Well I managed to find an optometrist who shoots and he understood my issues. He gave me a prescription to correct my astigmatism. He said it would also improve the front sight focus in addition to the target - I didn't even think I had any issues there but it sounds promising. I'm looking forward to putting this to the test!
focusing on front sight - how clear is the target?
- Thread starter divil
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Mrborland's suggestion is spot on. I buy large aviator style +0.75 diopter readers, (large lens lets you see through top of lens as your face tilts forward on stock). At 66 I typically wear + 2.0 readers but at ~30" with the + 0.75 the front sight is sharp and I can see a 12" bull out to 200 yards to get a good sight picture for precision shooting. You need to "train" your brain to adapt to the fuzzy target picture. It will come with practice.
stubbicatt
New member
Pretty sure as you look thru an aperture of smaller diameter, it has an effect on the ability of the eye to focus on the front sight, it in effect brings the front sight closer to your eye. So if you calibrate your glasses to a 30" distance of clarity, you might be off by quite a bit.
I think the expression is it "compresses" the field of view. Something like that.
If it helps any of you, I purchased an inexpensive glasses called "Emergensee" which have adjustable lenses so you can vary the diopters applied to your vision, and have a polycarbonate protective lens as well. I think with shipping they were $30. The benefit is one can be peering through his aperture sights while adjusting the power or magnification with a knob on the side of the glasses until he gets a really clear image of the front sight. Then he does the same thing with the other eye until the target is in really sharp focus. Shoot both eyes open. Works great for me.
HTH.
I think the expression is it "compresses" the field of view. Something like that.
If it helps any of you, I purchased an inexpensive glasses called "Emergensee" which have adjustable lenses so you can vary the diopters applied to your vision, and have a polycarbonate protective lens as well. I think with shipping they were $30. The benefit is one can be peering through his aperture sights while adjusting the power or magnification with a knob on the side of the glasses until he gets a really clear image of the front sight. Then he does the same thing with the other eye until the target is in really sharp focus. Shoot both eyes open. Works great for me.
HTH.
The aperture narrows the angle of incoming light waves, and thereby relieves the cornea/eye from the task
of distorting itself into a lens to focus on the 30" point known as the "front sight".
It won't affect the eyeglass lens from helping focus on that point "just a little bit more," though, for us old guys.
of distorting itself into a lens to focus on the 30" point known as the "front sight".
It won't affect the eyeglass lens from helping focus on that point "just a little bit more," though, for us old guys.
FWIW, You may want to check this website's offerings out. I use one of the suction cup models that stick on my glasses, and they work quite well when sighting in standard barrel sights.
www.meritcorporation.com
www.meritcorporation.com
Hmmm...
Well I just picked up my new glasses! The difference in how sharp the world looks is amazing. Except for the fact that the computer screen I'm looking at now looked skewed, it's a big improvement and I may end up using them a lot.
Unfortunately, from the tests I've done so far at home, I see zero change to my sight picture. I have a scaled down appleseed target for 5 yards, and the smaller silhouettes (which are now crystal clear when I focus on them) still more or less vanish once I focus on my front sight. When I take the glasses off, it suddenly seems worse but after a few seconds I can get pretty much the same sight picture without them.
I suppose the range will be the real test but I was hoping I'd be able to see the difference immediately.
Well I just picked up my new glasses! The difference in how sharp the world looks is amazing. Except for the fact that the computer screen I'm looking at now looked skewed, it's a big improvement and I may end up using them a lot.
Unfortunately, from the tests I've done so far at home, I see zero change to my sight picture. I have a scaled down appleseed target for 5 yards, and the smaller silhouettes (which are now crystal clear when I focus on them) still more or less vanish once I focus on my front sight. When I take the glasses off, it suddenly seems worse but after a few seconds I can get pretty much the same sight picture without them.
I suppose the range will be the real test but I was hoping I'd be able to see the difference immediately.
There's a website called shootingsight and the guy there offers a lens that will drop into a hooded AR rear aperture. He understands the vision aspect of shooting very well and is worth giving a call.
The ideal prescription for shooting is probably +0.75 of what you got on your glasses. But you need the doc's prescription as a starting point, so you're headed in the right direction.
The ideal prescription for shooting is probably +0.75 of what you got on your glasses. But you need the doc's prescription as a starting point, so you're headed in the right direction.
Thanks for the link. I've read many of that guy's posts on various forums and he seems to know what he's talking about.
He says that the optimal place to focus is the hyperfocal distance, which is twice the distance from your eye to the front sight, if I remember correctly. Apparently this results in getting both the front sight and the target just within your depth of field. And that's why he recommends around +0.5 or +0.75 diopters - this puts your natural focal point at around 2m from your eye, which is about right for most rifles. My prescription does actually include +0.5 (right) and +0.75 (left) of spherical correction, and I didn't understand this at the time, but maybe that's why the doc included that. But I am still trying to focus on the front sight, and maybe that is what's causing my problem. Maybe I should practice differently, although I'm not sure exactly how.
He says that the optimal place to focus is the hyperfocal distance, which is twice the distance from your eye to the front sight, if I remember correctly. Apparently this results in getting both the front sight and the target just within your depth of field. And that's why he recommends around +0.5 or +0.75 diopters - this puts your natural focal point at around 2m from your eye, which is about right for most rifles. My prescription does actually include +0.5 (right) and +0.75 (left) of spherical correction, and I didn't understand this at the time, but maybe that's why the doc included that. But I am still trying to focus on the front sight, and maybe that is what's causing my problem. Maybe I should practice differently, although I'm not sure exactly how.