i made a post yesterday concerning my new P3AT and included a pic of the fluorescent sights i painted on myself. a number have commented on the sights so i thought i'd make a post on the sights alone. first off, i know others have made posts concerning paiting sights with fluorescent paint. to give credit where credit is due, i read up on a number of posts here and at other websites before partaking of this venture to get ideas. i've attached a pic of the sights and the materials necessary. really easy to do if you take your time and are willing to give it two, three, or ten tries till you get it just right! all you need are testors fluorescent green and orange acrylic paints and a fine-tipped hobby brush. i bought all this at wal-mart in the models aisle. i used some borrowed nail polish remover from my neighbor to clean the brush and remove any paint from the sights if i wasn't satisfied with the look. to make life easier, UNLOAD the gun and break it down to take the slide off. much easier to handle and paint when you're dealing with the slide alone. for the front sight i used the orange. after trial and error i found that getting a good dab on the very tip worked best and simply pressing down in the indention on the front sight to fill it in with paint. getting this right didn't take too long. for the rear sights i tried painting in the entire sight window first but found it too distracting for my tastes. i like things to look clean and refined. so, i settled for two dots placed just right on either side of the rear sight notch. again, get a decent dab of paint on just the tip of the brush and "dot" each spot. don't brush anything. this might take a few tries to get it just right if you're picky. most definitely makes acquisition and aim MUCH easier!
Since you made it its own thread I'll ask - not meaning to be a PITA and critique everything but I am a PITA. Why didn't you swap the colors? The green stands out SO much more and the front sight is the one that you are most worried about. I know that all the pictures/brochures/directions etc. have the red in the front but that never has made sense to me!?! And fwiw - I truly am asking because I want to know as I have two bottles of sight paint sitting in the gun box waiting to go on. I have used the glow-in-the-dark paint at it is really nice when exposed to light but not practical because my concealed weapons are never exposed to light. And your dots are much nicer than mine too!!! -Scott
scott--good question. guess you could say 6 one way or half dozen the other! personal preference maybe? whatever works for the individual would be my suggestion. for me, i like the orange in front. it did cross my mind before painting that swapping the colors might be better but i'm plenty satisfied with the way it turned out.
one more pic . . . just took this one outside in good daylight. i think both the green and orange show up very well. certainly make a clear contrast!
I have heard and agree that in bright sunlight the green on the front site blends in too well with grass and that is the reason for making the front red/orange. In a dim light situation the red and orange still stand out against the green, so its the best of both worlds. I have my P11 and P32 set up with orange in the front and green in the rear and like it but to each his own. Brent.....who perhaps should buy a 3AT and paint the sites blue and white incase the bad guy comes out of the sky...
I painted my 2gen P3-AT the way mpowell did because the Bright Sights Gunsights Coating company said so: "We suggest using green on the rear sights and orange on the front, for maximum effect." Who am I to argue with those who know better?
According to a report I read about Williams Firesights supposedly the green color is more visible in low light due to some aspect of the color spectrum. I then bought a green front sight for a rifle. I have compared it in varying light conditions with a red one I already had. There is very little difference, but I actually prefer the red one. With my eyes it is more visible just a few minutes longer at dusk than the green one. My P3AT has white both in front and rear. Maybe it's time for a change as it's been a while....
My paint kept wearing off so I installed a Hiviz green fiber optic mid rib shot gun bead. It's tiny and doesn't snag from pocket carry. Also comes in red. Easy to install. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w131/shayes223/ktog/Picture124.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w131/shayes223/ktog/Picture126.jpg
Hey shayes223, where did yiu get that optic shotgun bead, how much did it cost, and how did you install it?
Followed mpowells' post on painting sights. Let dry overnight. My wife, who is a professional model, suggested a top coat of clear nail polish. She said that Sally Hansen's "Hard As Nails With Nylon" is the best...available at Walmart.
On a more serious note, I painted my front sight "glow" green ($1/bottle @Walmart). It doesnt glow, but was the brightest I could find. I covered w/ liquid bandage and it has held up perfect for over a year of daily carry and regular cleanings. That liquid bandage is tough stuff, and handy for the medicine cabinet as well.
