[Nighthawk45]

The front sight on my p220 with a 1988 date code is kinda hard to see in anything other than direct sunlight. It's a fixed front sight so i can not replace it or I would have already put trijicon HD's or even better a fiber optic front sight on it. What are my options for improving the sight picture?

 

[Willard]

Nighthawk, if you can, post a picture of your sights, both front and rear.
In the "old" days, before fiber optics, and tritium sights, people would "paint" the face of their front sight with nail polish or paint. There were luminescent paints, that if exposed to bright light, for a short period of time, would continue to glow for short periods.

www.brownells.com has these paints: Ghost Glow Kit #100-000-244, or Five Color Kit #100-000-243

 

[Nighthawk45]

I will post some pictures tonight when I get home from work.

 

[bblr]

You can paint the sight. Also, Trijicon used to machine the sight blade on 92FS's to allow the tritium vials to be inserted to create a night sight. Try contacting them and see if they still do this.

 

[Nighthawk45]

You can paint the sight. Also, Trijicon used to machine the sight blade on 92FS's to allow the tritium vials to be inserted to create a night sight. Try contacting them and see if they still do this.

Damn that would be awesome

 

[Nighthawk45]

 

[winterwar]

You might want to try Amerigun USA, LLC in North Branch, MI to see if they can help. They can either drill it or remove it and cut a dovetail for standard sights.

 

[34SF]

Or Novaks

 

[Willard]

Nighthawk45, that Amerigun USA would be great, except that scrolling to Sig P220, and that operation, it showed an "NA" by the cost, which I believe means "Not Available".

While it maybe possible to dovetail the front, I would use a knowledgeable gunsmith for the operation, as it is a folded carbon steel slide, and not a milled forging.

A lot of the value of your gun, is the slide itself, of course the matching serial numbers help, but the Herndon address, and that fixed front is part of it's character.

Another course of action, is possibly getting a Caliber X-Change kit, with a whole new slide assembly to attach to your lower, preserving the original slide assembly for posterity!

 

[Malicious Compliance]

Tool Tech can cut dovetails in your slide for you to accept HD's or fiber optics.

http://tooltechgunsight.com/product/sig-sauer-p220-226/

 

[Nighthawk45]

I thought that Sig stopped using the fixed sights in the early 80s. I was surprised this one had a fixed sight.

 

[winterwar]

Nighthawk45, that Amerigun USA would be great, except that scrolling to Sig P220, and that operation, it showed an "NA" by the cost, which I believe means "Not Available".

The NA is under the RINGS heading. It means they can drill the existing fixed front sight for a tritium insert, but it won't give you the 3-Dot RING look like the standard tritium sights.

The first item indicates that they can cut a dovetail for a front sight.

Considering the cost of either option, getting a Caliber X-Change kit as you suggest or sourcing a used stainless slide may be the better option.

 

[usleer]

I have a 1986 West German P220 and am in the same boat. Any tips for application of the paint? I added paint to the front stub on my LCP and it worked great other than it was not a perfect square so looks kind of sloppy up close.

 

[Willard]

usleer, I'd degrease the slide and front sight first, and allow to dry. Get some good tape, and tape the top of the slide, plus the top and sides of the sight. Apply light coat of paint and allow to dry. After dry, if depth of color is uneven, add another light coat. Let it dry and check again. If you shake the paint well enough, you may need only the 2 coats. If the color looks even, then remove the tape. If you have allowed the paint to "harden", then you can use an exacto knife blade to "trim" and "square up" the rear face of the front sight post, after removing the tape.

If your front sight is like Nighthawk45s, then the front sight dot should be recessed, so level that surface after degreasing and drip a small amount of paint in the recess and allow it to dry, then trim flush with a razor blade.

The key here is make the front sight easy to pick up against various backgrounds, as the front sight should be your focus point for the best accuracy. If you are going to shoot at "Orange" bullseyes, then you wouldn't want an "Orange" front sight!

I hope this explanation helps.

 

[usleer]

Thank you Willard, that is very helpful.