ltwguns.com

Due to vison problems I am for the first time in my life dealing with front sight (or front blur) issues. I have all black front sights except in my custom carry gun a tritium insert with a white ring around it that was no longer white after the first 2 weeks? I have been thinking for a few months about a Yost/Bonitz Gold Line sight or a Gold Bead.

Here is my thought. I just picked up my S&W 22 Kit Gun in Nickel that I have only ever used to fire blanks for dog traing, but I just noticed the front sight is nickel and the rear is typical black S&W sight. I can see this nickel front sight against the black rear Very well. Is this maybe a good set up for a combat sight??? A completely silver front sight contrasted with the black rear or has this been proven a bad idea for some reason? If so, forgive me I know I am "a day late and a dollar short" often with my questions

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God Bless
45Fundi

I too had fits with my vision. I was wearing contacts then reached a point where my eyes wouldn't take them. Then I had such a weird prescription I couldn't get them corrected with glasses. I shoot PPC competetively and had LASIK done(worth every penny). Before hand I tried all kinds of things painting the front sights orange red blue pink with polka dots...nothing worked. For target applications Especially in PPC I have to have smoked black sights. So all of that to say I guess it depends on your shooting discipline. My take on it is its not so much the shape or color as it is how well you can make out the top edge of the front sight in relation to the target so if nickel doesnt "wash out" against the background go for it. It may wash worse in bright conditions than red or gold. For a combat sight I think it would be fine though. Hate to be long winded but if LASIK is an option I highly recomend it and thanks to Phil Hemphil for convincing me. With this thought " Dang son,,good groups but they are allll in the wrong place!"

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"One thought he was invincible the other thought he could fly" well? "They were both wrong"
SIC VIS PACEM PARABELLEM

I too wore glasses/contacts for 20 years until I had LASIK. Wish it had been available when I was a street cop !

After trying evrything from the old-school red ramp front to white dots, all of my Novak-built guns have a 14 kt. gold bead. Shows up great, no worries about damaging a tritium insert. You want real gold, not brass, which will tarnish.

If I may make a couple of suggestions: First, from someone who wears progressive lenses all the time, and had trouble seeing the edges of the front blade clearly in the rear notch; get a wider rear notch or a thinner front sight. It made a world of difference when I first shot a gun set up with YoBo sights with a .140 rear notch as opposed to the standard .125.

Also, I believe that the gold line front sight might work out better for you in a wider variety of shooting conditions. First, the gold line will leap out at you for contrast, but, you'll also have a dark blade if you need it's contrast with a lighter background. Stainless sights tend to wash out against lighter backgrounds and in bright light, so my thought is the gold line front combined with a wider rear notch will just about cover you in all target conditions. Regards,

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

I have to agree with Don. I had lasik and it didn't go well. Turns out I have a rare eye disorder that isn't usually detectable before the surgery. Nevertheless, I can now see pretty good without glasses or contacts, and I've had to wear them since I was 4 years old.

I've been having .140 notch rear sights put on all of my guns for a while now. The extra bit of light one each side of the front sight really is a big help.

Anyone who's read any of my picture threads knows I'm a big believer in the gold line front sight. It works as advertised, and looks good too! If for some reason it's not an option, my second choice is a gold bead. Unfortunately, the gold bead is usually bright enough to make the top edge of the sight difficult to distinguish.

Another vote for wider notch (.140-.145) rear sights.

At 54, with LASIK, the good news is that I no longer have to wear glasses for distant vision. The bad news is that my close-in vision still sucks (but I knew going into LASIK that it would). My front sight blades are rumored to have serrations on it, but only my fingernail knows for sure.

I've gone to the non-tritium YoBo PG rear sight on all my 1911s, except for a Yost Custom LW Commander that has a Heinie rear (widened to the same .140" notch) and an old Colt with a low-mounted and melted BoMar.

I love the wider notch of the YoBo sight. Combined with a tritium front sight, surrounded by the white outline (yes, the white paint fades over time, but it still helps me get on the front sight as the gun's on the way out to full extension), it's the best setup for me that I've found yet.

I have the gold line inlay front sight on the Yost LW Commander, and it works well in daylight, and well at night for strong hand firing when using a handheld light in my support hand indexed against the side of my jaw. The bit of peripheral light from my flashlight practically makes the gold line glow.

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NRA Endowment Member

I ordered the .140 notch on the rear sight of the Yost-Bonitz SRT HiPower I just got back about a month ago. The SRT package already came with the gold line front.
I can't see jack, but that sight setup grabs my attention.

Like they said, the front sight shows up against any background I've tried. It has to be really dark before it disappears, but any other sight would have been invisible before. The black shows against light backgrounds, and the gold shows against dark.
I've liked some white dots before, but I always have to learn where the gun shoots when using the dot, and where it shoots using the top of the sight blade, since they usually don't match.
The gold line works better.

My first handgun was a nickeled S&W 19 with a 6" barrel. It had the partridge front sight, which is nickel plated like your K-22. Like you, I always thought it worked well. Both sights are visible and contrast nicely.
The Y-B gold line front and .140 rear work even better for me.

When I went to 2 different eye specialists after the exam they came back in the room and both had looks of astonishment on their faces, both saying that I was "the most farsighted person ever to be examined" by them. I broke my back in 2001 and the drugs they gave me had a 1 in a million side efffect (I'm special I'm one in a million ) that causes the muscles that control your short range vision to stretch out and not stretch back. My short range vision is controlled by long range vision muscles that want to snap your focus back out to infinity all the time. I had 20/10 vision before the meds. I now have 20/15 vision on the mountainside, but under 25 feet the world is a water color painting in a rain storm!

Lasik is not an option. I already did the wider notch. I managed to win the State IDPA Championship this year in ESP (ESP competition was thin ), but I know I could shoot much better if I could see my front sight. I tried the other IDPA guys fiber optic sights and it was simply amazing, but they look real fragile. What about those TRU GLO sights with a fully protected fiber optic lit by a tritium vial? Wouldn't that be the ultimate...the cat's meow with out the cat!

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God Bless
45Fundi

I'm still not quite sold on a fiber optic sight on a combat weapon.

Sounds like your primary use might be IDPA? Novak has some pretty tough looking fiber optic sights. I understand that if you choose the larger of the two pipes they offer, that it's supposed to be more than adequate for a combat pistol. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment on a IDPA pistol. On a defensive weapon, I'd sure think it over. However, in your case, I think I'd give it a try.

I've seen the Tru-Glo stuff and it's nice, but I think Novak's design may be a little better. More steel protecting that little tube!

Anybody know the rear notch dimensions on an Aristocrat Rib? I have my gun but no calipers handy. Think I may have been on the same track as you guys all along....LASIK helped a bunch though. Guess im lucky I went from 20/400+ nearsighted to 20/12 both eyes going from near blind to sight was incredible. As far as fiberoptic sights go I have installed a couple but I dont care for them as I find them distracting but I am a precision guy with competition stuff. I have two guns with the Aristocrat sights they are posted under competition customs a nowlin and a smith 64 Jones custom. Love em both.Best,

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"One thought he was invincible the other thought he could fly" well? "They were both wrong"
SIC VIS PACEM PARABELLEM

No, my gun is a carry gun first and IDPA for kicks. I know that tritium front sights are usually useless after the first shot in the dark, but I'm a firm believer in that who lands the first punch usually wins and if tritium up front helps get the first blow in I'd like to have it. The difference between Novak's and Tru Glo is the Tru Glo fiber optic is lit from behind by a tritium vial so that the fiber optic functions the same "day or night" instead of just by day (of course this is the theory I don't know if it actually works in practice) The Tru Glo products overall on their sight don't appear to be top tier products, but I don't know this. I guess I was hoping maybe a solid nickel or gold or some sort of contrasting sight with a tritum insert might be the answer.

I spoke to someone at Yost/Bonitz months ago about their sight and they said the goldline functions in more varied light situations than a gold bead, but didn't mention the added benefit of having the black edges still there for precision work. This makes alot more sense to me now and is even more appealing. I guess now I have to decide whether to rplace both front and rear.

Will a YoBo rear work with a Novak cut?

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45Fundi

Ted and co do make one that fits a Novak cut. I have installed two or three of them as my machinist skills aren't great and the novak cut is a pretty simple mod. There is a pic of one in a Novak cut on our website http://www.randgfirearms.com under BEast customs its the black over green springer I re did for a pal. And I think there are a couple of guns posted here on the forum with that set up. I haven't put one in a factory cut gun but fitting should be fairly minimal on the rear sight. And I gotta hand it to YOBO their sight is excellent and imo looks way cooler than a standard novak and still allows you to do a 1 hand malfunction clearance.

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"One thought he was invincible the other thought he could fly" well? "They were both wrong"
SIC VIS PACEM PARABELLEM

Thanks
Is the front sight for the YOBO taller than the standard Novak or Heinie sight? If not doesn't YOBO make one of his Sights that is overall taller and has a deeper rear notch the others?

I know I should just call them, but its 3am and I might as well ask here anyway.

Thanks

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45Fundi

To my knowledge, all of the Novak cut rear sights for the 1911 are within probably ,005 of the same height, whether it be YoBo, Heinie or............ They usually measure about .330 at the rear. This make it easy if you want to switch from one brand to another, as the front sight should be able to be left alone. Regards,

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

Thanks Don

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God Bless
45Fundi