Trouble shooting in the dark...

[highny]

Hey guys!

Just a question about playing in the dark...

So I just got myself a new pistol, the "iron sight" on it is just basic black, no white dot or those glow in the dark dots.

Just last night, I've notice aiming in the dark is one of the most difficult things to do!, with no red dot sight or laser.

So any advice on how I could solve my problem with having trouble shooting in the dark?

Thanks.

[Doc]

goggle "airsoft glow iron sights" then the model of the gun you have. you should be able to find some, but make sure you can take the sights off the gun first. if you cant, find a new slide with glow sights.

you can always get tracer bbs, and before you load your mag just blast it for about 30 seconds with a flashlight.

[CDN_Stalker]

I put a spot of Liquid Paper on all my front sights that are black. It helps, not so much for shooting in the dark, but overall it works better.

[Flowstone]

Lol thats exactly what im thinking, maybe find a little hobby sized jar of glow in the dark paint. (like something for warhammer model painting) that should do the trick. probably end up being transparent, so you'd want something like a white dot for the base, then a layer of the glowing paint, and then a matte clearcoat to seal the paint.

Or you can just hunt down the glowing dot Ironsights and mount those instead.

[Conker]

For a cheap and quick solution, you could always paint the white dot yourself. That wouldn't be accurate enought for CAPS, but for a man-sized target in CQB, that would perfectly do the job.

Of course, having real glow sights would be significantly better.

EDIT: Ah, I was too long to post this. Anyway, what I did is I used model paint and I put a bit on the tip of a small allen key. When placed on the sight, it was perfectly round.
It's not the perfect solution for total darkness, but it does help in low-light conditions.

[L473ncy]

What I was actually going to do was take a dremel and dremel a small dimple into the sights and just fill it with glow in the dark paint or white paint but since I don't have a dremeltool I can't.

The other option is to get these acrylic sight things that come in green, orange or yellow and what they supposedly do (according to the website I was reading) is they gather the surrounding light and make it easier to see.

Pretty much like this except they can also come in a set (this one I'm linking to is just the front) http://glockstore.com/pgroup_descrip...gory_id%3D4%26

[m102404]

The glow in the dark paints that I've found (model/hobby/craft stuff) doesn't really show up well as a tiny little dot...don't last long as well once energized.

The aftermarket (sorry can't remember the name) that Airsoftparts.ca had for 226 and glocks were actually very good.

**amateur opinion**
Practice, practice, practice. Get your stance/hold locked in and "muscle memoried". Then you're basically point shooting.

It's rarely ever pitch black...there's usually some kind of ambient light...so really you're shooting in low light...and if you can see what you want to shoot at, the locked in point shooting will be pretty good. (no shooting the gun out of someone's hand in the dark though...LOL)

If it's pitch black and you can't see your hand in front of your face...it's pretty tough to move at all without a personal light.

If it's dark enough that you need to use a personal light source...practice with a light. In pitch black or very low light...it's amazing how crappy it is to get blinded by glare off of walls/flat surfaces. Keep in mind...what you don't want to do is to light yourself up anymore than you have to.

....and tell the dummy behind you to turn off his light...he's just turned you into a great silhouette target for everyone to shoot at.

I can't say that when I go to a pistol that I really aim much...maybe I zone in on the front sight subconciously...but I can't recall doing so very often.

[ILLusion]

What pistol are you working with?

[Drake]

Get NVGs, then you'll see your sights AND what you're shooting at :P

Barring that, install a taclight on your gun and learn how to use it effectively. Same idea as above, how can you effectively and safely shoot at something if you can't even see your own sights?

Most commercial glow-in-the-dark stuff is pure crap; you'll be shining a flashlight on 'em every 5 minutes to recharge them. There's some high end glow-in-the-dark paints for firearms and other professional applications, it's pricey and requires lengthy (~20 mins+) charging with a UV light source, but they'll glow usably for a couple of hours.

[highny]

Well, I guess the place is consider "low light" CQB.

Most of the time when I'm holding a zig zag hallway, it's mostly dark, too dark to actually see my sight, and after putting down a flashlight on the floor blinding the opposite corner, I can hardly see my sight. Sure, pistol isn't the type of gun to use like a sniper, but people who pop their head around the corner should deserve one in the goggle... and I can't do that if I can't aim.

I agree on the muscle memory thing, but a bit harder to master but I'm sure I'll get it.

What I'm thinking in doing might be just get a small drill and drill a small hole on the back and front sight, then put a drop of glow in the dark paint and hopefully works ok. If not, then I'll just put a hole through the sight, get the glow stick and shove them into the holes.

I use a Bell 1911 full plastic. Not going to spend too much money on upgrading it since it's just a secondary.

Thanks for all the advice!

[coach]

Originally Posted by highny

but people who pop their head around the corner should deserve one in the goggle...

I don't agree. nobody deserves a face/head shot.

Originally Posted by highny

Most of the time when I'm holding a zig zag hallway, it's mostly dark, too dark to actually see my sight, and after putting down a flashlight on the floor blinding the opposite corner, I can hardly see my sight.

don't put the flashlight down then. you're messing up your night vision almost as much as theirs.

[tunabreath]

Dunno how well these work, but it's an option:
http://www.nitesiters.com/