OVER 50 and having trouble with sighting

H

hilblly

New member
OK guys here it is!
I am over 50 and wear reading glasses for up close work.
I had laser surgery last year with great success, except for the fact that my close up vision got worse.
My dilema is as follows. I have a .357 Colt and went to shoot it for the first time since my surgery and found that if I wore my reading glasses(Dr Dean Edells) I could see the sights yet the target was blurry. If I took my reading glasses of I could see the target great, but the sights were blurry
Help Me if you can
I wear 2.0 strength reading glasses
Thanks in advance for the help.
Glad I use a scope on my rifles
 
Apertures

Someone makes a little aperture that goes on your shooting glasses and flips down in front of your dominant eye. Supposed to sharpen vision of the sights when you look thru it. Otherwise maybe bright orange on the front sight will help at least in hitting at close range on dark targets, like bullseyes. I wish I could tell you who makes the aperture right off, but I would have to dig thru a bunch of gun books. I see ads for them sometimes. Guess target shooters use them. Someone else on here must have seen them and has the info near at hand.
 
Nobody can see both sights and bull sharp at the same time. In order to focus and pay attention to sight alignment it is good to have bull out of focus little bit. Your reading glasses are set for the distance of 16" (average distance between eyes and the book, but your sights are at grater distance then that so you need less power than your reading glasses. For me I use about +2.0 for reading and +1.0 for shooting.
You can get expansive shooting glasses or generic reading glasses from Wal-mart or similar. Idea is that your eyes need to be relaxed when focusing on the front sight, so measure the distance between your eyes and front sight and when trying reading glasses look at something at the same distance. Hope that will help.
 
I recommend that you practice with the glasses you wear daily, at least for combat style (realistic) shooting.

I have the same problem you do, and I have learned to shoot using my standard glasses (NOT the bifocal lower part), and I also had my gunsmith open up (widen) and deepen the rear sight notch and put on a fairly wide front sight (.135"), which helps the sight picture considerably.

While I have a pair of specially made shooting glasses with the bifocal lens at the lens top (which makes the front sight sharp and clear and the target blurred), I use them only for sighting in a new gun, that is, in order to be sure I set the sights for best accuracy and precision. Since I know I won't have these special glasses on if TSHTF, I practice practical shooting* with my standard every-day glasses, and would recommend that anyone serious about carrying a sidearm for self-defense do the same.
Similar comments apply to using the Merit pinhole device, which attaches to the glasses lens over your dominant eye with a suction cup; it's fine for recreational paper target bullseye shooting, and a good way to sight in your new pistol, but since it's a sure bet that you won't be wearing it when attacked, it's best to learn to shoot accurately with your day-to-day glasses, clothing and carry gun.


*Small target (1 1/2" bull) at 7 yards, move on draw, move every 3-4 shots, 5-10 shot strings, shoot as fast as you can without missing or trigger-jerking
 
I know the dilemma well being 51 and needing something for short vision for a few years now.
I use progressive bifocals that my brain has adjusted me for. I normally can see the sights okay except for the blue on blue ones. Those I put some white nail polish on and that helps. The inserts on my S&W N-frames are the best though.
My biggest complaint is getting the glasses wet while hunting. I used to use contacts before I had the near vision problems and have thought of trying the bifocal ones like my wife uses. I'm afraid I'd loose depth perception wearing them though.
I'm still leery of the surgery as you only get two chances when it comes to your eyes. With my luck I'd be the one in a million that had serious problems, (draft lottery number of 2 :) )
 
Been there. Living with it.

Sorry, guys. But I'm going to have to assume, just when we need them most we'll have neither contacts, reading glasses, bifocals, progressives or other prosthetics available. They're just not gonna be there.

The only practical answer, IMHO, are Ashley Big Dots. Even unaided, most will be able to get a good enough view of that big circular front sight to set it center mass. For those who claim "precision shooting" is not possible with them, you simply haven't given them an honest try.
Rich
 
Same problem with bifocals here....with open handgun sights, I use shooting glasses without the close-up bifocal (and wear a watch with BIG numbers) with decent results.
For hunting, I've been using a red dot sight for a couple of years, and I now prefer the red dot to open sights.
Jim
 
You can find the eye patches here

http://www.sinclairintl.com/

I had the same problem, called "Being an old fart" and went to my eye doctor about the surgery.
She sat me straight, to many are done with out telling people the possible problems and what you might loose.
Right now in America its the fix all and every one is pushing it.
What she told me was that it could fix my long distance but I would losse some or a lot of my close vision, and inside of 5 feet I am 20-20 with out glasses. This is true for every one, some more or less.
She asked me what I was trying to improve, when I told her shooting she had me come in with a TOY gun. She had me stand and get into my most comfortable position. She then looked down the sights of the toy and with a grease pencil marked the spot where my eye was looking through the glasses.
She then had a pair of glasses cut with the "Sweet spot" cut to where I was looking through.
When they normaly cut glasses they measure the center of your eyes and that being the center of the glasses and the center was where they cut the sweet spot.
In my case I look through the lower left side of the glasses with my strong eye (right eye)
What this did for me was that decrease the distortion looking through my glasses and I no longer see multiple front sights any more, at least for now until I get to be an EXTREAMLY OLD FART
 
Combat

Yes, I would not suggest a special pair of glasses or a target aperture clip on for defensive use, I would for trying to hit a 25 yd. bullseye. For emergencies, that is where the big fat orange/colored front sight comes in handy. You can contrast it against a target pretty quick at normal combat ranges, and get a center mass area hit. Better than a black on black type sight combo. Or the Ashley sights they spoke of, great for combat, not good for target shooting.
 
Decot, Hansen Eagle Eye, and Al Lehman, to name but a few, make shooting glasses for us codgers. I wear Lehman lenses in Randolph Ranger frames with the entire right lens ground to focus on the front sight. The left lens is my regular distance prescription. I really need bifocals to read CoF descriptions and scorecards, maybe the next set of lenses. Hansen shooting glasses are inverted bifocals with an intermediate segment at the top, offset one way or the other to align for action or bullseye shooting. Decot will make either type and more besides. Or you can reach an understanding with your local optometrist or opthalmologist.

Purpose made shooting glasses are rather expensive but they are a big help.

The Big Dot sights are superior for a carry or home defensive weapon for when you are wearing street glasses or none at all.
 
>>when I told her shooting she had me come in with a TOY gun<<

Heck, mine told me to bring the REAL thing in. Must be the difference between a man and a woman. :)
 
Mine, too...

Yep, mine, too. My opthalmologist asked me to bring in the real thing. Told me it was beautiful, when I did. "Course he's a friend from way back.

But I never got the glasses because he told me my procrastination was OVER and I had to have the cataract surgery, in January.

matis
 
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