Recoil on my M&P9c blew out the front sight paint...

J

josh8042

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I went the range yesterday and after a couple rounds with my M&P 9c I noticed that all the sudden the white dot on the front sight had turned black. The first thought that went through my head was that it had gotten covered up by soot/gun powder awfully quick. On closer inspection I realized that the paint actually blew off of the sight. It's easily fixed, but I thought I would share since it was so strange and I never heard of it happening before.

P1020147.jpg
 
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Don't worryabout it, use luminous paint to fix it. It work well, I use it instead of night sights; let's try.
 
It's actually fairly common with M&P's. It has happened to lots of people over at mp-pistol.com, including me.
 
S&W would fix it for free at the factory... as always. But it might be easier to do it yourself. Bright white auto paint -- in a tube of touch-up paint, with the little applicator, available at parts stores -- would work well to fill in the spot -- and should be permanent. Gun shops and internet retailers offer little bottles of sight paint, which would work, but they are usually not cheap. For example -- Bright Sights Professional Gun Sight Paint Kit - MidwayUSA

I'd guess there was some oil or dirt in the hole that prevented the original paint dot from adhering correctly.
 
Happened to me as well, during the first mag. I called S&W when I got home and they sent me a new front sight. I just used hi-vis green paint to fill in the hole and it works out even better than white. Glad I'm not the only one.
 
its common with Kel-Tecs, too. i just used a tooth-pick and whatever white paint i happened to have.
 
Hm....

I never managed to do that (and after the beating my old M&P40FS front sight took when I had to move it....), but I did shoot the rear sight clean off a Para .45 once.... (You really have to tighten that allen screw :D.)

IAC, I'm not happy with "bright sights", but it's viable. Any hobby shop should have a little vial of suitable paint for a couple bucks, too. That's where I usually end up when I want an ounce or less. Use some alcohol and a toothpick to clean the hole first....

Somebody is making a "glow in the dark" kit with little adhesive backed "dots" that may be worth a look, too. I gave up and put real night sights on the couple of guns that I thought wanted that sort of treatment. The rest of mine are "factory". I don't particularly like fiber optic, but if you can get 'em where the fiber element is very well protected (otherwise you find out quickly why they supply extra elements), it should be OK. WAY cheaper than tritium....

Philosophically, I decided that they were just bragging rights things. Then I decided that it might be nice to be able to see the sights under certain unusual conditions where you could see the target but not your sights. Of late, though, it seems that Ohio's "Duty To Retreat" law and point-shooting at very short ranges (if you're more than 21' away from somebody, you may find that it's not a good idea to shoot), sort of kill that option anyway.

Of course, my two EDC's have night sights and lasers.... :D The former 'cause I'm not about to take them off :), and the latter as training aids.

(Come to think of it, looking at smithcollector's post, the sights are about the only thing on my P3AT that I haven't managed to shoot off, break, or whatever.)

BTW, if you do want to paint (or "dot") the sight, it may make sense to put green or orange on the front and some other color on the rear. Your eyes can play tricks on you....

Regards,
 
Count me in guys, just popped my paint off the front sight from my brand new m&p 9mm after shooting at the 9th clip. So a little over 72 shots. What happened to our good old american QC?
 
Happened to my M&P 40 fullsize also, about 500 rounds then the front white dot deteriorated leaving about a quarter. Replaced the sights with TRUGLO nite sights.

TrugloTFO_M&P40.jpg
 
Does anyone have a picture of what it looks like when the front sight blows out? I've heard this happen a bit, but I've never seen what it looks like.
 
Roy:

Look up a couple posts and you'll see Jubz' picture of his M&P with TRUGLO night sights.

Now imagine the front sight as being solid black....

(The white dot we're talking about lives in a depression in the rear sight. Makes painting it easier, and it's a little less likely to pop out.)

It's likely that there was a little lubricant in the depression when the paint was applied.

Some model airplane paint (flat or semi-gloss, I would think) and a very tiny brush.... Clean the hole with something like paint thinner and/or alcohol, so there's no lubricant residue left in there. Then use the brush or a toothpick to drop a bit of paint in the hole. Let it dry overnight and all's well. Use another color (yellow or green) if you prefer - it makes it a little easier to tell which is the front sight in a little darkness.

MIX the paint a bit - I like to drop a couple BB's in the bottle - before application, and read the instructions (temperature, etc.).

In a pinch, Liquid Paper, if you can find any, will work, but you still need to clean out the hole.... I don't think you'll find any white nail polish with enough pigment in it, but I'm a guy, and there's a hobby shop handy enough :D.... (I keep some black and white semi-gloss laying around.)

Regards,
 
Okay I thought maybe instead of being completely black it was a white ring with black in the middle or something (As if the middle of the front sight was blown out)

Makes perfect sense now
 
Demon:

The former day job made the little brushes that Liquid Paper used....

Meantime, in about the same time frame - back when typewriters and correction fluids were common, I used some White Out or Liquid Paper to highlight the lettering on my old M39. I bought the gun before 1975, and the white stuff is still there.... (Likewise in a couple of circa 1968 K-frames.)

I never used it for a sight, but why not?

Regards,
 
I say...if it works, then it works. :D

Every time I tried to actually use it on paper to cover something up, it seemed to be chunky and/or when you went to write on it, it never seemed to dry as fast as advertised. LOL

But from the looks of the info here, it's A-Ok as a gun sight paint. ;)
 
Same thing happened to me. I bought a small bottle of white appliance touch-up paint and used a sharpened tooth pick to fill the hole with paint.
 
Nardoclark:

Hadn't thought of that, but some folks might find appliance touch-up paint (or "porcelain touch up") easier to find. Especially if they're looking for "Liquid Paper" :D....

Reminds me of a story.... We'd just bought a new house back in 1979, and the wife managed to drop a study bottle of nail polish onto the bathroom sink. Took a nasty divot out of it. Her dad got her a replacement sink (ordinary round, white porcelain coated thing) and I got volunteered to spend an afternoon installing it. Not all that bad a job, but I'm kinda large, and folding up to get into the sink cabinet was a little tough.

Six months later, give or take, she did the same thing to the new one....

I bought a bottle of touch-up paint :D.... Not the best, but much easier on my back.

(We still see the folks who bought that house - I'm not sure whether they took the plunge and replaced the sink or not.... They did rip up a bunch of bedroom carpet, though, and found hardwood under it. Never even suspected! My wife wanted to get rid of the carpeting for a long time, but I was too cheap.... Ooops.... No such luck at our next house.... We moved in with mom about a year ago to help take care of her - she's 95. We'll "inherit" eventually. I wonder if I should tell her about the hardwood under the really awful carpet mom put down years ago. Mom got talked into some nice looking stuff, but it's impossible to keep clean. She could afford a couple hundred bucks every few months....)

Regards,
 
All I know is when my 40c comes in with it's night sights on it that it darn well better NOT happen to mine! :eek: ;) LOL
 
It took me buying a new M&P (the M&P9) to realize that the front sight on my M&P45 had been blown out too..
 
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