question about black sights

[Blackhawk556]

Asked on another board but no success. The sights are adjustable with a solid front and back (sorry, don't know the correct term for these sights). Do you guys find they are hard to pick up because of no red/green/white dot to focus on? If you had a choice on exact gun, one with adjustable sights and one with 3dot system, which would you pick?

[Vanilla Gorilla]

i have used both and either way works for me

[evidens83]

My RIA Tactical has all black sights and I have no problems picking up targets But honestly I would prefer some sort of dot on all of my handgun sights.

[Blackhawk556]

What about painting the front Sight? You think that will help?

[jdg30]

I prefer having some contrast between the front and rear sights. On a couple revolvers I was having trouble picking up the black front sight when aiming quickly so I painted part of the front sight blade with orange nail polish. It makes a big difference for me and is a lot easier to pick up because of the contrast between orange front and black rear. The paint especially helps in lower light.

I also have 3-dot night sights on most my other guns and they work well.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

What about painting the front Sight? You think that will help?

if you are having trouble picking up the front sight then you might want to paint it people have been painting their front sight for years or you could go true old school and have a gold bead installed in the front sight

[Blackhawk556]

A gold bead????? That has to be old school, I've never heard of this. Pic?

[Blackhawk556]

@@@vanilla gorilla....its not that I'm having trouble, I'm trying to decide to buy a gun with standard 3dot sights or one with adjustable sights. I'm worried about the 3 dot not being POA/POI.

[jakuda]

For bullseye shooting with circular bullseye and white/beige paper, normal black, adjustable sights are ideal. People will hold six-oclock or sub-sixoclock, so flat black is better than red paint, 3-dots, or beads.

For tactical-type shooting, adjustable black don't work as well, as the top of the front sight can get lost on dark targets in low light situations (dawn, dusk, shade).

If I had to pick, I'll go for standard black, adjustable Bomar type sights, but I'm a bullseye shooter. Otherwise, I'd go for adjustable black rear, with a green/red fiber optic front sight.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

A gold bead????? That has to be old school, I've never heard of this. Pic?

Black on black sights, once upon a time, were more commonly seen for bullseye competition where a more precise sight picture is required. The gold (or brass if you go cheap - it tarnishes) is a variation on that theme; I have that set up on my bullseye S&W Model 625.

[wang949]

I had trouble with all black sights when shooting quickly or shooting at a black target. Testors brand modeling paint fixed that. I painted the front sight florescent red and the contrast really helps get a quicker sight picture.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Black on black sights, once upon a time, were more commonly seen for bullseye competition where a more precise sight picture is required. The gold (or brass if you go cheap - it tarnishes) is a variation on that theme; I have that set up on my bullseye S&W Model 625.

also the gold bead was used before night sights were invented because the gold gathers light better and will almost work as good as night sights

[Vanilla Gorilla]

@@@vanilla gorilla....its not that I'm having trouble, I'm trying to decide to buy a gun with standard 3dot sights or one with adjustable sights. I'm worried about the 3 dot not being POA/POI.

oh ok i see
you can adjust fixed sights by drifting the front and rear sights to get your windage but if you are worried about not being able to fully adjust your sights then get the adjustable sights

[S dot]

I have been looking at adding a gold sight on my 1911any have any recommendations for san diego area?

[plsmyk]

Do a search on 1911Forum.com. You'll find quite a few threads regarding this topic and some will have some nice pictures of what people are using.

http://forums.1911forum.com/index.php

Specifically search the "General Gun Dicsussion" and "Gunsmithing and Troubleshooting" sub-forums.

What seems to be quite popular these days for a "fighting pistol" is a fixed sight set with the rear being plain black (Novak, Heinie, 10-8, Harrison Design, etc.) and the front having a gold, brass, white or fiber optic bead.