Not sure if this belongs here, or in the Optics section, mods please move if I made a mistake.

So, I picked up a fiber optic front sight from HiViz, the red one to be exact, and fit it into my SR9. Here's a stock pic so you can see what I'm talking about.


While fit and finish are just dandy, I'm a little underwhelmed by the brightness of the sight. Reviews I read on it said the brightness would be negligible under indoor lighting, but made a big difference outside. Well after a range trip on a recent sunny day to a snow-covered outdoor range, I'm left wanting. So far I'm thinking I might as well have just painted the factory sight red.

Where I think the design falls short is that on the muzzle end of the sight, the steel body covers the end of the fiber optic rod. The ~2" long fiber optic I have on my shotgun gets quite a bit dimmer when you place a finger over the end of the fiber optic rod, so I'm thinking the design of the HiViz is preventing the maximum amount of light to transmit through the rod.

My Question:
Has anyone taken a drill to a HiViz and opened up the other end of the steel body, in front of the rod? Also, does anyone know how to remove the fiber optic rod and acrylic cover in order to attempt this?

Thanks.