• About USA Carry
  • Advertise
  • Contact
DAILY GUNS & AMMO DEALS - CLICK HERE!
USA Carry
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Resources
    • Concealed Carry Permit Information By State
      • A-E
        • Alabama
        • Alaska
        • American Samoa
        • Arizona
        • Arkansas
        • California
        • Colorado
        • Connecticut
        • Delaware
      • F-J
        • Florida
        • Georgia
        • Guam
        • Hawaii
        • Idaho
        • Illinois
        • Indiana
        • Iowa
      • K-M
        • Kansas
        • Kentucky
        • Louisiana
        • Maine
        • Maryland
        • Massachusetts
        • Michigan
        • Minnesota
        • Mississippi
        • Missouri
        • Montana
      • N-O
        • Nebraska
        • Nevada
        • New Hampshire
        • New Jersey
        • New Mexico
        • New York
        • North Carolina
        • North Dakota
        • Northern Marianas
        • Ohio
        • Oklahoma
        • Oregon
      • P-U
        • Pennsylvania
        • Puerto Rico
        • Rhode Island
        • South Carolina
        • South Dakota
        • Tennessee
        • Texas
        • Utah
      • V-Z
        • Vermont
        • Virgin Islands
        • Virginia
        • Washington
        • Washington D.C.
        • West Virginia
        • Wisconsin
        • Wyoming
    • Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
    • Concealed Carry Permit Examples
  • Articles
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Defensive Gun Use Stories
    • Training
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • EDC
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Directory
    • Firearm Instructors
    • Gun Ranges
    • Gun Stores
    • Gunsmiths
    • Gun Clubs
  • Giveaway
  • Store
  • Deals
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Resources
    • Concealed Carry Permit Information By State
      • A-E
        • Alabama
        • Alaska
        • American Samoa
        • Arizona
        • Arkansas
        • California
        • Colorado
        • Connecticut
        • Delaware
      • F-J
        • Florida
        • Georgia
        • Guam
        • Hawaii
        • Idaho
        • Illinois
        • Indiana
        • Iowa
      • K-M
        • Kansas
        • Kentucky
        • Louisiana
        • Maine
        • Maryland
        • Massachusetts
        • Michigan
        • Minnesota
        • Mississippi
        • Missouri
        • Montana
      • N-O
        • Nebraska
        • Nevada
        • New Hampshire
        • New Jersey
        • New Mexico
        • New York
        • North Carolina
        • North Dakota
        • Northern Marianas
        • Ohio
        • Oklahoma
        • Oregon
      • P-U
        • Pennsylvania
        • Puerto Rico
        • Rhode Island
        • South Carolina
        • South Dakota
        • Tennessee
        • Texas
        • Utah
      • V-Z
        • Vermont
        • Virgin Islands
        • Virginia
        • Washington
        • Washington D.C.
        • West Virginia
        • Wisconsin
        • Wyoming
    • Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
    • Concealed Carry Permit Examples
  • Articles
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Defensive Gun Use Stories
    • Training
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • EDC
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Directory
    • Firearm Instructors
    • Gun Ranges
    • Gun Stores
    • Gunsmiths
    • Gun Clubs
  • Giveaway
  • Store
  • Deals
No Result
View All Result
USA Carry
No Result
View All Result
  • DAILY GUNS & AMMO DEALS – CLICK HERE!
Home Articles

Painting a (Pretty) Sight Picture

Daryl Dempsey by Daryl Dempsey
September 19, 2011 - Updated On February 6, 2019
in Articles, General Firearm
Reading Time: 8 mins read
Painting a (Pretty) Sight Picture

Painting a (Pretty) Sight Picture


All too often, we purchase a firearm with (sometimes) not the sights for our needs. Most often, the rear sight is a single bar, an outline, two dots, or a simple V-notch. The front sight may consist of a dot, a colored insert, an interchangeable Tru-Glo fiber arrangement, or no indicator at all aside from a serrated ramp to deflect glare.

The aftermarket for sights is tremendous and includes everything from interchangeable fiber-optic arrangements, trijicon night sights, pyramid sights, high-visibility sights, laser sights, red-dot tubular and open view sights, and scopes. Ruger offers replacement sights for their GP100 and Redhawk series of revolvers. Sights made from plastic or metal and in different configurations to satisfy the shooter’s requirements are commonplace. Some firearms (e.g., hunting rifles and pistols) do not even come equipped with sights; the choice of sighting system is up to you. Most defensive firearms; however, do come with a set of sets; front and rear (although the rear may be a simple notch in the frame of the gun).

You can purchase optional sights with very little investment or expend hundreds of dollars to find just that right sight for you and your applications. Some you may be able to install yourself while others will require the services of a gunsmith. That is not the point of this piece, however. This article takes aim at those who believe in taking things in their own hands and paint their own pretty sight picture.

I own several pistols that use the outlined rear sight with a dot front sight as well as those with 3-dot sighting systems. In all cases, the dot-style front sight is white and has become useless over time through every-day wear or just age. Like me at times, the sights need some refreshing to keep things in perspective.

Primarily, the choice of colors are limited to white, red, green, and yellow with red being the most popular, it seems – at long as the target that you are shooting at is not red. For defensive use, I lean toward red – fluorescent red to be exact.

As it is, I have an old Norinco “Model of the 1911A1” whose white 3-dot sights have deteriorated to the point of uselessness. I decided rather than investing in a custom set of sights that would require a gunsmith to install, I would simply re-paint the sight in a scheme of my own inclination.

Painting a (Pretty) Sight PictureDetermining the color for the front/rear sight rendered yellow for the rear dots and red for the front sight dot. Although you may paint a pistol sight any color, bright red, yellow and white are best for enhancing visibility. I prefer fluorescent colors as they show up nicely under low light conditions. If you are one that is color-vision deficient, your choice of colors may differ from mine with yellow being the predominate color being used. Testors Model and Hobby have a nice set of fluorescent paints (Ultra-Bright Fluorescent Hobby & Craft Paint Kit) made with Ultra-Bright DAY GLO Pigments.

Another source for sight paint is Bright Sights. I would suggest reading the reviews before you make a decision and whether this is a viable option for you. With that said, remember that preparation is the key to success.

Initially, and for this project, I am using the Fluorescent Yellow for the rear sight dots and Fluorescent Green for the front sight dot. The color scheme is just enough to give the contrast that I am looking for and because the eyes are more receptive to green light, I hope to gain better visual acuity at lower light levels than with red.

Note that I do not have any color-vision deficiency. For a person with a color-vision deficiency, the choice of colors may be different. Those that have protanopia or deuteranopia could also use this color scheme, as all dots would be yellow to the viewer. For a person with tritanopia, the dots would appear as a very light shade of pink to almost white.

If you decide, as I have, to attempt painting your own 3-dot sights, you will need a few things.

  1. A clean, well-lit, and well-ventilated workspace
  2. Alcohol Prep Pads (optional)
  3. Toothpicks (round)
  4. Cotton swabs
  5. Denatured Alcohol or Acetone (nail polish remover)
  6. Padded Clamps or gun vise

As the sights found on my project pistol, one of the most common front sights found on pistols is the simple dot. An indent (cup) holds the paint for the sight. If the sight that you are painting is already painted white, you are halfway home, as the white will serve as a primer. If not, you will need to paint them a flat white to act as a primer and which allows the new-painted colors to stand out.

Regardless, ensure that the firearm is unloaded before you attempt any work on the firearm.

Although you do not have to field strip a pistol to paint the sights, field stripping helps in supporting the slide during the sight painting process. Follow procedures found in the firearm’s manual for specific fieldstripping procedures.

Notes:

  • Do not paint over a bare, unprimed pistol sight, or the paint will peel.
  • Do not use an ordinary oil-based or acrylic latex primer on a pistol sight; the finish will fail.

If you have a padded gun vise, the vice can secure the pistol’s slide for painting. For pistol slides, I simply use an expandable, adjustable-jaws vise found at any big-box DIY stores and which allows me to secure it to the workbench through a vacuum clamping system. The jaws have a rubber covering that will prevent damage to the slide.

For my project, I laid out a series of steps that I needed to follow. The following is a modified version for those who would like to take on the endeavor of painting your 3-dot sighting system.

Instructions

  1. Prepare a clean, well-ventilated, and well-lit workspace.
Workspace Example
Workspace Example

2. With a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, clean the sights to be painted thoroughly, using just enough pressure to get any dirt and oil from the sight cup; Remove any contaminants that will prevent the paint from adhering to the surface that is to be painted.

Prepping the Sights
Prepping the Sights

3. After cleaning the sights, allow the sights thoroughly dry.

4. While the sights are drying, thoroughly mix the paints that you will use. Close the paint jars after mixing to prevent accidental spillage.

5. Secure the slide assembly in a padded gun vice or clamp so that the sights are as level as possible. This may mean that you may have to cant the slide slightly to the rear, as some sights are sloped.

6. Open the bottle of paint that you are going to use for the rear sight.

7. Dip the end of the toothpick slightly into the paint. If you are using round toothpick either end may be used. For flat toothpicks, use the narrow end.

You will not need a lot of paint. The idea is to build up the sight cup with a little bit of paint at a time and not allow the paint to overflow.

8. Dip the end of the toothpick just into the paint and then remove it. If you hold the toothpick down, you will see the paint accumulate at the tip of the toothpick, as gravity does its work. You can roll the painted end of the toothpick against the paint jar to remove excess paint. Using the toothpick, place a dot of paint in the center of the sight cup that is to be painted. You can do this as well with the second cup; working back and forth until paint fills both cups equally with paint.

9. Let dry for a few minutes and then repeat the previous step, if necessary.

If you are satisfied with the painting effort at this time, close the paint bottle and discard the toothpick. If either cup is too full, take a new toothpick and place it in the center of the sight dot. Paint will flow onto the toothpick.

There may be what looks like a glaze around the dots. This is normal and can be removed as follows:

  1. Open the jar of paint thinner.
  2. Stick an unpainted toothpick in the jar of paint thinner. This will saturate the toothpick with thinner.
  3. While rolling the toothpick in your hand, swab around the painted area.
  4. Repeat Step 3, as necessary; gradually removing any residue and the newly painted dot will be as sharp as it can be.

10. Open the paint jar that you are using for the dot on the front sight.

11. Stir the paint until the paint is completely mixed.

12. As you did in a previous step, dip the end of the toothpick slightly into the paint. If you are using round toothpick either end may be used. For flat toothpicks, use the narrow end.

You will not need a lot of paint. The idea is to build up the sight cup a little bit of paint at a time and not allow the paint to overflow.

13. Place a dot of paint in the center of the sight cup. Repeat, as necessary, to fill the front sight’s dot cup.

Painting the Front Sight
Painting the Front Sight

Note: If the sight cups were already painted white, use just enough paint to cover the white. The sight cup is usually convex and the paint will draw towards the center of the dot.

14. If you are satisfied with the painting effort at this time, close the paint bottle and discard the toothpick. If the front sight cup is too full, you can take a new toothpick and place it in the center of the sight dot. Paint will flow onto the toothpick.

15. Once satisfied, allow the paint to cure for at least 4 hours. However, overnight is preferable.

Once the paint has fully dried, inspect your work. In most cases, the sights are going to have a professional look to them and you will notice the difference right away from your old sights.

If you do not like the color or the way the work turned out, simply use a cotton swab soaked in paint thinner to clean out the sight cups and then start anew with a different, or the same, color.

The enamel paint used to paint the sights, although durable, will not stand up to strong chemicals used for gun cleaning. Avoid cleaning around the sight area with gun cleaning chemicals. Some who re-paint their sights put a dab of clear paint or clear fingernail polish over the painted sight. Some DYI sight painting jobs can last a year. Most often, a touch-up at some point in time will be necessary. Most painting attempts fail due to the improper preparation of the surface to be painted.

The Finished Product
The Finished Product

You may have noticed in the finished project that the front sight is fluorescent red. After looking at the project upon completion, I decided that red was a better color due to the very small front sight dot, as it gave the sights more contrast. What were a worn out set of sights is now, at least, usable again on this combat handgun. In addition, the improperly drilled-out right dot was out of alignment with the left dot. What can you expect out of a pistol that was $250 at the time? With that said, this gun has turned out to be a performer above my expectations with few modifications.

I will probably change out the rear sight at some point, possibly with a XS 24/7 Express Sights arrangement (if I can find one for this gun); my little paint job will suffice in the meantime.

Tags: paintingsights
Previous Post

CCRKBA Thanks N.H. Lawmakers for Expanding Self-Defense Rights

Next Post

How to Choose a Self-Defense Lawyer

Daryl Dempsey

Daryl Dempsey

Daryl Dempsey is an Oath keeper, veteran, ex-law enforcement officer and trainer, and an independent conservative libertarian that believes in the Constitution of the United States. He has over forty years of experience as a Technical Writer and Training Program Developer and has as many years devoted to the keeping and bearing of arms.

Related Posts

Maximizing Your Firearms Training: The Benefits of Training Partners and Accountability
Training

Maximizing Your Firearms Training: The Benefits of Training Partners and Accountability

by Ethan Vaughn
March 29, 2023
Retired Police Officer and Burglary Suspect Hospitalized After Exchanging Gunfire
DGU

Retired Police Officer and Burglary Suspect Hospitalized After Exchanging Gunfire

by Sean Holt
March 29, 2023
Armed Bystander Helps Disarm Knife-Wielding Suspect at Las Vegas Mall
DGU

Armed Bystander Helps Disarm Knife-Wielding Suspect at Las Vegas Mall

by Luke McCoy
March 29, 2023
Father Shoots Daughter's Abusive Ex-Boyfriend in Act of Self-Defense
DGU

Father Shoots Daughter’s Abusive Ex-Boyfriend in Act of Self-Defense

by Sean Holt
March 28, 2023
Fatal Shooting at Family Dollar: When Emotions Override Responsibility
DGU

Fatal Shooting at Family Dollar: When Emotions Override Responsibility

by Luke McCoy
March 28, 2023
Next Post
How to Choose a Self-Defense Lawyer

How to Choose a Self-Defense Lawyer

4 3 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Connect with
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Please login to comment
13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
USA Carry

© 2022 USA Carry LLC

Navigate Site

  • Concealed Carry Resources
  • Articles
  • Forums
  • Directory
  • Giveaway
  • Store
  • Deals

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Resources
    • Concealed Carry Permit Information By State
      • Alabama
      • Alaska
      • American Samoa
      • Arizona
      • Arkansas
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Connecticut
      • Delaware
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Guam
      • Hawaii
      • Idaho
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Kentucky
      • Louisiana
      • Maine
      • Maryland
      • Massachusetts
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Mississippi
      • Missouri
      • Montana
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
      • Northern Marianas
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • Puerto Rico
      • Rhode Island
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Vermont
      • Virgin Islands
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington D.C.
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
    • Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
    • Concealed Carry Permit Examples
  • Articles
    • Concealed Carry
    • Reviews
    • Defensive Gun Use Stories
    • Training
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • EDC
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Directory
    • Firearm Instructors
    • Gun Ranges
    • Gun Stores
    • Gunsmiths
    • Gun Clubs
  • Giveaway
  • Store

© 2022 USA Carry LLC

Popup Button
wpDiscuz
13
0
Join the conversation, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply
You are going to send email to

Move Comment