Thread: 'Homemade' Three - Dot sights

I am kind of proud of this so I had to share it. A few weeks ago I got a 'Wild Hair' to make my own 3-dots. I was going to change the sights on my 1991-A1 but I like the originals and they are dead on. I put it in the vise and and carefully measured and used my dental drill with a 'tree' burr to start and then a 3/32" ball to create the depressions. I lightly sanded the sights, touched up with cold blue and filled the depressions with white-out. You could not tell it is not factory. The dental drill is a great gunsmithing tool - I use it a lot.

That is cool, I like that!

That did turn out nice, I've always wondered about doing that myself. Thanks for the pictures.

Looks very good! Will the white-out hold up to cleaning solvents?

The dental drill is a great gunsmithing tool - I use it a lot.

I imagine it could pay for itself in the money you'd save by doing DIY dental work
I use a dremel quite a bit but occasionally it feels too bulky for intricate stuff.

Don't know about the whiteout holding up yet but when dry it seems to be tough stuff. (and it was all I had as my daughter did not have any white nail polish!) I cannot imagine sight mfg's using anything too high tech to fill the divots but if the whiteout does not hold up I'll try white epoxy. Yes the dental drill is great - I was lucky to acquire it along with many burrs and attachments. The torque of these things is incredible - it took a lot of practice before I used it for anything serious. I have polished and shaped many auto chambers with it.

Looks good. I've been considering this on a rifle. I am thinking of drilling through the rear sight and inserting one of those cute "fiber-optic" type, neon sight pieces that they sell for shotguns. Likewise on the front sight but instead of a hole, just epoxying it to a grove in the top for the front sight blade. Might give me a "low light" sight.

Originally Posted by DoubleTapDrew

I imagine it could pay for itself in the money you'd save by doing DIY dental work

Unless one gets bit by the patient.

Last time I went to the Dentist I could have sworn that a Dremel Tool would have been not only smaller, but more gentle. I think he got his from a Craftsman Tool Catalog