# The JohnO DIY High Visibility Front Sight



## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Came across THIS ARTICLE and decided to give it a try on my Les Baer. I'd been painting my dot sights for years covering the paint with clear nail polish and it worked well. I was always curious to see if there was something I could do for a tritium front sight and lo and behold there it was.

So here's my front sight all stickered up.



















The bad news (if you could call it that) is that I now have about 1" shy of 40' of red pin stripe left. If anyone wants to try this, just PM me your address and I'll mail you a 5 inch strip of the tape. I'm not sure how well this brand of tape will hold up, but I'll be taking the gun to the range on Wednesday and give it a whirl and post back here with the results.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Well I got to run a few rounds with the "new" front sight and it definitely makes a difference. The front sight was much easier to track. The tape for lack of a better word is holding well despite the cold / heat from the slide warming up. I just need to get some different targets as all I has was some NRA B3s and it's hard for me to keep good sight picture with irons on those things.


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## dosborn (Apr 17, 2009)

Very creative!!

Do you have a hole punch that size? If not, what did you use to make the perfect hole?


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

dosborn said:


> Very creative!!
> 
> Do you have a hole punch that size? If not, what did you use to make the perfect hole?


I have a couple sets of different punches, for this I used a roll pin punch, I'd have to look at the punch for the exact size.


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## dosborn (Apr 17, 2009)

I didn't know if that would work with pin punches, thought it might want to tear/strech instead of cut.

I will have to give it a try sometime.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

dosborn said:


> I didn't know if that would work with pin punches, thought it might want to tear/strech instead of cut.
> 
> I will have to give it a try sometime.


If you leave the backing on the tape, and place the tape over a soft yet firm surface (I used a plastic lid of some sort) and whack the hell out of it with a brass mallet it should cut fine as long as the punch has a clean edge to it.


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## SaltyDog (Jan 1, 2009)

Great to hear it worked out as expected VAMarine.

As far as the punch goes I am going to go to a craft store or Kmart - with the wife of course - and buy a 1/16" paper punch. I've seen them online - $5 or $6. I think that would work out a lot better. And rather than try to align the center of the trijicon to the paper I am going to try and put a punch hole in the paper, mount it centered over the trijicon and then cut away the excess with a Red Devil razor.

I'll have to see if that is too much of a hastle.

Also did you take any preliminary steps to use degreasing agents and remove all oil before sticking it on the sight?


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

SaltyDog said:


> Great to hear it worked out as expected VAMarine.
> 
> As far as the punch goes I am going to go to a craft store or Kmart - with the wife of course - and buy a 1/16" paper punch. I've seen them online - $5 or $6. I think that would work out a lot better. And rather than try to align the center of the trijicon to the paper I am going to try and put a punch hole in the paper, mount it centered over the trijicon and then cut away the excess with a Red Devil razor.
> 
> ...


I did, I just used regular Isopropyl alcohol.


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## SaltyDog (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks VAMarine - got the sticker today. I also got a paper punch at JoAnn Fabric 1/16" for $3.99 and it cuts a perfect hole.

The only problem is 1/16" barely lets you see the white dot. I'm taking it back and moving to a 1/8" hole punch. I figure that will do the trick.

Also looking at the sight there is not much for the sticker to adhere too. Hope it holds on. I'm trying it on my P229 with Sig night sights.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

You might want to try heating up the front sight with a hair dryer so the adhesive will work better. The clear nail polish over the edges will help it stick as well.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Just got done doing this to another gun, still works.

If anyone wants to try this and not spend a couple of dollars on the tape, just PM me your address and I'll mail you a couple inches of the tape.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

VAMarine said:


> If you leave the backing on the tape, and place the tape over a soft yet firm surface (I used a plastic lid of some sort) and whack the hell out of it with a brass mallet it should cut fine as long as the punch has a clean edge to it.


A better backing for a sharp-edged punch would be a small piece of end-grain wood. Next best would be side-grain wood.
End-grain wood lets the sharp edge of the punch slide into the wood between the fibers. Thus, the punch's edge stays sharper longer (that is, almost indefinitely).
Side-grain wood will eventually dull the punch, but it's better than any kind of plastic.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Thanks, 

I'll have to try that next time.


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## lamrith (Apr 23, 2012)

So is the original install on that 1st gun still in place? Have you don this on your ccw piece, in and out of holster, clothing etc not caused a problem?

VERY cool little mod, I love DIY. I was just thinking of upgrading the sites on my M&P!


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

I took off the original on accident during cleaning a while back. It did not like gun scrubber but it held out for a good long time ( about 4-6 months if I recall) before that happened. With that particular gun/holster combo the holster did not wear off the tape. Yes it was on my CCW gun, and is again. I'll try and keep a better update going on this.


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