Can't sight my sight's.

[tegemu]

I am having a problem when I shoot at my range. When shooting out into the sun, I cannot see my gunsights. They blend in with the bull. What I need is sights that light up like Tru Glo's but unfortunately TruGlo doesn't yet make sights for the 1911. Any advice?

[ddskehan]

I wore good sunglasses while in the army. that sometimes happened to me. the light reflected off my nose and cheek amplifying the glare.

[MADISON]

I have a reflection problem, sometimes, myself.
Have you considered changing the color of your front sight?
My eyes are the most sensative to YELLOW. Find out what color your eyes are drawn to quickest. After you do, buy yourself that color in FINGERNAIL POLISH. It comes off easily, if it doesn't work out.

[tegemu]

Painted sights of any color are ineffectual for me and good sunglasses don't solve the problem. I am giving some serious thought to Trijicon sights.

[Pampers]

But HiViz does! Check Brownells.

[fairview mick]

Hi. I have night sights on my two p226 Sigs. They're great in low light conditions, but I don't think they would be of any advantage in the bright sun.
Mickey

[ShelbyV8]

Trijicons do nothing in bright light, they are not as good as white dots.

[Dot_mdb]

My Colt Series 70 has a small front sight and the ramp has very shallow grooves. In certain lighting conditions especially with the sun directly overhead the front sight can appear to disappear. I have a Colt Detective Special that has a long ramp front sight with no grooves and that sight can also disappear. Patridge sights which have a straight verticle post don't seem to have the problem. S&W revolvers have much better front ramp sights with deeper grooves and they are better in most lighting conditions. However I find that the plastic inserts which are not grooved can be a problem also.

Bill

[guntotin_fool]

I have found flourescent jig paint and some of the brighter nail polishes to really pop a front sight out of the background. I use a really bright yellow orange that is very easily seen.

[Mal H]

tegemu - If you plan on getting night sights (Trijicon, TruGlo, etc.) in order to see them when the sun is shining in your face, you're going to be wasting your money and are going to be disappointed in the results. As ShelbyV8 said, they will do nothing in bright light. The sun will overpower them by about a billion times.

The only good remedy is to shield the sun from your eyes. If you are shooting at a range with cover, can you tack up some cardboard so that the reverse horizon is a little lower than the current roof? If the range isn't covered, you might be able to devise a high stand with a strip of something going across the upper part that will shield the sun.

If you can locate the man who designed the range, you should kick him in the butt for orienting it in a due east-west direction. :)

[tegemu]

The orientation of the firing line is not the problem, the problem is that here in fla, the whole world is very bright on a sunny day. The contrast, from shade to sunlight, plus the glare is the problem. The sun does not shine on the sights, they are in the shade.

[Mal H]

Ah! Ok. Your statement, "When shooting out into the sun ..." implied you were, well, shooting into the sun. ;)

If the sights are actually in the shade then the sunlight will overpower any night sights by only a couple hundred thousand times. You still won't be able to see the light from them.

[pickpocket]

You know, some other questions would be whether or not you are picking up glare from the slide (stainless) or if you've tried wearing a hat.

Can you tell where the glare is coming from? I know it seems like it's coming from ALL OVER, but see if you can't pinpoint it.

On the other hand, if the whole world is bright - meaning that EVERYTHING is really bright - then you might do well to just practice that way, because if you ever have to use your weapon you're not going to have time to put on your sunglasses :)

[jibjab]

This may be the time to learn how to shoot with out sights :D

[tegemu]

The more I find out the more the answer seems to be - Learn to deal with it. There are no sights that will work in these conditions, the way I need. I spoke at length this morning with Trijicon and the conclusion was that their sights work super in twilight or dark but in bright sunny conditions they wouldn't be much, if any, better than what I already have, and Trijicon is as good as any. Their agent made a good suggestion, while at the range watch for various types of sights and ask If I might just sight down the barrel to see if I can find an improved system. Knowing how swell the guys in our sport generally are,this should be easy to do.

[Handy]

I have never been to a range that put the targets pointed toward the sun. How very strange.

It isn't just a coincidence that shooting ranges mostly point North.

[44 AMP]

Since you said bull, you are shooting at a bullseye type target, yes?

The cure for not being able to see your sights against the bull in the sun glare, is to use the 6 o'clock hold. Adjust your sights so the bullseye sits on top of the front sight, rounds strike center of bull. With adjustable sights, make a note of how many clicks you adjust, so you can return your sights to their regular position whenever you want.

With non adjustable sights, you need to modify your sight picture. You may not, many fixed sighted guns are sighted for the six o'clock hold already.

Of course, everybody looks through the sights a little differently.

[tegemu]

Handy, the range does not face the sun, it too faces North, it is just that the world, which includes light colored Fla sand akin to snow, is so bright. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will work on compensating with my aim.

[Warhorse]

Have you tried blackening the front sight with a lighter flame or the commercially available matte sight black sprays. That, at least will eliminate glare from the front sight. This is a trick commonly used by competition target shooters.
Combined with a six-o'clock hold, this just might be a reasonable solution to your problem with glare.
Oh, yes, also try a good set of polarized sun glasses to reduce glare.:D

[tegemu]

Since my problem is inability to see my sights against the black bullseye, I don't see how blackening the front sight will help, There is no perceptable glare from the sun.

[1wildbill]

Have you tried a different color of target? I have gone to a "hot orange" bullseye. Helps me.

[3 gun]

Sound like it's time for fiber optic sights. Checkout Dawson Precision (http://www.dawsonprecision.com/Home.jsp?refresh=true) for front sights or sight sets.

[tegemu]

Thanx 3 gun. I looked on their site and they don't have sights for all my needs and in any case, I spoke with Trijicon (Fiber Optic Sights) about this and their conclusion was that in my circumstance, their sights would not be much help. Their sights work best at twilight or at night but staring into bright glare from shade the effect would be negligible. Picture trying to see your sights while looking in the direction to the side of your headlights. In addition, I am developing cataracts which diffuse the light as well. On the way back from the range today, grumbling about my light situation, I had the idea of illuminating my sights with a separate light source which should cancel out the glare.