[kurtzbm]

As posted in "Range Reports" forum, I took my new SS 1911 Loaded to an indoor range the other day.

Range session went rather well, however I did find that I had difficulty seeing the front sight, esp after extended shooting time. In fact, after I was done shooting...I couldn't see out of my left eye for a half hour, made driving difficult.

My right(dominant) eye began to fatigue after a while, I think, and the front sight began blurring along with everything else when I was aiming.

Now the lighting isn't so great at this indoor range, so that might be a part of it, but when I shot with a 9mm XD with three dot sights, it seemed much easier.

I really wish now, that I had gotten it with Novak sights. Too late for that I guess. Anyway, could anyone suggest a good front sight replacement that I can see? Or should I just do like we did in the Marine Corps and paint the front sight with White-Out?

 

[angie diaz]

painting the front sight is good but get your eyes checked also.

 

[Gadgetman]

Front sight? What are you talking about? Whoa! I didn't know that was there. Guess I better get to the eye doc.

 

[kels]

The night sites on my loaded springer are nice for low light conditions.

Hate to say it, but the bifocals in my NEW glasses also help :hrm:
(old age sucks)

 

[pesty3782]

front sight

I have night sights on both of my duty guns, but what I did is get a small bottle of model airplane paint any color you like, I use a bright orange and I painted around my night sight insert with a tooth pick. The front sight jumps out at you in day light, but doesn't take away from the night sight in the dark.

I also painted my 5 shot revolver's front sight.

Tony P.

 

[Ramon]

Blurred sight

I bought a new SA TGO. It has the Dawson fronsight with a red optical piece of plastic in it that makes a HUGE difference. Much easier to sight in. Good luck. Getting old is the pits but much better than the alternative!

 

[Delija]

I used the model airplane paint (Testors) on my front sight...stainless loaded.

BTW, the all black sights ARE Novaks.

Peace,
D.

 

[OZ 1911]

I have a 'Loaded s/s and also have problems seeing the front sight. I now paint it with blue "white-out". This gives a good contrast without being to bright.

Good luck Grant

 

[kurtzbm]

Ummmm.....as to my eye sight...it's not the best...but I can se 20/20 with my glasses. At 26 yrs old, I don't think my eyesight is getting any worse with "old age". It checked out fine when I did my final exit physical upon discharge from the Marine Corps last year.

That said, I might as well be blind without my glasses or contact lenses though. Compounded with having a case of red/green color blindness (yes I can see the difference in traffic lights) my vision has never been the best. I want to save up for some laser surgery, but whenever we get a little money, I seem to buy a gun.

Strangely enough, good eye sight doesn't seem to be a requirement for being a good marksman. Whenever I went to the rifle range I was in the top 10 out of about 300 or so shooters. At the pistol range I was always #1 or #2. Guys would always complain about not being able see the target very well at 300 yards blah blah blah. I kept telling them...you don't need to see the target, just the front sight. Get a good position, manage breathing and trigger and it somehow just works out like magic. They never believed me.

Anyway.....I think I'll go get some paint for my front sight from walmart today.

 

[JTWard]

The last time I went to the eye doc I had three sets of lenses made. One set has clear progressive lenses for indoor use, optimized for reading and TV watching, but also useful for driving at night. The second set is heavily tinted neutral gray for daytime driving and general outdoor use. The third set is tinted light yellow to boost contrast. I had the doc write the prescription for these so that the focus point is on the tip of my index finger with my arm and hand outstretched in front of me. The tip of my finger is within a half-inch of the distance to the front sight on my Springer GI model. All three sets of lenses are mounted in Randall Engineering titanium wire rim frames - USAF issue. I've worn these frames, or the identical American Optical "Skymaster" frame, since I was 16

Having a set of glasses optimized for seeing the front sight was the best thing I've ever done. I can easily see the space on each side of the front sight now, and group sizes shrunk by half, at least. It's also a lot easier to concentrate on the front sight as it's the only thing in perfect focus.