent sights, and other such gimmick sights, I've never seen an advantage over a plain blued or stainless sight. However, our eyes and how we see things are different for all of us. If the simple front sight doesn't work well for you, use what does, but try both if you have the chance.

 

[JohnRippert]

I put a layer of bright white on the front, followed by a couple layers of fluorescent yellow. The vertical portion of the rear site channel gets flat black.

 

[Jalopiejoe]

What the sight picture looks like. Sorry for the mediocre shot, this pic was a real pain to try and get.

I'm curious to see what others have come up for fixed sights. I had done a fair amount of searching for options prior to getting the M13 to make sure I had some choices, but had not seen much other than replacing the front sight with one of a couple of blades types, mostly FO.[/quote]


Fantastic Idea!
I have already painted the front sight on my 617 Brite Orange.
This afternoon I am going to use your idea and paint White squares on the rear sight!
Thanks!

 

[Eddietruett]

For years I used the little bottles of Testor's model paint in various hi- viz colors.
A couple years back, found the one I had stored away had dried up. Went to Wallyworld to replace it.
No such thing in stock anymore. Kids don't build models anymore.

Ended up in the 'crafts' section with a bottle of blaze orange that will do about 6000 front sights.

Hobby Lobby

 

[Jalopiejoe]

What the sight picture looks like. Sorry for the mediocre shot, this pic was a real pain to try and get.

I'm curious to see what others have come up for fixed sights. I had done a fair amount of searching for options prior to getting the M13 to make sure I had some choices, but had not seen much other than replacing the front sight with one of a couple of blades types, mostly FO.

Fantastic Idea!
I have already painted the front sight on my 617 Brite Orange.
This afternoon I am going to use your idea and paint White squares on the rear sight!
Thanks!

REVISED!

New sight picture for old eyes!
It looked cool at first!
I went back to black!
I didn't like how the white didn't work well in different lighting! In brite sunlight (blinding) it just made the notch look really wide and lost definition!

 

[crows]

Spray paint works great and can be found anywhere in fluorescent colors. Don't want to mask off the sights and spray? Not a problem. Get some paper cups, shake up the rattle can real good, and spray into the cup. Then use your favorite applicator, brush cotton swab, whatever, and apply. Your favorite color in the average sized spray can will last a long time.

 

[S&W Fan]

I'm another that uses Testors with a color over a white base. This is my 64-5 NY-1 3". Also only did the front, works great for me and easy to clean off if I want to maintain it's original appearance.

 

[njl]

I've painted a number of plain front sights. I bought the cheapest red and white nail polish I could find at K-Mart. I ended up finding that mixing drops of the two (old primer trays work great for this) makes a really nice hi-viz orange.

 

[Doug M.]

If something like this works for your eyes, it's a good idea. I have a few painted sights, which have varied in success. I do not find fiber optics to be a winner for me - replacing that blade with an XS Big Dot is my preferred choice when I can do so.

 

[crazyphil]

I'm with Doug M. Here on the left is an AO Big dot on my 1911 Colt's
Gold Cup. I also had a local smith put a red insert on the front of some
of my revolvers that didn't already have them. Another option is the old
McGivern gold bead, like this one on my Model 19. Problem with the gold
bead is you must have some kind of light behind you.

 

[loc n load]

Painted sights

Everybody's eyesight is different, white has always worked well for me. I shot a 4" model 65 and a Remington Rand 1911 in IPSC completion back in the 70's and 80's.
One of the weekly competitions was in the evening and had high mass lighting behind us. Those white sights were highly visible with that light source behind me.
Several RO's commented on those "bright" sights on both handguns.
We did not have the multitude of aftermarket sight choices back then, several of my carry pistols wear "big dot" high visibility sights today

 

[Green Frog]

Discount places like Dollar Tree have some really ugly colors of nail polish (popular with some teens) for sale cheap. I got a bottle of white and one of fluorescent red for a dollar each, and should be good for a long time. I got the red to "undercoat" the red on my front sight, but a white outline in back might be useful too. My Baby Chief's Special and transitional I frame 32 snub are both in the carry rotation and would benefit from this treatment. Thanks for the nudge!

Froggie

 

[gwpercle]

I was going to use the flat white color of a Bic White-Out Correction fluid pen as a base coat for a Hi-Viz color ... realized after a bunch of testing that the flat white color was actually the most visible to my eyes .
Still got all the "glows in the dark" colors ... White won the day !
Gary