Using nail polish for a front sight

[Malamute]

May be less effective, but I would rather not try to drill a factory 92 FS stainless slide, if a color change improves viewing. (really would like to find the vertec stainless slides back in stock and keep this slide stock)

Drill? Does it not have any sort of dot on the front sight?

Can just painting the blade work?

[Poconnor]

I have had good luck using orange paint pens. I simply fill in the factory white dot front sight with orange

[beenalongtime]

I drilled out a stainless Girasan clone and then painted the front sight black. I should have just painted it black and did the orange paint on the dot. It looks good but was expensive and would have ruined the slide if they messed it up.

Facepalm. I didn't even think of painting the surrounding area.

Drill? Does it not have any sort of dot on the front sight?

Can just painting the blade work?

On 92's, there are quite a few people who send them out to one of a couple guys, to convert the front to fiberoptic. My 92 inox is considered one of the wanted type, because it is before all the warnings on the slide. (parts swapping for use is ok, but long term mods, should be avoided)

[Jared]

May be less effective, but I would rather not try to drill a factory 92 FS stainless slide, if a color change improves viewing. (really would like to find the vertec stainless slides back in stock and keep this slide stock)

I'm gonna get rocks thrown at me for this......

I don't really mind the fixed front sight on the 92's since I learned how to paint them and found colors that work for me. I've got some awesome 92's with dovetailed sights and Dawson fiber optics and Ameriglo Spartans and that stuff. Love those guns. But I can take one of the fixed front sighted guns that I've painted and get results that are just as good.

[mmc45414]

Another thing I do is clamp the gun in a padded vice at such an angle that the surface being painted is horizontal. As paint is added it tends to flow where it needs to be and stop at the edge, and as it dries it levels out nicely.

[Malamute]

I'm gonna get rocks thrown at me for this......

I don't really mind the fixed front sight on the 92's since I learned how to paint them and found colors that work for me. I've got some awesome 92's with dovetailed sights and Dawson fiber optics and Ameriglo Spartans and that stuff. Love those guns. But I can take one of the fixed front sighted guns that I've painted and get results that are just as good.

Night sights are a different matter, and would require work to adapt to the gun in some cases, but the only gun Ive had in recent years that had an FO front sight, I removed it and put the plain sight back on and painted it, its much more visible than the FO, and doesnt suffer from the chance of being broken. I must confess to being baffled by how popular FO front sights are if all around visibility is the objective. They arent very visible in lower light levels compared to good paint choices, or maybe the ones Ive seen werent up to par.

Another thing I do is clamp the gun in a padded vice at such an angle that the surface being painted is horizontal. As paint is added it tends to flow where it needs to be and stop at the edge, and as it dries it levels out nicely.

When painting them with nail polish, being level helps, so does getting most of the paint out of the bristles before application, and touching the paint on rather than wiping motions or brush stroking type application. Just dabbing it on, it doesnt blob or run. Magnifying geezer glasses helps.

[John Hearne]

Two quick comments:

I've done it both ways and vastly prefer the final appearance when you put a white base layer under the paint.

I've tried both ways and vastly prefer to paint the whole blade. The dot may be slightly faster up close but I like the quick ability to work the four corners when the whole front sight is colored.