Advice for Far Sighted shooters w/ Contacts

M

Mitchum

New member
Hello to all!

I'm not only new to this forum but new to shooting handguns in general and am in need of a bit of advice.

I used to be an avid trap shooter and had a couple different shotguns and rifles to hunt, but, very little experience with handgun. Until til a couple weeks ago I hadn't shot for several years..............probably not much past 40 yrs of age.

I've worn contacts since in my early twenties to correct being near-sighted. Now, in my late forties, for the past few years due to also correct becoming far-sighted, I wear a contact for reading (left eye), and a contact for distance (right eye). It isn't perfect but you do seem to get used to it.

After much reading, general research and discussion with those who know much more than me, I purchased my first two guns................a Ruger SR45 for shooting fun and home defense, and, a KAHR CM45 for concealed carry (taking CCW class in March!). I've been to the range a few times and am hooked!

My issue - most instruction I read advises to keep the front sight in focus prior to pulling the trigger. With my prescription strength for distance in the right eye that's just not going to happen.

So - recommendations? I have read a few old threads on this topic. Once mentioned just training your eye to focus on the target instead of sights. Several mentioned prescription shooting glasses (which I'm hoping to avoid), and I think one did mention something about contacts and actually putting the weaker contact for reading (currently in my left eye) in the dominant eye (my right eye, I'm a right-hand shooter). The, also switching the strong contact to the weak eye (my left) to bring target in focus. Someone also mentioned going without contacts! I wouldn't want you to meet me on the road in this condition (:D) but that may work for me at 10-15 yards.

So, recommendations?

Oh - I LOVE the Ruger by the way........great fit for me and 200 rds through it without any issues whatsoever! The Kahr has functioned great (same # of rounds, no issues) .... just hoping to get used to the longer trigger pull - vs the Ruger anyway. Plenty of user error I'm sure since I'm green!

Thanks -
 
You might try this, unorthodox as it will sound.

Leave the distance & close contacts as normal, but add a pair of supermarket "reading glasses" in the closest to prescription strength as you can get, but remove the lens from the other side giving 1/2 a reading glass to shoot with.:confused:

Yeah, I know, but it might help & won't hurt.:cool:
 
I don't know if your eyes are enough alike to just switch contacts, but that is the effect you want... sight focus in your right eye, distant focus in the left. It wouldn't cost anything to try out. You might get comfortable with monovision that way regularly.

I do have Rx shooting glasses set up that way and I even know a shooter who had monovision Lasix to optimize her iron sight vision.

Another cheap experiment would be to shift the gun a bit and aim with your left eye. A lot of cross-dominant shooters do that.
 
I wear contacts to correct bad nearsightedness, and as I've gotten older I've found I can't focus on the sights especially in low light (like at indoor ranges). A cheap solution was a pair of Walmart reading glasses, small enough that I can tilt my head and look over the top to see longer distance. But if you've already gotten used to two different contacts for near/far, and you want to use your far eye to see near, you might just switch contacts and retrain your brain. You might need new contacts if they don't fit right.
 
MarkGlazer posted a very good article above. "Combat accuracy" is a very good term to get familiar with.
Train…Train… and Train some more….
 
"...front sight in focus..." Yep, but keeping ones eyes on the target works too. Called point shooting, as I recall. Isn't a bullseye target shooting technique.
Go talk to your optometrist about bifocals too. All prescription lenses are impact resistant. You either wear them or safety glasses on any range anyway.
 
Thanks for all replies.

I did read the article from the link posted by MarkGlazer - many good points.

For me, being a novice shooter, I want to be sure to learn good technique. It seems I could train without a crystal clear front sight picture but was hoping to be able to overcome this.

My right and left eyes are pretty close. For those familiar with contact scripts My right eye is at -2.25 and left at -2.00. I wear the -2.25 in the right for now and a -1.00 for reading in the left. Switching the contacts should give me a good idea of how well it works. Then if I need to change the script a little I can. I'm really not wanting to use reading glasses or have to get a script for shooting glasses --- hoping with contacts I won't need to. I may even try the right eye for front sights without a lens and wear the distance lens in the left. I suppose trial and error but just wondered what others have done.

If anyone is interested I'll try to follow up with results - I have to think several shooters over 40 face this issue.

Thanks again and happy shooting! :)
 
I have a reading contact in my right eye and a distance contact in my left eye. I shoot right handed. I leave both eyes open. Works for me.
 
Thanks for the note, twobit --- exactly what I'm wanting to try. If it seems to work I think I'll end up permanently switching my contacts with distance in left and reading in right.

twobit - just curious, do you wear the reading contact in right eye and distance in left full-time, or just for shooting?
 
I'm in the same boat....

I have a nearsighted left eye and a far sighted right eye.. I wear contacts to correct .

I actually shoot better with just the right, and nothing in the left, tho I can shoot pretty good with both in also.

If your contacts correct for astigmatism, you probably cant go from eye to eye. They use to make Bi-focal contacts. I don't know if they still do, but I use to date a girl that had them and she loved them. Seems like all you can get now are disposable contacts.

My problems came when I hit 49. and while my contacts gave me 20/20/farsight . I have to use readers with them up close to read small print..That seems to get smaller each year..........I also shoot with both eyes open, with contacts. or without.
 
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Thought I would post an update to my expirement .... Putting contact for reading in right eye for sights and contact for distance in left eye.

Well - it wasn't perfect! However it made a big difference being able to bring the front sight into focus.....huge difference! I likely need another -.25 correction and I think it would be fine.

One thing I hadn't mentioned before is that I have a bit of a cross dominancy issue. When I shot trap years ago I put a small piece of tape at the top of the left lens in my glasses to correct this. The only time my left eye was blocked was when looking right at the bird. I've done the same thing with the glasses I'm wearing for shooting pistols - works ok but with vision struggles due to farsightedness, it actually seems better to just close the left eye.

Any shooters out there who have only the dominant sight eye open when shooting? When shooting trap both open seemed preferable for depth perception as the target was moving pretty quick. Is it as important with pistol shooting or can you be as acurate with only one eye open?
 
I find I'm a bit more accurate if I close one eye. Less distraction for the brain, I guess, when concentrating on lining up the sights.
 
Mitchum,
I wear the same setup for near sightedness, which creates an artificial cross dominance. I just tilt my head slightly to sight with my left eye. The sights are clear and the target is a little blurry, but that works well enough for defensive handgun ranges.
 
I've tried tilting my head a bit and using the left eye on the sights but I don't think its for me. For years shooting trap I fought cross dominance and just put a little piece of tape at top center of left lens - still had depth perception that way but the right eye (I shoot right hand) was the only thing on the bird. I've done the same thing with my pistol shooting glasses, had to expand the area for the tape a bit, but it works well for me.

Yes I do think the near/far contacts make cross dominance worse!
 
No matter what you do , you will never be able to focus on both the sights and the target at the same time.

Focusing on the sights will usually result in better accuracy, while focusing on the target will result in more speed

In self defense scenarios, pinpoint accuracy is seldom a requirement, but speed could be
 
PHP: 
In self defense scenarios, pinpoint accuracy is seldom a requirement, 
but speed could be.

Good point, Snyper. As I get more acclimated to pistol shooting using front sights I also want to try and practice target shooting for self defense ---- focusing on the target instead of sights.
 
shooters with contacts

I stopped wearing contact as I got older. I wear glasses now, but this I learned from some of the people on this site.; Either shoot with your dominate eye or
perhaps get a laser site for your self. On my 2" 357 the laser sight makes a huge difference in my accuracy. on my 4" 357's I use me dominate eye to focus in on . The last thing that they drilled into my brain was practice practice practice. Hope this helps.
 
My eye doctor suggested before I even asked that I could bring a pistol in and set up a lens that focused on the sights as best as possible. That would be my right lens, the left lens was set for best possible distance vision so I could see if I hit anything with my right eye. These were glasses, not contacts. They were made with safety glass so they not only helped my vision but provided good protection which you should be doing anyway. I use these just for shooting, couldn't be more pleased with the results.
 
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