Need a brighter front sight on my 1911

[Capybara]

Hi all:

Hoping the experts here can recommend a better front sight for me for my 1911-A1. In daylight, it is usable for me but indoors, I cannot even see the front sight post most of the time. The rear sight says "Novak", which I know are quality but what good do they do me when I cannot even see them indoors?
Brass bead like my S&W 625 has or fiber optic, or white dot. Would prefer to keep the rear sight, if possible, but if need be, I can switch out front and rear. Just don't know what to buy. Mostly use this gun for the range but this could turn into my HD weapon if I could see the sights. Advice?

[Vin63]

This is what I did on my Trophy Match (I should've done this years ago) Dawson Precision FO front sight...50 year old eyes needed some help. Dave recommended a .100 width in my case because of the low lighting and black backstop (with a black bullseye target I really struggled) of the indoor range I frequent the most.

[TheExiled]

Is the front cut, or is it a post? I usually stick with Trijicons or the couple companies that use their lamps

[keenkeen]

Gold bead....

[SNCaliber]

fiber optic helps a lot at the range, but night sights if HD use

[bombadillo]

Seriously if you don't need Trijicon night sights or anything like that, this stuff has been great on all my guns.




I have used it on autos, revolvers, and .22lr rimfires. Just a little bit on the front sight with neon orange, and neon green on the rear blade or dots, and it works incredibly. Paint it white first, let it dry, then do the neon and it makes it really nice and bright. $8.00 and you can thank me later!

[wamphyri13]

Tape off the entire gun leaving only the needed side of the sight left showing.
Clean it, then hit it with white primer from a spray can. When dry, hit it with the brightest orange or green neon paint spray can. Untape and go shoot. I've done it to several guns and it works great. And it's really easy to redo. If you want brighter, wear a clip on light on a ball cap while shooting indoors. The light should hit it just right.
Ryan

[bombadillo]

A crappy view of what I'm saying, but it definitely looks better in person. Cheap fix.

[Fishslayer]

Seriously if you don't need Trijicon night sights or anything like that, this stuff has been great on all my guns.

LOL... I was gonna post a pic of my own bottle of white Testors. You saved me the trouble.

I've also used Krylon Safety Orange applied with a toothpick.

[TheWoodCrafter]

I just, last night, decided I needed brighter sights on my 1911.
I asked my daughter if she had some white nail polish.
Cleaned the sights and dabbed some nail polish on the impressions on the rear sights and covered the rear of the front sight.
Done.
Looks pretty good and didn't cost a dime.

[redcliff]

Gold bead....

My favorite too. It's the original "high visibility" front sight on handguns. The fiber optics work very good too but I prefer the gold beads more classic appearance.

In regard to the OP, I would just leave your rear sight alone. Personally I find three dot sights more distracting; I want my focus to shift to the front sight dot without having to eliminate other dots. Where the front sight goes the rest of the pistol follows.

[enzo357]

Back when I started shooting used to paint my front sight. Works alright. A fiber optic is way better.

[squiddo]

I'm really enjoying the plain black unotch rear paired with a fiber optic front. Many good ones are out there (several already being mentioned) but 10-8 Performance are really good.

[fiddletown]

I like a plain black rear sight with a wide notch paired with a gold bead front sight.

Here's a link to an article I wrote about setting up this arrangement on several of my 1911s.

[XDJYo]

Maybe a stupid question, but on a Loaded model, it seems like the front sight is dovetailed. But, it is staked too?

I guess, ultimately, if it isn't staked, I am thinking of trying to replace the front sight to a Fiber Optic on my own.

Thanks!