I have a S&W 45 colt that has yellow paint on the front sight. Helps me a lot.

My 617 is currently wearing a scope but its accuracy is not worthy of a scope so it will be coming off. Will probably put yellow or orange on the front sight to help out.

 

I went on to Testors website and they have fluorescent acrylic model paint in green, pink, magenta, orange, and yellow.

http://www.testors.com/category/425530/Acrylic_Paints

 

If you don't like the look of a fiber optic sight, you could go with a Patridge type sight with a gold or white bead in it. The pinned sights are easy to replace, and there are several available in varying heights. Any competent gunsmith can do this.

The inserts with the gold bead are taller than the factory front sight.If you go that route,you also need a taller rear blade.

 

Baughman red ramp sight blades are available from S&W, but they have to have the hole drilled in them and fitted by a gunsmith. I think S&W will also do this work. Then you may want a white outline rear sight. I have an early 4" M617 no dash that I had to change the front sight on, so I already had a ramp sight handy that had been fitted to another M617, so I put it on the 4" and the guns shoots very well now. Big Larry

 

IM 65 now and my eyes have had a hard time seeing iron sights well enough to shoot my best for many years now ! the solution is some kind of red dot electronic sight ! i have been using them for over 20 years, first in BE shooting and now 3/4 of my handguns have some type of red dot sight on them, i now can shoot better than i did in my youth with iron sights.
I have a few handguns with fiber optic front sights and the front sight does pick up faster but is no more accurate than a black partradge front sight , also i like a green fiber optic front sight better than a red one.

 

I'm 62 and have "old eyes" too. I also have a 17 and two 617s.

Red dots are the best "fix". I have a C-more on one 617.

My 17-8 has iron sights, a Bowen Rough Contry white outline rear and a .100 wide .200 tall front blade with a .040" FO from Protocall Design
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78668
http://parts.bowenclassicarms.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

617s come with a lousy sight combination. A .126 or .136 or .146 rear and a .167 front. A .160 rear (has a deeper notch) and a .200 front is much better and puts you nicely in the rear sights' range of adjustment. The problem is finding a .200 tall front. Warren Moore, Protocall Design, has them.

A wider rear notch, or better yet, a narrower front blade helps old eyes alot with more "daylight" on each side so the front and rear aren't blurred together. But what I like best is the Bowen rear sights' really crisp white outline and the FO front floating in that WO.

 

Paint is better than nothing I suppose, but it just can't compare to a replacement sight.

I added a Protocall Design .100 wide orange FO front sight and a taller .146 rear blade to help my tired old eyes. The additional light on the sides of the front sight makes quite a difference.

 

Elmer Keith's Gold Bar front sight

I am also getting up in my age. Not complaining. Actually, I am quite proud of
it. I have been practicing for an upcoming, slow fire MCL Bulls-eye match, with my model 27. Traditional Black target handgun front sights are not the best for me on cloudy days at the target range. < (Black Sights on a black bulls-eye target.)

I read about Elmer Keith and his famous Gold, three bar sight, which was set up for distance shooting.

I tried painting the rear facing side of my front sight blade "gold", using model airplane paint. *Model airplane paint comes in very small bottles. It can be applied with a small brush or a toothpick. Cost of model airplane paint is very reasonable.

Well, it worked out just fine. Sight acquisition is much better on cloudy days.
Sight picture is sharper and has improved. My downrange grouping has
also improved.

We all see things a little differently and a Gold colored front sight blade may
not appeal to everyone, but it has worked fine for Elmer Keith and
it has also worked fine for me.:t

Hope this was helpful.
Dave

 

I am also getting up in my age. Not complaining. Actually, I am quite proud of
it. I have been practicing for an upcoming, slow fire MCL Bulls-eye match, with my model 27. Traditional Black target handgun front sights are not the best for me on cloudy days at the target range. < (Black Sights on a black bulls-eye target.)

I read about Elmer Keith and his famous Gold, three bar sight, which was set up for distance shooting.

I tried painting the rear facing side of my front sight blade "gold", using model airplane paint. *Model airplane paint comes in very small bottles. It can be applied with a small brush or a toothpick. Cost of model airplane paint is very reasonable.

Well, it worked out just fine. Sight acquisition is much better on cloudy days.
Sight picture is sharper and has improved. My downrange grouping has
also improved.

We all see things a little differently and a Gold colored front sight blade may
not appeal to everyone, but it has worked fine for Elmer Keith and
it has also worked fine for me.:t

Hope this was helpful.
Dave

I'll probably try the paint at first and see how that goes. I've also starting looking at some reflex red dot sights like Ultra Dot or Burris.

 

As someone with 61 year old eyes myself,I think that the greatest help is contrast.Lining up a black rear sight,with a black front sight,with a black target,just doesn't work.

 

You're right about that, regardless of age.

 

Red Dot on 617

SuperYank,
Don't give up on a red dot sight on your S&W 617 just yet. I did not like the 'piece of lumber' (a.k.a. 2" X 4") front sight on my revolver and wished to go to a slimmer post front sight. However, I was not successful in finding one, so I bought a Burris FastFire 3 sight and an Allchin mount.


This rig fits nicely into a holster for range use.

 

SuperYank,
Don't give up on a red dot sight on your S&W 617 just yet. I did not like the 'piece of lumber' (a.k.a. 2" X 4") front sight on my revolver and wished to go to a slimmer post front sight. However, I was not successful in finding one, so I bought a Burris FastFire 3 sight and an Allchin mount.


This rig fits nicely into a holster for range use.

That actually looks pretty nice and doesn't screw up the profile of the gun.

 

I went to the range today and shot my 617 for the first time. I was fully expecting the trigger pull to be as heavy as my brother in laws 617 but I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. I would estimate it to be about 2 lbs lighter than the 18 lb spec. Totally unscientific I know but not as heavy as I thought it would be.
As far as the sights are concerned, although I shot fairly well, I had difficulty with the black on black picture. I was anxious to shoot the gun and hadn't gotten around to painting the sights yet. I'll get it done before the next trip to the range.
A red dot sight is also not out of the question.

 

I had been thinking about a red dot for a while myself, as I find it hard to really accurately see the back sights on the black bullseye. We shoot at 25 meters at ISSF competion targets, most folks here use the 6' clock aim but if you want te keep the gun sighted in 'on target' for other competions, that was not an good option to us.

My wife is wearing glasses, but those only help long distance. So I got her a nice -tube- red dot for her buckmark, and it really works great... we were both able to shoot better and more relaxed with it.

Know that we do shoot indoor and the guns are only used at the range, holsters are not allowed. It's a pretty dark range and in the past I did paint my 617 front sight bright red (daughters nailpolish). It helped only marginal as there is not enough light in that place to see the red shine, a fiber optic front would work better but I didn't want any gunsmithing done on it.

So I decided to get a red dot for the 617 as well, but due to budget reasons I had to find something a lot cheaper.

I ended up with a large open style one, mounted on a weaver rail. But it ended up pretty bulky (yes, I couln't get myself to spend the money to buy a small size one), the shop told me they used it on shotguns to (so it's big and heavy but solid)

We tested it last friday for the first time. At the range I did get some comments about the size and the fact I put such a large red dot on 'only' a 22LR, but after a while people became interested in it and wanted to try it out as well. I started talking to some folks and found out I'm not the only one trying a red dot to get better results.

You know... it was great fun! And although I regret my setup doesn't look as good as lakers1138 picture, it does work excellent. Another great advantage is that I can now shoot with both eyes open, before I had to close my right eye and aim with the left, holding the gun right handed... yes, cross dominant as well. I was worried the red dot would take to much room on the target, not allowing me to hit the center, but ended up not beeing a problem. Well, at least not shooting from a rest, cause I'm not that good

I really found it a LOT easier to target the center of the bullseye. You can see any movement you make a lot better (including shaking) and I think it will be a good tool to train myself on better trigger control.

I seem to have astigmatisme to. I did try a more expensive red dot in the shop, and my eye's just can't see it being sharper than the cheaper one I got. So I first wanted to try it out for a while, I can always save and buy a nicer one later.

The big red dot I have is heavy and it does seem to affect the balance, but I'll just live with it.

P.

 

Will the Allchin mount work with an Ultradot Pan A/V or L/T? I'm sort of partial to Ultradot, although the Burris Fastfire also looks like a great sight. I have an Ultradot Matchdot on my Buckmark and it's a terrific tube style red dot. I like the Allchin mount because it looks to have a smaller profile than the Weigand mount.

 

Well, I spoke to the folks at Allchin but unfortunately they couldn't give me a definitive answer as to whether or not the Ulradot sight will fit on their mount. So I'll either need to give it a try and possibly return the item if it doesn't fit or get lucky if it is compatible. I just hate doing things this way though I do know that the Burris Fastfire and Leupold Deltapoint would both fit the Allchin mount.

 

Coincidently, I received another call from Allchin late last night (they're headquartered in L.A.) and was told that the Ultradot L/T would fit their mount so I ordered the Allchin mount today from Brownells. Now the question is whether I want the Burris Fastfire III (3 MOA) or the Ultradot L/T (4 MOA). The sight will be going on my S&W 617 revolver and will be used at an indoor range with a max shooting distance of 25 yds. I can get the Burris for $189 and the Ultradot for about $50 more and really don't want to spend the extra bucks (about $100) for the Leupold Deltapoint. With this in mind which one would should I go for?

 

Hmm. Allchin knows what he makes (I have one for my 617) but I don't see how the current ("new"?) Ultradot L/T would work on his mount. The Allchin looks like it works only with flat base sights.
The Ultradot L/T here on ultradotWest has an integral non-removable dovetail on the bottom. The copy on the website says "So we've redesigned it with features you've asked for ... and a built in rail clamp system", maybe this was a recent change.
In any case, I have the Burris FFIII on the Allchin on my 617- looks just like lakers1138. Highly recommended.

 

Unfortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands. I call the UltraDot folks this morning to try and get a definitive answer about whether or not the UD L/T would fit the Allchin mount and apparently it does not. The width of the Allchin is @ 1 inch and I was told that the UD would only fit a 3/4 inch wide mount. I really like the Allchin mount because it's only 2 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch high. So I either have to go with the FF3 or find another mount for the UD that doesn't spoil the looks of the gun. I looked at the Weigand mounts but they're 4 1/2 inches long and I think would look silly with a 2 inch long red dot.

 

You can trim a mount to fit your desired optic. Aluminum is easier than steel and you can polish the cut area fairly easy with sandpaper and Flitz. You can trim to the front mounting area. The only problem is the mount height in comparison to the bore.

Here is my 617 with an Aimpoint R1. I tried it briefly, but for really small targets, it was only really accurate at the distance I zeroed it at. Other than that the sight to bore axis meant I would miss high or low.

I ended up putting that optic on a MKIII using a dedicated mount and it works much better sitting closer to the bore.

 

I had to reorder the Burris this morning because I originally ordered the one without the mount by mistake and it was less expensive to reorder than getting the mount separately. I'll just return the wrong one but it'll probably take a week for the correct item to be delivered.
For anyone interested, I'm getting the item through Overstock.com with a 10% coupon and free shipping so it was a pretty darn good deal. Free shipping is not so fast though.

 

I believe you want the FF3 without a base. It will screw directly to the Allchin mount with no intermediate parts.

 

You're right. I cancelled the 2nd order...still waiting for the original FF3 without the base to be delivered. It's due on Monday. Thanks.

 

Installed night sites on mine.

 

This is a long, well discussed thread, but I think it's an important one and I can't help but add to it...

The eye Doc confirmed that after 40, most eyes will start to wander in power and near/distance focus ability. By 50, it starts becoming a real problem.

I used to be quite happy with whatever iron S&W put on the gun. There were more important things. That was then...

As the OP mentioned, he preferred not to use a red dot. I think they are amazing and use them on my 617 & 22A. However, they take something away from the true "revolver" profile I fell in love with as a kid so many years ago.

Black iron and a dab of red on the front doesn't work at all for me. I tried white outline and dots on the rear, but it wasn't any better.

Just last week, I bought a J-frame with a Trijicon front blade. It's ok, but still didn't help at all unless the room was pitch black. Even in darkness, I wasn't impressed.

From there, I checked out a hi-viz front tube. It was only slightly better, but still didn't help much in most lighting.

Lastly, I tried a *new* gold bead on the front. I say new because this one wasn't flat. It was crowned and somehow seemed to collect whatever light was in the room. It was unlike any other gold bead I had looked at.

Just my opinion, but when you get a chance, take a look at some of the new S&Ws with this crowned gold bead. Most of us probably shoot in medium indoor (range) or outdoor lighting conditions. Under these conditions, this gold bead beat everything else I tried.

Again, just my opinion, but I'd be interested in hearing what others think?

Happy shooting!


Mark

 

I'd love to see a picture of that Mark.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

Here's my setup with Allchin mount and Burris FF3.





I'm glad that I was convinced to go with the red dot. I could never get a good enough sight picture with the irons.

 

Did you need to buy the Fast Fire III with or without the pictatinny mount?

 

I also use Burris FF2 on my 6" 617. It allows me to shoot with both eyes open--less eye strain--in the relatively low light of the indoor range.

 

Model 17 Sights

My L Frame Model 17 shoots 4 inches high at 10 yards. I know the front sight has to be higher or the back siight lower. I have a fiber optic on my Ruger MKIII and see they are available for the Model 17. I do not know how the height is measured on the L Frame revolvers. I will order the highest one though. It looks like just a pin holds the sight into the base. The rear sight will not go any lower. I suppose I could take off the blade, cut the slot deeper and grind down the top of the blade before putting it back in. Suggestions???

 

My L Frame Model 17 shoots 4 inches high at 10 yards. I know the front sight has to be higher or the back siight lower. I have a fiber optic on my Ruger MKIII and see they are available for the Model 17. I do not know how the height is measured on the L Frame revolvers. I will order the highest one though. It looks like just a pin holds the sight into the base. The rear sight will not go any lower. I suppose I could take off the blade, cut the slot deeper and grind down the top of the blade before putting it back in. Suggestions???

Your model 17 is a K frame, not an L.

To replace your front sight, you drive out the pin, remove the old sight, tap the new sight into the slot, get a #54 wire drill, mark the new sight on each side using the drill bit, remove the new sight, drill the hole half way through the sight on a drill press, turn the sight over and drill through from the other side, deburr, tap the sight back into the slot to align the holes and drive the pin back in.

In my opinion there is no acceptable option for adjusting a S&W factory rear lower by the amount you will need to correct the 4 inches at 10 yards.

Front sights are measured from the sight base to the top of the sight.

A calculator to determine how much change you need on the sight is here:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/imashooter2/frntsite.xls