A follow-up to Joe_Pikes thread "Getting Old", eye glasses?

C

Cackmandu

Inactive
Guys and Gals,

I'm just getting back into shooting and have been using my readers at the range, problem is I can see the sights fine but the target is fuzzy! Take the readers off and the target is fine but the sights are fuzzy! I don't really want shell out the cash for eye exams and I assume bifocals or progressive lenses just for shooting. Does anyone have any alternative ideas or experience with this problem?
 
You don't say if you are shooting a pistol or rifle. If it's a pistol, then you focus on the front sight and let the target be fuzzy. A pistol target should be close enough that you should be able to put the front sight on the center of the target.

If you're shooting a rifle, I got nothing. I don't shoot rifle, although I'd guess that at rifle distances the target is going to be too fuzzy.

So just how fuzzy is the target? What are you shooting? How big and far away is the target?
 
9mm pistol, just having a hard time focusing in on the numbers on a standard oval body target at 7 yds. I tried a green target, could barely see the numbers, then went to a black target and lost the sights on my 1911 and Colt .22, so maybe I need to try the white target next time, plus it's not the greatest lit range in the world. Maybe I'm just going to have to get used to it or get some new lenses.
 
I just looked for the paperwork but can't find it. What I've found helpful are some stick on lenses of appropriate power. I believe I got them at amazon. I put 1 lens on my shooting glasses, dominate eye and near the top (so I don't have to tilt my head up). Takes some getting used to but they seem worth it enough that I haven't pulled them off. I only use as at the range glasses.
 
Your focus should be on the front sight and the target will be fuzzy. Your eye can only focus one distance at a time. The problem you are having is when you shoot, you cannot shift focus from target to sight as fast as you use to. Most people do that to see where the bullet landed on the target ( I am as guilty as the next person). You have a few options, depending on how much you want to spend.
An eye DR. can fit you for readers at the front sight distance on your dominant eye and nothing or regular script for the other eye.
You can learn to trust your sight picture and read the target when your done (what I try to do).
You can learn to shoot instinctively or while only focused on the threat. This is very hard to do beyond 10yds.
Or, as someone else mentioned, search for novelty items that help.

Welcome to the elder eye club. Getting old isn't for sissies :).
 
Your eye operates much like a camera. If the aperature is wide open say f-2 the depth of field may only be a couple of feet. If the aperature is closed down to say f-22 the depth of field might be on the order of 30 feet at pistol shooting distances. There are stick on your glasses devices that basically create a stopped down lens for you by having a small hole diameter that you look through. This creates that f-22 type of depth of field. I don't remember who makes them, but, they are worth a try. At nearly 64 years old I am getting closer to trying these myself. The sighting errors from flares and halos induced by cataracts are another story. Front sight focus is good advice. Good luck ... it is very frustrating.
 
Paper round hole puncher

Leather hole puncher

Self adhesive address labels


Leather punch a small hole in the address label, peel the address label off, center the round hole paper puncher around the hole {sticky side out} and punch. Stick one or three {in a triangle shape} hole punched address labels on your shooting glasses in the preferred area; which performs as a diopter, so that the front sight is in focus along with the target.

The minus...is when the address label diopter is peeled-off or falls off from a heat source like the sun --- it leaves a sticky residue on your glasses.
 
readers

I'll be 58 this month, and have been shooting handgun w/ 1.0 readers for a couple of years. I was very fortunate to have exceptional vision in to my early 50's, but no more. Frustrating for sure, as the utility of a handgun is spoiled. I must "prepare" to shoot well by putting on my specs. Maddening. That said, in our local IDPA league, I do OK, as the ranges are typically under 15 yds, and the scoring zone generous. But coke cans, pine cones and such with a .22 handgun at 25 yds plus are over. Longer tubed handguns helped for a while, but my standard 4" type guns are a challenge. A pity.

One aid is fiber optic sights. The extra brightness out front seems to help most old eyes. Another is a sight set that allows considerable daylight on either side of the front blade. Factory Glock sights for example, are very poor in this respect.

The eye focus issue as described by others is correct. Focusing on the target will negatively effect your shooting. Learning to focus on the front sight was the key to unlock my best shooting, back when I could see up close.

As far as rifles go, a standard "open sight" is now near impossible at rifle distances. They gave me a Henry .22 lever as a retirement gift, and I had to scope it to shoot it. Gosh!

I can shoot a peep, on a long barreled rifle like a Garand or a .22 trainer, passably, but not as well as I used to by any means. For serious rifle shooting, it is now scope time. I likely killed the last deer I ever will, with a peep, this year, likely because the silly thing made the mistake of running past me (closer) instead of away, when it bolted.

Finally, there is a bit of hope on the horizon with the advent of the assorted reliable, micro red dot sights, and handguns set up for them, as well as carbines and rifles for that matter. That may well be the way of the future. My only work with a rifle dot was on the agency patrol carbine, which had turned into a challenge with the std peep sight and the short sight radius. Putting a dot on the M4 allowed me to shoot with all the young guys like the old days.
 
Around the age of 38 my eyes started to act up, but I didn't notice.
Around the age of 42 I bowed to reality and decided to get bifocals.

I can't read comfortably now without 'cheaters' or bifocals, unless the font is around 20 point, at distances less than around 4 1/2 feet.

My need for bifocals/cheaters extends to about 4 1/2 feet, so all pistol front sights are not perfectly clear. My rifles are around the same.

I don't 'need' glasses to walk around, read signs, drive, etc. My mild astigmatism is helped, but I have close to 20/20 at 10+ feet.

It is the close up stuff.


In other words: I HEAR YOU! ;)


What I chose to do was to think about how I would be using the firearm in a real-time situation.

If I am saving a life, I am grabbing the gun and using it.

I am not going to search for my cheaters or other glasses, on the other side of the house, at night, when someone is between me and them and threatening my wife.

So, I practice without glasses- and I do the best I can to line up the sights on the target, and 'focus' the most on the front sight. Unfortunately, everything is a bit blurry when I do this, but I am still getting <3" groups at 7 yards, when I do my part [.22 is closer to 1", .38, 9mm, .45acp, .40S&W, .357, 10mm, .44mag- all about the same size groups].

I have high confidence I can put lead where I need to and save a life.

As for rifle, it depends on which rifle. 'hunting' or 'precision/competition' rifles, I have no problem using my prescription glasses with the scopes I have installed.

With iron sights, I prefer to use no prescription.

I know my groups could be better, but it is a matter of 'training the way i'll need to use it'.
 
Well guys as a new pistol shooter I am not going to fret about it, as the HBC says it is what it is! I just think I need to practice practice practice with what I have and decide if I need new lenses as I work out the aiming/focus issues. It is nice to know I am cross dominant, something I never knew and I have watched a few videos that has me wanting to practice shooting with both eyes open, so we'll see how that goes, I think practice is the key and finding what works for me! Thanks for all the comments!
 
A shooting buddy, who's also a pilot, wears bifocals with the correction at the top of the lens. When flying, he needs to see the overhead controls/instruments.
It's natural to lower your head slightly to the sights, and you really need the correction only on your dominant eye.
I've been wearing "single eye focus" contact lenses for years; dominant eye corrected to front sight, other eye to infinity. I still need to wear readers, as the overall effect is being somewhat far-sighted.
 
^^^ This ^^^

RickB must have the same eye doctor that I use. The remedy for my eye issues at 52 is to have a mid-range contact lens in my dominant eye, and the distance lens in the other. It is not a perfect solution, but it keeps me on target for now.
 
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