Being an old man (83) it is very difficult to see the sights. I have the factory front sight painted a bright orange, the rear is the square factory with white out line. I'm thinking of changing the rear to the V sight, sold by Brownell's. I don't know how the factory front would fit the V, the barrel is 5". Has anyone tried doing this? I have a 686 w/5" barrel with a HIVIZ front sight and a XS wide V rear. The rear has a vertical white line, just put the bright green dot on the top of the white line. It is a great improvement over the factory sights for this old guy. I'm thinking I may paint a white vertical line on the new V or outline the V with white. Suggestions would be appreciated. I am not willing to use any kind of electric dot type sight.
S&W Mod. 27-2 SIGHT ADVICE
- Thread starter Kittitas George
- Start date
Bottom Fodder
Silver $$ Contributor
I’ve found red reflective tape on the front sight has helped me
Nice gun first of all. I have found I have migrated to red dots on my pistols and it’s allowed me to still shoot well with aging eyes. I had a 27 many years ago but not sure you can improve the sight picture beyond painting the front sight.
If they made a red dot plate that mounts in place of the rear sight you might enjoy it more.
If they made a red dot plate that mounts in place of the rear sight you might enjoy it more.
Red dots are nice, but if you have astigmatism, they won't work. Since the 27 has that front sight forged with the barrel it would take some research to find a smith who could modify it to take another sight.
I would start with a trip to my eye doctor and explain my problem. If he doesn't understand guns, find another one.
The problem we have is that the close up lens in progressive or bifocals is at the bottom of the lens, so we have to hold our head back to use the closeup lens to see the sights. It, as you know is a real pain.
But tonight, as I started thinking about your post, I found an interesting company that makes a pistol shooting bifocal. "The bifocal is located at the top of the nose bridge arching across just above the pupil of the aiming eye. This allows for easy use in the normal shooting posture while not impeding your distance viewing." You can send them your prescription and they will fix you up and they have many options.
This is their link: Pistol Shooting Bifocal
I would start with a trip to my eye doctor and explain my problem. If he doesn't understand guns, find another one.
The problem we have is that the close up lens in progressive or bifocals is at the bottom of the lens, so we have to hold our head back to use the closeup lens to see the sights. It, as you know is a real pain.
But tonight, as I started thinking about your post, I found an interesting company that makes a pistol shooting bifocal. "The bifocal is located at the top of the nose bridge arching across just above the pupil of the aiming eye. This allows for easy use in the normal shooting posture while not impeding your distance viewing." You can send them your prescription and they will fix you up and they have many options.
This is their link: Pistol Shooting Bifocal
ronsatspokane
Gold $$ Contributor
Like you I no longer want to try to make open sights work. I convert to red dot almost immediately. So much easier to see and I personally shoot so much better with them. I rifles I can tolerate a peep sight but buckhorn sights get replaced with a tang peep or a scope.
My S&W 686 w/5" barrel has a HIVIZ bright green dot on the front and an Xstream wide V w/ vertical white line. I do see that pretty well. But, changing the front sight on a Mod 27-2 would be difficult and may lower the value. I tried black tape on the rear sight, then carefully cut a V in the tape. It wasn't wide enough to see he edges of the orange front sight. If the barrel was 6" it may have worked. I'll measure the Xstream V sight for width and also call Brownell's for dimensions on the V sight they sell. I have the HIVIZ green front sight on a 4" Mod 617, the rear is the proper V sight from Brownell's. The dot just fills the V, I haven't shot it yet, but I think it will work. Maybe getting a whole eye transplant would be quicker. Cataract surgery has given me 25/20 vision, I can see sage rats way out there, but can't see sights at arms length. Thank you for the help.
Kititas George -
Howdy !
On the 5” M-27 I shot, I had the gunsmith install a translucent insert in the front sight;
that was cut from a toothbrush handle. It caught the light, and fairly glowed on its own.
With this approach, there is a wide selection of potential colors to choose from,.
I DK whether you can locate one, but I really liked the Austin Behlert rear sight he also put on the gun. Mine was a square notch w/ white outline, positioned in the sizeable
flat rear facing surface of the sight. Not the best of concealed carry, but….great for target and other handgun shooting.
With regards,
357Mag
I spoke with a gunsmith about doing a similar thing, he just wasn't interested or wasn't willing to do it. "Get a different gun" was the comment. So now I have 686 5". I put a HIVIZ green on the front, on the back is a XS wide V with white vertical line. I see it OK for an old guy. It shoots low with 125 gr. but I may be able to use heavier bullets to change the POI. My 27-2 isn't a collector, more of a shooter but, I don't want to lower the value. Thank you for the suggestion.
That's certainly an area that many SW revolvers have benifited from in recent production years. At 67, I like my old /classic revolvers but won't buy another without the provision to change out the front sight to something I can actually see. In fact, I've become a huge fan of the Ruger GP100's and some of the SW pro series that allow sight swapping right on the range.
SteveOak
Gold $$ Contributor
I have rather astigmatism and am nearsighted, 20/400. I shoot a red dot, two different ones, quite well.
That's great. I love red dots and they have made me more accurate because it's tough to shoot with progressives. I've let a couple of friends try mine and they say that say they see a star burst rather than the red dot. In fact one, who is my age (69) took his red dot off because of the star effect, and can out shoot me with irons. I thought I could get a good deal on his Holoson, but he is a hoarder and let it go.
I'm glad it's working for you because they are a wonderful solution for older eyes. But I do have a good many older pistols with no convenient way to mount one.
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