Thick Front Sight Blades

[Bazoo]

In Sixguns by Elmer Keith, there was mention made of having custom sights made with 1/4" wide front blades to compensate for aging eyes. Has anyone ever done this?

 

[Walkalong]

Never heard of it, would have to have a huge rear sight. Old eyes need more light, so a skinny front blade with a good gap on either side between it and the rear sight is best, lets more light through each side.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Never heard of it, would have to have a huge rear sight. Old eyes need more light, so a skinny front blade with a good gap on either side between it and the rear sight is best, lets more light through each side.

"Skinny" front sight IS the hard part. Mostly found on "race" guns, Cowboy shooters do it all the time.

Mike

 

[ChiefTJS]

I’ve found a .10” front sight to be ideal for me personally. I’ve had a couple machined, but mostly I’ve gotten blades from Dawson for S&W’s and GP100’s

 

[Pat Riot]

A wide front blade means widening the rear gap.
I used to do CAS. I have crummy eyesight even with glasses. The last two revolvers I used in CAS are stainless Vaqueros. Even the font sight blade was shiny stainless. On a sunny day I would lose my front sites to the glare.
I tried a number of things including buying one of those wide brass base snap on front sights. For me it was a waste of money.
What I found that works for me is contrast.
I took a file to the rear of the front side blade to rough it up. Then I blackened the face of the rear sight trough. The silver front sight stood out in the blackened rear sight gap.
Problem solved. Contrast!

It’s the same for me with iron rifle sights. I need contrast or a large gap in the rear sight if both sight are blackened.
On my lever guns I love XS Sights white stripe front blade. I wish I could find revolver and Glock sights with that same center white stripe on the front sight.

 

[Bazoo]

I have found I shoot better with more light around the front sight blade. I went from a .125 notch in my Blackhawk's rear blade to a .140 and it made a lot of difference for me.

 

[nofendertom]

^^^^^^^ Me too. I just widened the rear sight notch on my ATI 1911 Commander. It made a very noticeable difference.

 

[chicharrones]

In Sixguns by Elmer Keith, there was mention made of having custom sights made with 1/4" wide front blades to compensate for aging eyes. Has anyone ever done this?

The closest I’ve done to that is install XS Big Dot fronts with shallow V rears on a pair of auto loaders. Helps me immensely, but certainly they are non-precision sights.

 

[Jim Watson]

I wonder what the few remains iron sight bullseye shooters prefer.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Within reason, wider works better for me...assuming the rear notch is a comparable width.
Moon

 

[Laphroaig]

I wonder what the few remains iron sight bullseye shooters prefer.

Don't ask me, I went to Red Dot's about 10 years ago. But I do shoot a fair amount of iron sighted air pistol. The key is to focus on the front sight once everything is lined up. Older eye's do better with a wide blade.

Same principle in rifle sights. The Marines fabricated wide front blades for 1903 Springfield rifles. A lot of people swear by them.

 

[stonebuster]

I see the thick front sight on my Model 10-7 snub than the very skinny Pre Model 10 snub's front sight.

 

[sparkyv]

I just put the Cajun "old guy" (Dawson) sights on my CZ 75 Compact. I could definitely see more daylight, but it may take a little getting used to. It didn't seem to help much the first time out.

 

[mm93]

Which front sight width works best for the shooter depends on barrel length, distance you're shooting at, size of the target bullseye, and the width of the rear notch, and style of the rear sight. So it's not really a case of one size fits all shooters of any age group.

 

[Shotgun Willy]

I don’t know how well it would work on a modern weapon, but I once had an Iver Johnson that I replaced the front site with a shotgun bead and it worked really well.

 

[vanfunk]

I’m almost legally blind and I definitely benefit from having more daylight around the front sight. Most stock factory front sights are too thick for me; I’ve had good success with Dawson Precision thin fiber optic front sights and blacked out rears.

 

[whisler]

That's the combo that I like too.

 

[35 Whelen]

I'm 60 years old and still have really good distance vision, but like most my age my "near" vision sucks. But there are some things that help.

I prefer a .125 front sight on all my revolvers.

With front sights such as those found on SA's such as Colt's, Uberti's, Pietta's, etc., the application of a 40 lpi Swiss file to the rear really helps reduce glare and sharpens the sight picture-



I've been "converting" my Ruger Blackhawk sights to a much better sight for seeing and for shooting at longer ranges-

Here are some before/after examples-





35W

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I'm in my mid-50s so presbyopia is a thing. I find a .125" front sight blade easier to see than anything narrower, regardless of how much light is visible on the sides when taking aim. Something I've found helpful has been to paint my front sight blades. I'll put a white base coat on, then 2 or 3 coats of a lime green.

This is my mid-1920s S&W M-1905, 4th Change in .32 WCF. The blade is narrower than I'd like but usable when painted.



The gun is in good shape but far from pristine, so I have considered milling out the rear sight notch to make it a little wider and square.

 

[Walkalong]

I can still see skinny front sights fine, fuzzy, just like wide ones. Fuzzy wide, fuzzy skinny, don't care,
I just need a good gap on either side of the front sight to let a lot of light through each gap.

 

[nofendertom]

^^^^^^^ Me too. But I do use the white then orange paint method on the front sight.