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Question for you stainless steel revolver shooters re: sights


Pat Riot

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Hi All,

I have 2 Rugers in stainless. Between the rear sight being a kind of matte silver finish and the front sight being a shiny silver finish sometimes getting it lined up on target is a bit tricky.

In the past I have always used blued guns and so shiny sights were never an issue. These are my first stainless revolvers.

 

I considered those brass sight covers for the front sight but I do not like the looks of them. I want to leave the sides of the sight silver.

I considered getting the rear of the front sight Cerakoted in black and leaving the rear as is and I also considered blacking out the rear sight area and coating the rear of the front sight in a brass finish.

I also considered getting the rear of front sight serrated or bead blasted and then just using sight black on the rear.

 

What have you done, if anything to your stainless or shiny silver sights?

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I just put a quick swipe of black Magic Marker on the back of the front sight whenever I feel the need. Quick, easy, and cheep. Easily undone anytime, costs nearly nil.

Al

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What I have done is file the back top corner of the front sight at a 45 degree angle to get rid of the slightly rounded side corners and then paint the filed part black (Testors Flat Black). Then also paint the vertical part of the rear sight the same.

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Good ideas all. I want something permanent. I did try magic marker and sight black but it really doesn't cut it.

I like Kulshan''s idea regarding the filing and Lead Spittin Lefty's idea with the gold paint.

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Nothing you can paint on will be permanent. What works well for many people is flat back modeler's paint in the rear sight notch. Then go to Home Deport and get a little bottle of applicance touch-up paint for the rear surface of the front sight. White shows up surprisingly well and the applicance paint is fairly durable.

Edited by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933
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I think what I will do is try blacking out the rear and get myself some white paint, as recommended by Larson and try that on a temporary basis. If the white doesn't work for me I will give Lead Spittin' Lefty's idea on the gold paint. This way whatever I do it can be undone with some lacquer thinner or paint remover.

 

Thank you all very much for your replies. I do appreciate it. :)

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I recently saw a set of Rugers that Boomstick bead blasted for a club member here. It was a two tone job so just the top strap and top of barrel and sight were done along with the ejector rod housing. Looked great and would cut down on that shiny issue.

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I run a 30 lines per inch "checkering" file over the back side of my front sights to serrate them. Then, if they still are not showing up, black sharpie. With the fine serrations (30 per inch or so), that surface holds color real well.

 

Good luck, GJ

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our pistol targets are so big and close I have no problem. Usually just index the whole profile of the pistol at them and as the gun starts to sweep across the target try to break the shot smooth.

 

"sights just slow me down" -- Handlebar Doc. Ironic quote from long ago considering how he makes his living now...

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Sights ?

We dont need No stinking Sights !

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Sometimes those sights come in handy IMO. I tried SS and had too many misses......that was before you could paint em' so I had to switch back to blue. For me I could pick up the blue better.....I guess the SS was too busy.

 

Now that you can paint them it's not a big deal but and I guess shooting plate steel at 5 yards or less they don't serve much of a purpose but when the bonus targets, stars, plate racks and stuff pop out it's nice to know you can hit them when the chips are down.

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I run a 30 lines per inch "checkering" file over the back side of my front sights to serrate them. Then, if they still are not showing up, black sharpie. With the fine serrations (30 per inch or so), that surface holds color real well.

 

Good luck, GJ

This is great advice. GW

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I bought a gold foil kit at a hardware store for $8.

The metal gets prepped to remove all oil and dirt. Apply the foil with a brush. Add a coating that glues and covers the gold with a clearcoat.

The result is less shiny than real gold but the contrast to most targets is pretty good. I do not touch up wear throughout the year. I do strip the foil and coating once a year and repeat the process.

My guess is that the kit is good for 25 to 30 sight coatings.

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Bead blasted the rear sight area, used a black sharpie on the rear sight, added the brass sight covers to the front sights. They work quite well, but I don't really care what they look like. I have tried painting the front sight too and that works just fine.

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Sights ?

We dont need No stinking Sights !

 

As close as the pistol targets are now-WHO needs 'sites'...... :rolleyes::lol:

OLG

 

I do! :D

 

Besides, the 7.5" old model will also be my woods carry gun. The silver gets lost in the silver for me and I would like not to be chasing the front sight around in a pinch :)

 

 

 

I run a 30 lines per inch "checkering" file over the back side of my front sights to serrate them. Then, if they still are not showing up, black sharpie. With the fine serrations (30 per inch or so), that surface holds color real well.

 

Good luck, GJ

Garrison Joe, do you have a photo of how your front sight looks after the checkering file treatment? This might be pretty handy especially with the rear blackened and the front serrated / cross hatched (can't think of the term) in silver.

 

Ya know, all you pards are great. It's why I love the Wire. Thanks.

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Creek County Kid in Oklahoma makes some pretty trick brass front sights that in my opinion look 10x better than the covers.

They are nice sights, a lot of guys around here use them and like them.

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Here's what a serrated front sight looks like in general.

 

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/sights/front-sights/1911-front-sight-prod8842.aspx

 

Good luck, GJ

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Here's what a serrated front sight looks like in general.

 

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/sights/front-sights/1911-front-sight-prod8842.aspx

 

Good luck, GJ

 

:D Thanks Garrison Joe, but I know what serrated sights look like ;)

 

I was just wondering what a stainless Vaquero front sight looked like with serrations. I do appreciate it though.

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I have decided that I am going to leave the front sight silver and dull the rear / top of the sight with 400 grit sandpaper. If that isn't dull enough I will try 220 grit. I am also going to blacken the rear sight. If the dull silver doesn't stand out enough for me I am going to take Larson's advice and try the white appliance paint.

 

I decided to keep it simple. I tend to overdo things a bit and when I found myself researching torches and going over sight soldering procedures to install a wider sight that I found and looking at widening the rear sight notch I thought "what in the heck are you doing"?

 

Anyway, keeping it simple.

 

Thank you all for your help.

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Wow, that is nice, Smokestack. I like the shiny stainless, just not on the sight. But in thinking about it I really haven't shot these 2 particular guns in real sunny weather. I have always had blued guns. These are the first 2 stainless revolvers I have owned. Matting out the barrel and receiver might be a good idea at a later time if I see that just doing the sight work isn't adequate. Thank you.

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I use a black Sharpie on the rear and gold fingernail polish on the back of the front sight. Works pretty well and easy to touch up or remove. The nail polish comes with a brush already attached, so no clean-up. Acetone will take it right off as well as polish remover.

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Here's what a serrated front sight looks like in particular. :lol:

 

 

OK, after learning several thousand things about Google Photos :wacko:, I came up with this link for my serrated stainless Vaquero front sights:

 

https://goo.gl/photos/KdFJe644PMrqtz4cA

 

I did that file work in just a few minutes with, I believe, a 40 LPI checkering file from Brownells. About 3 or 4 years ago.

 

Good luck, GJ

Edited by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
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