Home-made night sights

[LorDiego01]

A friend and I were discussing about making home-made night sights.

Basically, buy the high quality glow-in-the-dark paint and applying a few layers of that to our guns.

This is the paint we have in mind.

Night sights for just one weapon cost around $70 plus installation, it seems that for a fraction of that cost, you could do a whole boatload of firearms.

There are even specific instructions on that website for how to do this.



The specs on the paint say that the glow lasts for 12 hours, with a minimal charge of light, and properly applied to a weapon, it would last for 10 years.

That seems like a heck of a claim, and since Im neither a ninja nor a professional international assassin, it seems like this would work perfectly for my needs.

What are your thoughts? Is the poor man's night sight worth it?

[ca2pa]

hey for that price, i think its worth a shot, maybe try it out on one of your least favorite guns first. This is reversible right, you can take it off if you are not satisfied?

[Zef_66]

The only problem that I see is that my carry gun almost never sees daylight. When it is in my IWB holster, it is covered by my shirt. I take it out at night and lay it on the night stand...Maybe it is in the light for a couple minutes. But hardly enough to charge it.

[bloomautomatic]

Yeah, what he said. I have some of the paint, planned on making glow in the dark golf balls for a night shoot, but didn't get to it. You do need to "charge" the paint so it will glow. If you have it holstered all day, it may not glow at night.

Tritium sights glow all the time no matter what.

This could be a low cost alternative, but it's not the real thing.

Vince

[PA Rifleman]

Suggest studying the measurement metrics for glow-in-the-dark (luminous) paints. I bought a bottle from Edmund Scientific years ago, worked okay but required a lot of coats before it got anywhere near satisfactory.

FWIW, tritium-charged sights have spoiled me something bad, so plain 'ol phosphorescence just doesn't cut it anymore. Interesting discovery...UV radiation -really- charges phosphorescence based compounds very fast and aggressively. There were microlights offered in the UV range not long ago, this might work if tritium isn't an option. Click on the image for an example.

[LorDiego01]

Thanks for the info folks, just to share with you, K98 had this to say on another forum.

Originally Posted by k98k792

I have done a boatload of firearms with that paint,and it lasts about 12 hours as it says. At least for the last two years, there has been no change in brightness.
If the weapon is exposed to ambient light during the day out side,you will be able to see it in complete darkness without any extra charging.
Hit it with a light before nightfall,and you will be able to see it ALL night.
Tritrium is of course, a better option.

I think I will go for it. Heck, I may even pick up a beater and paint it to look like something that belongs in the TRON movie.

[Punisher]

Originally Posted by LorDiego01

I think I will go for it. Heck, I may even pick up a beater and paint it to look like something that belongs in the TRON movie.

now you know if you do that, you'll have to post some pictures..........

i think i'm gonna give the stuff a try also- it's way better than nothing at all, lol.

[Nate]

cool idea. let us know how it works

[soberbyker]

I just ordered a half ounce, $15.59 via USPS First Class.

I'll let ya know how it works.

Bill

[netw0rkpenguin]

The $70+ tritium sites do not need light, they will continue to glow for the next 5+ years. Yes it's expensive and it's nice to be frugal but cutting corners for an accessory on a tool that you may need to save your life probably isn't the smartest thing to do. That glow in the dark paint may actually make you a much better target in the dark to the BG. I suggest you check out a pair of tritium sites in person and see what they look like from the front (no glow is visible on my xd45c or my xd9sc), and think about how you think your gun will look when finished.

I'd love to see pics if you do doit.