Faded sights

[newTexan]

Hey,

I have owned a Springfield XDM for a few years and the factory sights are a bit faded. Nowhere near the bright white that they used to be. Is there any good way to rehabilitate them?

Thanks

[FishInTx]

Until I got new sights I...shhh...used a white crayon. Very temporary, but worked ok.

[A-R]

Until I got new sights I...shhh...used a white crayon. Very temporary, but worked ok.

I can confirm this actually does work. A dab of super glue as a "top coat" makes them a bit more durable (but far from permanent).

[Jumping Frog]

Testor's model paint and a toothpick.

[OldCannon]

Testor's model paint and a toothpick.

Shh...that's a "gunsmithing trick". You're gonna give away all our secrets!

[The Annoyed Man]

Hey,

I have owned a Springfield XDM for a few years and the factory sights are a bit faded. Nowhere near the bright white that they used to be. Is there any good way to rehabilitate them?

Thanks

Rehabilitate, or replace....that is the question.

I have an XDm and I was dissatisfied with the OEM sights from the get go. I have the old Mark 60 eyeballs, and regular three dot sights, particularly the low profile ones that come stock on the XDm Compact 3.8, don't work that well for me. So when I bought my XDm, I was already planning to replace the sights ASAP.

For me, I bought these:

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/ ... 42614.aspx


They are made by Trijicon, and YES, they are pricey. They are also the very best pistol sights on any of my guns. Because the rear sight inserts re black and the front one is bright orange, your eyes automatically pick up the front sight, and alignment is quick and natural. The rear sights appear as two faint dots on either side of the front sight, and the front sight is over-sized, so it really stands out. The orange insert is actually phosphorescent, and glows very brightly in bright sunlight, so even in that kind of light, the eye still goes to the front sight. Then, as you transition into lower light the orange insert continues to glow although it begins dimming right away. If you go instantly from bright light to pitch darkness, the orange insert will continue to glow orange for maybe 15-30 seconds before transitioning gradually to a conventional green tritium dot.

INDOORS:


OUTDOORS:


TRANSITION TO DARK:


Once the transition is complete, the sight picture is very much "typically Trijicon," which is to say, nice bright green dots. These sights were well worth the investment, and like I said, I'll be replacing my other night sights with these as the old ones begin to lose their power.

They are also available with a yellow insert instead of orange:


And the profile of the rear sight enables one-handed slide racking:


I do not work for Trijicon or receive any benefit for posting this. I'm just seeing this (no pun intended) from the point of view of an older guy whose eyes are no longer as good as they once were. Snap shooting or shooting from retention aside, if you can't get a good sight picture, should you be pulling the trigger? If one of your hands is badly injured and rendered inoperable in a fight, can you retract your slide with one hand? Sights shaped like these can make the difference.

Anyway, my answer is by far not the cheapest, but maybe it will be helpful. (HINT: If you tell Brownells that you are a gunsmith when you register your account with them, you'll get as much as 10% off the listed purchase price on most items. The discount on these particular sights is not that high, being $125.10 instead of the listed $130.90.)

[particle]

I handled a co-worker's pistol a couple months back and noticed his sights were very dark. I just rubbed them really well with a gun cloth with some silicone sprayed on it and it cleaned them right up. Works great for sights with a flush, or nearly flush white dot. For sights with a recessed white dot like my Springfield XD used to have (sold it), I scraped a white crayon across it till it shaved the tip off and filled in the hole. Then buff away the excess from the surrounding sight area. The great thing about the crayon is you can repeat as necessary, and it's very easy to remove and try other colors. If you're a casual shooter that doesn't put a ton of rounds down range at a single time, the crayon will work great and it's easy to apply. If you shoot a whole lot of rounds in a single trip and really heat up the gun, the crayon could melt, so you may opt for the paint method.