Custom color those front sights yourself...

For anyone who still uses open sights, ever notice they get harder to see when you shoot "off paper"? Those dark front posts and blued or black rears get fuzzy when hunting in the deep woods or shooting late in those perfect early evenings when you just cant miss until the sunlight fades?
We've all been there...

So what's a cheap bastich to do? A Crosman or Daisy just doesn't seem to be a good recipient for one of those high dollar front sight kits. I mean really....The kits cost more than the gun did.

Here's what I did years ago that has worked so well, I'll never purchase a "kit". It's so simple that pictures are not needed. Two easy to find ingredients are required and you probably already have them handy.

Clean and degrease all surfaces well. Paint the front with a solvent based White-Out. Ever notice how hard that stuff is to get off your hands and anywhere else you never meant for it to get? Try to carefully apply it on thick enough to make a rounded bead versus a flat surface. You're adding surface area here. I'll explain later. Let it dry for several minutes and avoid touching it.

You can easily add a white outline, white post, triangle post, three dot, whatever to the rear sight by first masking off the desired pattern with masking tape. Apply the Whiteout a little thinner this time. Just one good coat will be sufficient here. Remove the tape carefully so as not to disturb the crisp paint line. Let it dry. It finishes better if you can remove the tape before the paint sets up. Waiting may cause paint to chip and disturb your lines.

Now pick your favorite Highlighter color. I prefer orange for the front. Dab it on. Don't rub it on. Dabbing doesn't scrub away any paint and goes on much thicker. Again, let it dry.

I color my preferred pattern, rear triangle post, with yellow. It contrasts well with the orange front "bead". The front "bead" I mentioned earlier as "added surface area", will appear to be brighter than just a flat bead. Flourescent paint is actually translucent and needs a base of pigment to reflect off of. More pigmened surface will reflect more light.

The base coat of whiteout you applied has a good deal of white pigment in it. The whiteout also seems to be slightly porous in that it absorbs the highlighter and retains it better than typical white paint does.

Don't like your current wide front post? Easy enough to change.
If your sights are plastic, use an exacto knife against a straight edge. Only, instead of using the blade tip to slice with, you want to use the back of the blade tip as a scraper to remove a v-groove of plastic as you pull it towards you. (Using the blade tip the other way makes a slice that will have raised edges that need to be touched up first) You can now fill the groove with paint to make a very narrow front post.

If your front is metal, you'll have to mask it off like the rear sights before painting.

I have a Remington 1100 slug gun that was my first project/victim. It still carries the original application from a dozen years ago! It wears just that well. Of course, front sights are not fingered all that much and don't rust as easy. I also avoid vigorously scrubbing the sights when I clean the gun.
A little gun oil, here and there over the years hasn't noticably affected the finish over the years.

If the color does fade in time, or you want to switch colors, remove it with a solvent dipped Q-tip. You could probably just reapply whiteout over the old
and recolor it. It would take all of a few minutes.

I have old bottles of Testors flourescent model paint I've had decent results with. A base coat of white will be required here first, with several hours needed between coats. That time between coats was what prompted my original vision of the "Whiteout" method above. I was in a hurry to get back to deer hunting and was too impatient.I've long since shelved the modeling paint in favor of what I believe is a better, cheaper, method.

For Sale Cheap!- Almost antique bottles of Testors Flourescent Model paint, still with original contents inside. Colors include Pink, Orange, and Yellow. Will be sold as a set only! Highest bidder by September 2, takes them home. Nigerian Scammers, need not reply....All other bidders will eventually be clued in on my attempted humor. LOL

Counting down the days until my neck surgery this Friday.
And the big honkin' steak dinner the night before. LOL

Peace Out,



Haywire