Night Sights vs paint!!

[gqucool1911]

Hi I have a Springfield Armory Loaded Model year mfg 2000. I received this gun through a trade. It has been to Wilson Combat has the Armor tuff finish and the action has been tuned, very nice gun. But the sights I want to either put a small dab of paint in the front sight or have night sights installed. My front sight is staked in, my rear sight is a black Novak sight with the dovetail cut. Contacting Springfield they have been great and very helpful. They quoted me $150.00 to install front & rear night sights with also the machine work necessary done also for the front dovetail cut for the front sight. Plus said that the dovetail cut could be done without damage to my gun's finish other then using cold blue on the actual dove tail cut. They have been actually the most reasonable so far with what I want to have done. I have been told that to use a stake in type of front night sight there are chance's of damaging the night sight! My other question if my budget doesn't have room for this work right now what is a good type & or brand of paint to use to brighten up my front sights? Thanks in advance!!!!

[OD*]

I have been told that to use a stake in type of front night sight there are chance's of damaging the night sight!
Send the slide to Trijicon, I had a staked front sight installed by them and it lasted nearly 20 years. Having the front sight dovetailed is the better option IMO.

[brickeyee]

If you do not support the front site corectly during staking the vial will crack.
If you look at most night sight have small 'wings' on each side of the body to allow staking.
The tool rests on the wings and not on the site itself.

[1911Tuner]

My old eyes have done remarkably well with Testor's Neon Green on the front sight for daylight shooting. It shows up fair in dim light, but not at all in the dark.

[Vic S]

I would not recommend Brights Sights. The colors are not bright and the Ghost Glow works briefly if you shine an intensely bright light on it. Spend your $24.00 on something else.

Many in this forum recommend Testers white enamel as a temporary fix(must be occasionally reapplied).

I think SA is the best solution if funds allow.

[wichaka]

Even with night sights, one (in my opinion) still needs to put some paint around the glow tube. As there times where the lighting isn't dark enough to see the night sights, but light enough to pick up the bright paint on the front sight.


http://w3.gorge.net/scshields/pats4.jpg

[BigO]

Well my opinion here as far as what would be best comes down to the use of the pistol .

If it is to be only a home defense weapon the Bright Sight paint under the correct curcumstances combined with the correct tactics would be the best way to go . For instance if your fixed sights has white dots in them or in some way a recessed area that you are filling up with the Ghost Glow ONLY "Not mixed with paint" is almost ideal after charged for a period of perhaps 10 seconds with exposure to a 30+ Lumen light .

I have experimented and found that after charging they will glow very intensely for a period of 3-5 minutes or so and in a fairly dark room to complete blackness visable for over 10 minutes . If one were to get in the habit of recharging the paint as you were going from room to room investigating bumps in the night " Which by the way should be done slowly , carefully and employ the correct tactics such as pieing doorways and a solid family plan to prevent family members from being missidentified as an intruder and fired upon" the paint would serve very well as for what $8 a bottle is good for many applications and unlike Tritium vials can't break .

The negatives of the paint are if you don't have a recessed area to fill up and you have to simply paint a flat surface it will 1 look kinda cheesy , 2 perhaps need to be reapplied fairly regularly "every few months" due to wear if the sight comes into contact with anything on a regular basis .

The Tritium night sight are a much better option on any gun that would see duty out of the home as when you may need a CCW piece you will need it NOW and not have time to charge the paint with a light even though the uncharged Ghost Glow is pretty visable even in slightly subdued lighting "say twilight" as it is uncharged a slightly off white color .

I will try to remember to charge up the paint on my full sized Daly 1911 with my flashlight and take a picture in complete darkness and post it one of these nights so every one will get the idea as to how bright this paint realy is .

[Peacefulwarrior]

I've had good luck with Super Bright (made by Birchwood-Casey) Fluorescent Red & Flat White set. I used the White as an undercoat and then applied the Red (more like Orange). This set comes in a 2 pack Pen type applicators. It does wear off after awhile but it helps with picking up the front site. I have recently used just the White as an undercoat and used bright orange nail polish (several coats) covered by a coat of clear nail polish and it has held up for months on a daily carry pistol. This works even with a front sight that is not serrated.
Spend the money and get the night sights because the above combo only helps you in daylight or low-light situations not in darkness. I have night sights on all my weapons and still apply the above combo to the front sight.

[Tom]

My old eyes have done remarkably well with Testor's Neon Green on the front sight for daylight shooting.
I right there wit ya, Tuner! I've done the same thing on the three-dot sights that came with my Springfield Mil-Spec. Touched up the dirty white with some Testors fluorescent yellow plastic model paint. Works like a champ. And if/when they start looking a little dim and dingy, a small reapplication with a toothpick is all that is needed.

[gqucool1911]

Lot of great comments here well the paint will be the solution for now, but my concern was the Armor Tuff finish I now have on my gun. After some research from a good friend Big O and also looking my self I found out that MMC sights has the solution I have been looking for. They can install a front Stake on sight but they do not install the tritium vial until the front sight has been install properly. So that way there is no damage to the tritium vial. Plus the cost is very reasonable for their fixed night sights $89.95, there are several different choice's of dot colors and bar configurations, also a adjustable night sight set for $139.95 installation is included it the costs quoted!! Can't beat that!!!!