Drilled and painted in my own sights *pics*

[guinea]

I was thinking when I first got my EFS to order some night sights, or at the very least some brand of white dot sights. However, I decided to be a tad brave and just drill and paint my own sights. I have done this once before on a Smith 22A I owned. It's actually pretty easy to do. Just requires patience and steady hands. ;)

I put the slide into a bench vise and used the smallest drill bit I have, a 1/16 bit. I first used a small punch to "tap" a dimple to where I wanted to drill the holes. Then I set my drill to the slowest setting and started drilling. I would drill out just a few shavings, wipe the shavings off the sight and bit with a cloth and just kept repeating this process. Once I got the holes as deep as I wanted, I used the same bit and finished off the holes by twisting the bit by hand. Then I used a Q-Tip with nitro solvent and cleaned out the holes and let them dry for about 5 mins.

Time to paint. For painting/repainting any of my gun sights I use simple Testors Enamel White model paint. This paint works great for sights. All I used was a toothpick and just filled the holes with the Testors paint. This of course is the part of the process that requires the steady hands. Once satisfied with the amount of paint, I set the slide (muzzle down) in a corner shelf of the closet and left it there to dry. And here, 3 days later, sights are dry and (to me) look pretty decent. Certainly easier to pick up than the all black sight picture. Let me know what you guys think.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/guinea72/CDFrontsight.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/guinea72/CDRearsight.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/guinea72/CDSights.jpg

Thanks for looking/reading.

The Guinea

[ambidextrous1]

Nice work, Guinea! Your attention to detail (slow drill speed, frequent removal of chips, etc) paid off nicely.

How were you able to drill the front sight without the drill chuck contacting the top of the slide? I'm not too keen on drilling at an angle.

This looks like it solves the problem of losing the sight picture when shooting at a black or dark target... :appld:

[BHP Fan]

great work!I like it even better than the three dot style.

[guinea]

How were you able to drill the front sight without the drill chuck contacting the top of the slide? I'm not too keen on drilling at an angle.



As you know, the front sight on the CD is angled forward. I just started the drill flush and once I broke the surface, I slowly tilted the drill until the chuck was just above the slide top. Then I did the rest by hand. It took me about 30 mins to drill the front sight. That's where my patience paid off the most I believe.

Thanks.

The Guinea

[Rugerman]

Looks like the sights on my Taurus 24/7 Pro 45. I was thinking of trying nitesiters on my EFS.

[guinea]

Looks like the sights on my Taurus 24/7 Pro 45. I was thinking of trying nitesiters on my EFS.

I was thinking about getting those as well. But at least I know for a fact that my sights are NEVER going to fall off or move. ;)

The Guinea

[cliff731]

Great work ya did there... and where did I see this one before!!! :)

That is very impressive results and I sure like those single dot sights. http://forum.m1911.org/images/icons/icon14.gif

[MAC79912]

I like the barrel eight sight job.I used some glow in the dark enamel on mine.

[mkb909]

very nice, I've had the itch to try that on my new EFS but I dont have it in me to start drilling into my sights, less I screw something up.

[steel609]

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/guinea72/CDSights.jpg


I like that sight picture!

Now if I can just muster up the nerve to fire up my dremel................ :scared:

[NORMSUTTON]

I did mine with a # 8 round bur in a high speed hand piece



http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/NORMSUTTON/45%20ATUO/dcsights.jpg


NORM

[ambidextrous1]

Attaboy, Norm! NEVER say, 'Dremel'!

Thanks for the information. :)

[NORMSUTTON]

maybe I should of said it was a high speed air rotor handpiece


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/NORMSUTTON/bent%20bolt%2038/highspeed.jpg


NORM

[ambidextrous1]

Hey, that ain't no Dremel!

Excuse me for thinking the unthinkable! :o

[MCPO]

. . . what you guys think
I love it! Looks great - very prodessional!

. . . it was a high speed air rotor handpiece
Found another use for my Dentist :D

[Hill]

Now if I could just find the link I had to some guy who is selling Tritium vials out of Japan...........they were something like $25. a set shipped, and I KNOW I put the link somewhere.

[alphaquest]

outstanding job on the drilling!!! how about using luminous paint instead of enamel? :)

[NORMSUTTON]

I used this it takes a long time to charge and then it doesn't last that long


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/NORMSUTTON/45%20ATUO/nailpolish.jpg



NORM

[niemi24s]

Ahhhh, for some Radium paint like they used on wristwatch hands & dial numbers back in the early 1900's!

[Jescorrea]

same here. let us know when you do. I m trying to get more Edjumacated into doing the same to mine.

[GoMopar440]

Ahhhh, for some Radium paint like they used on wristwatch hands & dial numbers back in the early 1900's!
I belive that stuff is controlled material as it's slightly radioactive.

Good to know I'm not the only one trying these sight mods. :)

[guinea]

Through some researching, this looks to be the best glow in the dark gunsight paint out there. http://glowinc.com/detail.aspx?ID=41

One small bottle would be enough to do hundreds of sight sets. And $11 is pretty cheap IMHO. I could always use the leftover to start doing sights on my friends pistols. :D

The Guinea

[Shipwreck]

Well, U can buy these as a cheap/easy alternative....

http://www.nitesiters.com/

[guinea]

Well, U can buy these as a cheap/easy alternative....

http://www.nitesiters.com/

I already commented on that product, thanks.

The Guinea