Over the years students have asked me what’s the best way to focus on the front sight. There’s a number of options out there and all of them have positive and negative aspects. Some will say use a front sight that has a fiber optic rod (or tritium insert) with a plain rear. Others will say to get different color rods/vials in your sights. Going with many of these set-ups involves buying new sights and price is an ever-increasing thing that must be dealt with. So what can we do if we don’t want to change out our sights or can’t afford to do it right now?
A trick I learned years ago from Ken Hackthorn was to simply use a Sharpie or magic marker to color in the vials on your rear sight. Doing this helps to make the front sight more pronounced. If you want to totally black out the vials, then use a black marker. If you only want to dim the vials, use a marker that is the same color as the vials you are covering. Using the same color with allow some light enhancement to come out of the vial and be picked up by your eye.
Here’s another little tip: if you are coloring in fiber optic rods, make sure you color in all the parts of the rod that are visible. If not, you may find the rod is still too bright for your tastes.
Until next time…………………..