Sight Blacking ?

[steve medlock]

I usually keep a couple of permanent marker pens in the box for blacking sights on sunny days, but a couple of weeks ago, the glare was getting the better of me and spoiling what would otherwise have been a pleasant shoot.

Any recommendations? There are various sight blacking products on the market (although one of the Birchwood Casey ones looks a bit like a permanent marker). I suppose coloured shooting glasses could be an option.

Steve.

[airgunnut]

black board paint, its a dull matt black finish

[kram245]

Funny, I googled this last night, after shooting my 1929 Crosman 101 with peep sight. Didn't come up with anything conclusive, didn't they used to use lamp black? Blackboard paint is a good call, I was thinking of a small model paint tin of matt black .

[mikec4]

A carbide lamp if you can get calcium carbide chips - water on the calcium carbide produces acetylene gas which burns with a smoky flame and leaves a carbon deposit on the sight when passed through the flame.
Alternatively, a candle flame is a reasonable substitute.
Mike.

[NigelG]

yup, a candle, used to blacken the front sights on our pistols

[enfield2band]

A carbide lamp if you can get calcium carbide chips - water on the calcium carbide produces acetylene gas which burns with a smoky flame and leaves a carbon deposit on the sight when passed through the flame.
Alternatively, a candle flame is a reasonable substitute.
Mike.

If you can find a caving shop they might still have carbide if some of the traditionalist still use carbide lamps, or if they are kept as a back up if the battery in the lamp fails.

They might even still sell carbide lamps.

[markwarren]

I have one of these:

http://ahg.anschuetz-sport.com/index...ee2fa520b4c1e5

They sell them at the NSRA shop at Bisley but I can't see them on their on-line shop. About £10.00 I think so not as cheap as a candle!!

Works well though.

Mark

[duomatic410]

62 years ago we used a piece of 4x2 oiled and smouldering on the mk 4 Enfield,
Bisley looked like a BBQ festival, happy days. John

[Muskett]

Nothing betters a carbide lamp black. Its messy and needs to be applied frequently, twice a day, or every outing! We tried everything and always came back to carbide. The Annie thing might do it as our lamps were quite a palaver.
Thankfully, we use optics now, which have their own eccentricities.

[steve medlock]

Thanks all. I've used matt black paint before but it often wears off right where you need it and you can't just re-do it on the range. I like the look of the Black Match - I'll get one.

Steve

[steviebee]

Another vote for the '4x2' oil burner here too, rifle case with piece of 4x2 soaked in rifle oil, and a pistol case on top as a cap (308 & 9mm) and fits in the pocket ready to use anytime and can be applied anytime and cleaned off anytime great basic bit of kit that really works!

[tackdriver]

A length of bog standard masking tape produces a real deep matt black, just like carbide when burned. Try it, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[lilguy43uk]

The dreaded carbide.
1924: In Wyre Dock explosion caused by 1cwt drum of carbide (for lamps) falling from slings into engineroom bilge and bursting open, gas generated ignited by boiler heat. Two men died and three seriously injured.

As kids we used to make tin can bombs for fishing, using carbide. I'm surprised I still have all my fingers.

[tacfoley]

Most of you with ideas about using

a. Your many years of practical experience, and

b. Common sense -

are overlooking the fact that many shooters these days are not looking for simple and cost-nigh-on-nothing gadgets made up of things that we throw away. They have a deep craving for hyper-technical 'solutions' to what, to us belonging to the OFB [old fartz brigade], are very basic needs. What is needed here is not a bit of burning oily rag in a duff pistol cartridge case, but a fully-automatic, piezo-electric device with a fully-chip-computerised high-temperature particulate exudant [smoke] residue throttling control that can be programmed for an infinite variety of 'particulate exudant exudant density values' via an app. It would also automatically send a message to your Twitface or whatever to inform everybody that you -

a. have begun the process of making some high-temperature particulate exudant residue.

b. are in the actual physical process of producing the high-temperature particulate exudant residue.

c. have now ceased producing some high-temperature particulate exudant residue and wasn't it just great? They will also be able to rate the experience for you on a WWPP - world-wide populaity poll.

You'll find that it will also place an image of you doing it on Google Earth for all your pals to see, admire, and envy. YouTube will also get a SME - short-movie entry, also linked in to your entry on the WWPP.

The device, called 'Compu-smokamatic', will be made by Apple, under the sideline trademark brand of iSHOOT, and have an automated interface with your iPhone that alerts everybody on your pals' list to expect a message on Facetwitch. Available in colours to match your iPhone, and a range of fully-integrated accessories including a secure voice-activated self-holding attachment unit - a built-in hook that attaches itself to its own built in loop - and a small but nevertheless useful combination cup-holder and magnifying glass unit.

It will sell for £120.00.

tac

[edbear2]

The Birchwood aerosol black is good I have found, or just buy a Zippo!

ATB, Ed