Partridge sight options, 648-2?

[mike56]

Picked up a new 648-2, 22mag, 8 shot, 6 inch full lug barrel, and black on black rear/front partridge sight.
Very happy with it. AZ, some open space but still a neighborhood. Way more reach than a 22lr, and still has some energy. Not crazy loud. Have a rifle in it as well. Coyotes very bold and plentiful, but plenty of tree huggers from CA. Basically nice folks (hell, they left CA!) so I don't want to alarm them.

Gun itself has perfect function and fit/finish. No issues. Still experimenting with ammo choices. Trigger could be better (lighter) but not enough rounds in it yet.

I like the partridge sight, nice clear(or as much as possible with my glasses.
That's at indoor range, good lighting.
I've put gold/brass bead fronts on a couple 1911's with great result. Anyone make a partridge replacement with bead for the smith? It is pinned in.
In the short term I might put a dab of paint on it.

 

[Pizza Bob]

I know that you guys are just waiting for me to do this - so as not to disappoint...

Congrats on the purchase of a fine firearm.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

 

[Protocall_Design]

How tall is the sight? Have you considered a fiber optic?

 

[lscocoa]

SDM makes gold bead patridge sights , l believe Brownells and Midway carries them . From pics the 648 sights looks like the same as the m-617 which is .160 if memory serves me correctly. An email to qa@smith-Wesson should get the correct size if some one here don’t have it .

 

[mike56]

I checked with SDM. Doesn't make them for .160, only .200 which won't work with the rear.
He does sell just the bead. going to check with a guy to see if he can drill and install it.

 

[lscocoa]

A lot of us put Hiviz sights on our 617’s . Hiviz makes one specifically for the 617 . Mine is red . It’s too bad about sdm as I was thinking of trying a gold bead when I get a 648 , been waiting to see if S&W would do something surprising and make a 4 incher!

 

[mike56]

The Hiviz looks pretty wide.
With the 6 inch barrel I want to retain the front sight Precision.
Dawson does have a pin in fiber optic, .160 high and only .100 wide. I may give that a try.

 

[kilov]

Hi Viz on 617

Hi Mike, I went through the same thing last year. I resolved to swap the front sights on all my new style pinned front revolvers to gold beads. However, I could not find one in a rimfire height. So, I did the Hi Viz green fiber optic front sight. I shot mine last week and don't feel like it's too wide at all. It's decent but I'd still take a gold bead over fiber optic.

I did order 2 plain inserts which should be here soon. I've got a Model 17 and Model 14 which need some gold bead help but they are of the vintage where the ramp and sight are one piece. I plan to caliper the rear of the bead, slightly over drill out the front surface of the sight and epoxy it in. If people are interested, I'm happy to post the results of my experiment. However, I do anticipate a bit of grief for not leaving them "as is".

I've posted some pictures, the one of my hand out low grip is my best try at an extended shot. The hope was you'd get an idea what the sight picture looks like when drawn. Let me know if you want me to hit it with calipers now that it's actually mounted.

 

[sndbggr1484]

You should measure your front sight width to be sure it is the same as yours. Most are .125 wide.

 

[mike56]

SDM sent the instructions they include for just the bead.
I may grab one of those and get a plain replacement blade from Smith.

 

[Pizza Bob]

I believe that you are laboring under a misconception. For precision shooting a .125" rear notch in conjunction with a .125" wide front sight blade is best. For speed of acquisition, a narrower front sight blade (i.e. a .100" width) works better, with the .125" rear notch, but offers less precision. More light on either side of the blade makes for quicker pick-up, but since it is harder to equalize the amount of light on each side, it is not as precise.

For Smiths with integral front bases and blades, Bowen offers a sight base that accepts the interchangeable blades. Weigand formerly offered this base. Requires milling off the sight base and blade, and machining a recess in the barrel rib. Loc-title and an Allen-head screw complete the installation and you then can change blades to your heart's content.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

 

[mike56]

Great info on sights, thank you.
I have both on the way.

 

[CALREB]

I have several revolvers with the Dawson fiber optic, Its a nice help if the woods are a little dark. Also I didn't like the SDM the bead was even wider than the sight, Dawson has such nice sharp edges on their sight.
I would order the 170 X 125 fiber optic you have way more elevation adjustment in your rear sight than you would need to overcome the jump from a 160 to 170.