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Sight blackener

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 1:21 pm
by Earlyriser
Is the Anschutz sight blackener any different from an ordinary cigarette lighter?

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 3:04 pm
by Ricardo
Better. It seems to be a carbide lamp, which makes really nice black soot very quickly.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 7:02 am
by ric1911a1
Where can I get one? Or 3?

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:13 am
by hundert
ordinary lighter does NOT leave so much black residue

lol, edited :D

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:31 am
by David Levene
hundert wrote:ordinary lighter does leave so much black residue
I presume that you mean "...does NOT leave...."

That's my experience anyway.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:02 pm
by Mtl_Biker
One of the guys shooting at my club regularly blackens his sights with a lighter, but I haven't been able to talk to him about it. What does it do? Does it somehow make the sights crisper or easier to see? How come? And do world class competitors often do this?

And is it both sights you do this to or only the front?

Thanks for helping me understand this.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:10 pm
by David Levene
Both front and back, and my observation is that more do it than don't.

Some use a special lighter, others use candles, carbide lamps, spray etc.

Some ranges, notably in Munich, don't allow flames on the firing point. They escort you into the allies that lead down to the targets.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 2:50 pm
by hundert
@Mtl_Biker

Yifu Wang did, but many others don't. I'd say don't do it, it's not necessary. Most top athletes don't do it. Those who do you can see the spot around the rear sight gap that they do. Not many.

It's a different story if you have an old pistol where the sights are no longer black.

What I did I painted sights with black matte acryl colors.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:51 pm
by paw080
Well early Riser, the simple and cheapest sight blackener is a length of

tan masking tape, that is tightly twisted and one of the ends lit. That

darned tape produces nice thick and black smoke. Just be careful to

keep the flame away from plastic bits!

Tony

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 5:29 pm
by nglitz
The Anschutz lighters are charged with acetylene gas, vs. the usual butane. Same gas that wet carbide "rocks" produce. Nice & black.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 5:50 pm
by David M
A good ,cheap and hardy sight black.

Cinta Intense Colour Hair Spray Black

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 6:08 pm
by Mtl_Biker
David M wrote:A good ,cheap and hardy sight black.

Cinta Intense Colour Hair Spray Black
I'm guessing that is a serious suggestion... Just did a Google search and could only find it in Australia. Doesn't seem to exist here in Canada.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:52 pm
by wasatch
There's also Birchwood Casey Super Black flat black touch up paint that comes in a pen like device.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:24 am
by jmdavis
I think well blackened sights are more of an issue due to glare outdoors than indoors. I use a carbide blackener called the Rayvin Super Smoker. I have used it for Rifle for the past 5 years. But I doubt that carbide can be shipped overseas.

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:31 am
by ric1911a1
I would still like to know where I can buy the Anschutz sight blackener...............

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:31 am
by Gort
Back in the day Don Nygord used to sell the Anschutz sight blackeners, until they became illegal to ship in the US. The lighters were not an approved DOT shipping container for acetylene.
Gort

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:13 am
by Shooterer
Before I bought my RayVin for smoking my High Power service rifles front sight, we would light a plastic spoon or fork on fire and use the smoke from that. one spoon created enough soot for 3-5 rifles (if you moved fast and planned ahead)

I how shoot Match rifles and sometimes my scores look like I did smoke my front globe. :(

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:30 pm
by continental
ric1911a1 - i bought two from Champions Choice at camp perry last year. i believe they were $11.ea

Re: Sight blackener

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:39 pm
by jenrick
I've used most of the methods listed here. All will give you a decent black sight. I personally recommend using an acetylene blackner like the Ray Vin if you have the time to do so as it allows for a very precise application. If you're in a hurry though and don't want to mess with carbide then masking tape would be my recommendation, as it does an excellent job.

The big thing with smoking the sights is it gives you a matte black surface (and I mean a really matte black surface). It's sort of like using good quality targets that are matte black, versus running them on your printer where they're kind of shiny. It provides a lot more contrast (at least to my eyes) even indoors, and if you're shooting outdoors it's almost a necessity IMO.

-jenrick