Cure for the 1911 GI sight blues

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5whiskey

New member
OK, so many of us buy a GI style gun for price, then many other for aesthetics. At any rate, tons of folks would like an option to deal with GI sights. Well, there are upgrade sight options out there, and some aren't terribly expensive. I'm kind of proud of this alternative, however, and it is virtually free. It is not terribly difficult, so I'm not going to narrate extensively. But here goes.

First, if you have the rounded "thumbnail" front sight... Well it is horrible when there is light overhead. Or behind you. Or if you are trying to hit a black target. So, that rounded sight profile has to go. I little file work and I came up with this...



As you can see I didn't just change the profile, I also added a white dot. This was easily enough accomplished with a center punch. Very light strokes are required, and even then it will displace enough metal that you will have to file the top and side. I cold blued all exposed metal, then added a drop of white enamel paint with a toothpick.

Well that helps me focus on the front sight much better. MUCH better. Now my problem is I can't focus on the rear sight well enough for good sight alignment. So, they get the white dot treatment. Here is the sight profile once finished. Onced again, gentle strokes with a center punch, filing any displaced metal, cold blue, and a drop of white enamel paint.



Lastly, I did add some luminescent paint. I used glow on brand. It isn't the same as true night sights, but it is quite usable for a couple hours after being charged with a flashlight. And its nice to use at the range.



I know the purists will not care for it. I also know that it not as good as some lower profile colt sights. I was prepared with other sight options in case this didn't work. So far so good though.
 
C

Cheapshooter

New member
Thanks!
Great idea for improving the standard military sights. Just the thing for my 1927 Argentine Systems Colt. It was already very obviously reblued, and a couple other mods made, so collector value is not an issue. I was going to get new sights put on, but this is a great first option. If I screw it up, oh well, I was going to have new sights installed anyway.
 
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pblanc

New member
Glow-on paint must vary considerably in its quality. I tried it and it was terrible, and I mean terrible. I applied multiple coats, which was hard to do because of a pasty, gritty consistency. Even after "charging" the paint by placing the pistol directly under a 75 W incandescent bulb for hours, I found that the glow was very dull, and usable for 10 minutes, at best.

It was the Glow-on brand I used, purchased from Amazon and was the only item I have ever returned to Amazon. If you read the reviews for Glow-on paint from those who tried it for gun sights, you will find many had the same experience I did, although there were some who liked it.
 
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Cheapshooter

New member
Just be careful with the punch! That's the best advice I can give.
Click to expand...
Thinking very small, very sharp pointed punch to begin with. Then work up a little at a time until the "dot" is large enough.
 
5

5whiskey

New member
Pblanc I've found the glow on brand to be acceptable. I would say that the glow on paint will hang with tritium sights for about 1 or 1.5 hours after charging for 20 seconds with a good flashlight. They are way brighter than tritium for about 30 minutes after charge. After 2 hours its not usable.

At any rate, with or without the glow on paint these are muchmeasier on the eyes than standard GI sights. At least for me. I still will probably do a better sight upgrade one day, but these will do for now.
 
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pblanc

New member
As I said, Glow-on paint must vary dramatically in quality. If you read the reviews on Amazon that came from people who used it specifically for gunsights you will see they break down into two categories: quite positive and absolutely terrible.

In my case, I charged the painted sights for hours, took the pistol into a totally darkened room, and timed how long it took for the glow to become unusable. I would say it was better than tritium night sights for about 1-2 minutes. By 10 minutes the glow had dimmed to very faint. By 20-30 minutes the glow was basically unusable.

Another problem I had with the paint was that it dried to an uneven, dull, off-white color that actually made the sight dots less visible in daylight.
 
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