Gold Bar Sights

The Evangelist Cowboy said:

Do ya'll have gold bars installed on your revolver's front sight? I'd like to order such a thing for my 586 but I only find the beads not the bars, any suggestions?

Click to expand...

IIRC, back in the day gold bars were used to mark different elevations for different ranges. Trial and error was needed to determine where to install them. Gold wire was most commonly used, and was set into a groove milled into the sight.

I wish i could point ya in the right direction. I'm currently in the process of making a nice neat verticle line on my gp100's front sight. I picked up a .100" dawsons front sight and fitted it tonight. Now I gotta figure how to cut/file a line dead center so it paints nice ,neat and crisp. I tried taping it off than painting a line on the factory sight as a test run and was not happy with the way it turned out. So I came to the conclusion I need some sort of groove to lay the paint in.

My eyes suck and I'm starting to not like fiber optics , I keep trying to drive the dot when aiming quick . I wish someone made a brass blade I could just drop in and be done with it.however the narrower front sight does help me alot.

The Evangelist Cowboy said:

Do ya'll have gold bars installed on your revolver's front sight? I'd like to order such a thing for my 586 but I only find the beads not the bars, any suggestions?

Click to expand...

The best way I can think to accomplish that would be to mark the original sight with something you can easily clean off, a fine tipped white (on a black sight) paint pen until you have it exactly where you want. Then cut and fill with the gold wire in those spots.

I did the first half (used a black paint pen on a SS front sight) on my 681-2. Marked it for 100yrds using a 140gr XTP over H110 handload. It worked very well. Worth noting is that at extended range it will generally only work for that one load.

I don't know of a source for sights like that, other than custom gunsmiths. They are typically not zeroed for any particular load or range but are used strictly as a reference.

You may get in touch with Clement's custom guns: his website says he can make a custom front sight with gold bars for Rugers. There may be a way to adapt one to your Smith.

You may end up finding that you can't even see those bars well enough to use them for elevation changes.
I think they're something of a gimmick.
Denis

Whether you can see them or not, they definitely have limited application.

I had a gold dot on my SW625jm and I changed it to a green FO HiViz sight that I like much better. You’ll just have to find what you see best with your eyes.

The Evangelist Cowboy said:

What do you think of the Gold Bead sights? The gun has a fixed rear sight and it wont be used for hunting (maybe a backup to a shotgun if anything on hogs and whitetail) . https://www.brownells.com/search/index.htm?k=gold+sight+bead

Click to expand...

I haven't decided yet. I've put them on an SRH and a couple GP's but have yet to do enough shooting with them to render judgment.

CraigC said:

Whether you can see them or not, they definitely have limited application.

Click to expand...

Elmer Keith thought differently.....

Elmer Keith used them for long range shooting. That's a limited application.

The gold bars are an OK idea, but you can do about the same thing with the S&W red inserts or a dot on the front sight blade, they are all just some point of reference to have somewhat of a repeatable hold for distance shooting. With a glock 19 and WWB loads, the hold on the 300 yard 18" plate was holding the rear sight at about 2/3 down the bead, and the tip of the front sight splitting the plate as best i could. it was fairly repeatable, i made many first round hits when Id first start shooting on any given day without ranging in.

A neighbor bought a g-20, the first time she tried it on the 300 yard plate, she asked how to hold (sight picture). I told her the hold I used with my 19 and suggested it as a starting point and adjust as needed, she hit the plate right away, I dont recall if it was the first shot or first couple, but it apparently was close enough.

CraigC said:

Elmer Keith used them for long range shooting. That's a limited application.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I dont think you even need any reference points until past 200 yards. Theres so little hold up of the front sight at 200 compared to 300 that theres not much point putting anything on the sight for reference.

Gold beads are fine.
True gold doesn't tarnish like brass, stays bright, and it's easily visible through a good range of lighting conditions.

I've got gold beads on handguns & quite like 'em.
Just make sure they're REAL gold.
Denis

Ive had Sourdough sights with brass faces, and have a couple blades with gold, but so far havent found anything better for low light than Neon Pop Traffic Cone orange nail polish (forget the brand). Much better than fiber optics in low light. The old plain steel blade front sight on my 1920s Winchester 94 carbine stands out great for dusk skunk patrols around the yard. Nothing else worked as well in low light besides a scope, but I didnt care for a scoped carbine around the yard for skunk patrol duty, especially when the super bright orange works so well.

I only prefer gold dots or “beads,” when shooting fast. In such case, I want them paired with a V notch rear with a white line, instead of the square notch patridge type standard to Rugers. This yields a “lollipop” sight picture which is very fast to acquire. Same holds true, for me, with fiber optic rod front sights.