Front Sight Paint

R

Roland Thunder

New member
I would like some suggestions for paint to use for the front sights of my Springfield 1911. The face of the front sight is serrated and all the paint I have tried doesn't stick very well to the curved edge of the sight
 
What ever paint you use, unless you are real careful, will come off when the cleaning solvent hits it.
No biggie, just clean the sight real good with alcohol and repaint it every time.
The best paint for the job seems to be the little bottles of model paint, from the hobby shop.
 
Big Box sporting goods stores sell "day glo" fishing lure paint. I've found it to easier to apply than nail polish as it is thick and gummy, but it takes quite a while to dry to a hard, durable finish. It is nice and visible, however.
 
Use finger nail polish. The good stuff sticks to anything. There are more colors than you can imagine. I like the bright green, almost chartreuse. Start with a white base coat, let it dry, add the top coat. Mrs. assisted with this one.
 
+1 on fingernail polish. OR, the little bottles of auto paint touchup stuff you can find at wally-world.
 
Another vote for nail polish. If you are OCD like me it might take a few tries applying and removing until you get it to look just right, but once you do it stays put.
 
I have tried the BrightSights paint kit from Midway. I would not recommend it. I thoroughly cleaned the surface of the sights, but it still just does not stick. A thin coat doesn't add much color. a thicker coat peels off easily. Multiple thin coats adds sufficient color, but again leaves a soft vinyl like surface that peels away with contact to most anything.
It might be alright to change the color of dots, but to paint the entire angled surface of a revolver front sight it is not very durable.
I was successful at adding little white stripes on each side of the White bar rear sight on my KAHR CM9, but there was little groves to just fill in with paint, and protect it from contact so it isn't rubbed away.
 
You guys telling the women at Wally World's war paint counter, you're painting your gun? HAHAHAAHA.
You degrease before painting?
"...auto paint touch-up stuff..." Is made to go on steel. So is Krylon. Testor's model paint is for plastic. Nail polish and fishing lure paint is acrylic.
If it's running off a curved surface, it sounds like you may have put it on too thick.
 
If you use enamel model paint, get a enamel primer as well.

It works great for the dot sights, but doesnt like to stick to the corners of plain sights. So hopefully primer will help their.


Fingernail polish is good, it's thick and sticks well.
 
The wife's nail polish. She bought me red, green, white, and orange for different applications.

Just reapply when it will eventually rub off.
 
I just use liquid paper/white out. Sure it wears off after awhile, but it's easy to put on and easy to take off. It works and it's cheap.
 
Sharpie makes an oil based paint pen. Used one a month or so ago for the front sight on a revolver. Very easy application and happy with the results.
 
Prep Well

Any paint job is no better than its preparation. For a serrated front sight, I brush out the serrations well with a brass bristle brush, then clean with acetone. Acetone is an excellent degreaser that evaporates immediately so you can paint right away. I like to use flourescent paint with a topcoat of clear nail polish for wear resistance. While they make every imaginable color of nail polish, I've yet to find one that's truly flourescent. Maybe this Halloween....... The tip on fishing lure paint has some merit; I will look into that. But nail polish is so easy, dries rather quickly, wears well, touches up easily, convenient and cheap. I keep some in my shooting kit; you can hardly beat it.
 
I've wondered about this too for my llama, but it has the drilled holes in the back for the paint and I don't think I have steady enough hands to paint just the inside of them.
 
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