You learn something new every day :-(

M

Metal god

New member
Hello all , I'm not in this sub forum very often but figured this would be the best place for this thread .

I had always shot handguns Ok over the years but as I've gotten older it's been harder and harder to keep my front sight in focus . For the last several year I pretty much can't keep it in focus and the harder I try the blurrier it gets to the point of seeing double :( . It's really turned me off on shooting handguns in general but I do and again I'm Ok at it . I hit what I'm aiming at and we/I shoot out to 100yds at a 12x18 inch gong .

So today I'm out testing some new reloads ( 9mm ) and doing "ok" but by the time I get to the tenth round/shot in a string the front sight is pretty much just a blurry mess where I can't see if it's centered or not :mad: so frustrating .

So I take my prescription glasses off and .... .............................holy crap there's my front sight clear as day-ish :o SERIOUSLY ! I've been struggling with this issue for years and all I had to do is "take my $#%^&^ glasses of so I could see " :eek: Shot the rest of the day with the cheapest clear safety glasses you could buy and it was FANTASTIC :cool: . OMG seeing the sights like I could 20 years ago was amazing and was so much more fun to shoot since I could actually see my sights for the first time in literally years .

It's actually quite embarrassing to have never tried taking my glasses off but in hindsight DUH ! I mean yes my target is blurry but who cares it's supposed to be lol , what was I thinking . :rolleyes:

Anyways thought I share my faceplant moment with you all :o Now to get some glasses that will work best so I also have a question for you all .

As I'm sure you all can tell I'm not to knowledgeable about glasses and not sure of the terminology . I asked my eye doctor once " what am I , near or far sided and he replied "you just can't see " haha . I need correction for both distance and up close so my glasses have two focal points or bi-focal but without the bifocal line in the middle of the glasses .

Now I'm wondering what type of shooting glasses should I get ? Should I get my basic par with the right side upper distance section without prescription and have the left lens with full prescription and the right lens clear on top and still have the lower Bifocal section with the correction in it ? Hope I said that in a way that it made sense .

I know why not just shoot with no prescription safety glasses ? I will for now to see how it goes but FWIW , although taking off my glasses made my front sight much more clear it was not sharp and crisp just 10 times better then it was with my glasses on . IDK maybe I take a prop to the dr or measure the distance from my eye to the genral point of where all my front sights would be . Then tell the doc I need my glasses to focus at that point approximately 3 feet in front of me ??

I'm sure I'm not the first guy to have this issue , what do you guys do ? How do you have your glasses set up or at what length/point in front of you do your glasses focus at ?

Thanks MG
 
maybe I take a prop to the dr or measure the distance from my eye to the genral point of where all my front sights would be .
Then tell the doc I need my glasses to focus at that point approximately 3 feet in front of me ??
Click to expand...
That's literally what I did when updating my everyday progressive prescription -- second fixed-focus prescription at 30 inches.

. . . . "Why?" asked the ophthalmologist.

"So I can focus on the front sight" I answered.








the conversation got interesting after that.... ;)
 
I’ve got an awesome eye doc that actually listens to what I’m telling him concerning my prescription to treat nearsightedness AND an astigmatism in both eyes for work as a driver and then shooting at distance and close up. Long and short, he had me bring in my rifle (w/optic) and one of my pistols so as to get me set up with some awesome multifocal contacts that cleared up everything.

Of course it helps that he likes to shoot as well! LOL
 
A few days ago, there were pheasants all around me. The dog was going crazy, flushing bird after bird and I was missing missing missing. I burned up the 9 shells I was carrying and NOTHING. I had to put the dog on leash, he was so insistent that we stay and chase those birds down.

I walked back to the car and picked up my last 3 shells. Thinking about it the whole way, then I shouldered the gun and realized... the stock was hitting the frame of my glasses and throwing my sight picture WAY off. I never wear my glasses shooting shotgun. I took my glasses off. We walked back. The dog found birds not far from where they flew.

We walked back to the car out of shells but with two tasty birds in the back pocket. Grrr.

Dog forgives man. Man learns that fuzzy target and no optical distortions is the way to go!
 
I had to put the dog on leash, he was so insistent that we stay and chase those birds down.
Click to expand...

My Dad had a story about an upland game dog chasing up pheasants but they were all hens so nobody took any shots. After about the third time it happened the dog abandoned the hunt and went back to the car.
 
I wear trifocal, progressive, prescription glasses. My current pair came from Costco. When they marked and measured the height where the prescription changes, I asked for a broader (talker) section for my 3' distance, which is arm's length plus 6". Although not as fashionable as other style frames, I bought larger frames, which means larger lenses. The additional benefit is more protection for your eyes.

As an aside, I also buy frames which can be used with "cheapo" clip on, polarized sunglasses from Walmart. Being a fisherman, these reduce glare better than any other sunglasses or clip ons which I have tried. You can get them with gray, amber, or yelliow lenses. They also provide great contrast with my fiber optic or night sights.
 
Thanks guys lots of good info to consider . The nice thing is I've been needing new glasses so this is pretty good timing .
 
My nearsighted vision was off the chart, without glasses I could not see more than a few inches. I had Lisak well over twenty years ago and it didn't turn out very well. Over the years it got better. My eyesight really improved when I got my cataracts removed.
The replacement lenes are perfect. I had mono vision done to my eyes. Right eye is for distance and left eye is for reading. Shooting handguns righthanded I line the sights up with my left eye. It works for me.
 
New glasses?

They have this new thing now called, 'LASIK surgery.'

No need to be Elmer Fudd wearing coke bottles.
 
That's literally what I did when updating my everyday progressive prescription -- second fixed-focus prescription at 30 inches.

. . . . "Why?" asked the ophthalmologist.

"So I can focus on the front sight" I answered.
Click to expand...


Exactly what I did…Nearly word for word.
 
Last edited:
Lasik is OK for most people, but a friend of mine had all kinds of problems with his left eye from it, and at this point, the (Not the guy who did it) said he just had to live with the halos and other effects bright lights caused him to have. At night, the simple solution is to just drive with his left eye closed. Not ideal, but it works. I avoided it just because of his problems. BTW, the doctor who did it is considered "Best of the best" people doing it, and even then, sometimes things go wrong. I kept my lenses basic, cheap, and they are recognized as the least likely to have complications during catarat surgery. And I still had to have a secondary cataract lasered on Tuesday..
 
My doctor at the time said I was a good candidate for the Lasik process... But I declined because I depend on my eyes for my work. At the time I and my wife were raising three kids who needed fed/clothed ..... Not worth it taking a chance however remote of something going wrong. Now approaching 60, I feel the same way. Not worth it. Deal with the glasses for near-sightedness . Shoot well enough and can tell the difference between a bear and a deer.... Even with a bit fuzzy front sight.
 
I am near-sighted and wear contacts.

I have some safety glasses that have a reading glass lens in the inside upper corner of the lens, and they work perfect for focusing on the front site while handgun shooting.
 
Not worth it taking a chance however remote of something going wrong.
Click to expand...

Yes. There's a couple common sayings that have been used on this site that seem appropriate:

It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
Yeah, I probably would get glasses free vision but I might end up with blurry vision or bad night vision all the time.

Better the devil you know.
Glasses are inconvenient. They get lost, fog up, get smudged, make you look super cool and intelligent, (made the last one up myself) and generally are a pain but after years and years of wearing them I am resigned, if not comfortable with all their problems.

Glasses also leave a ridge across the bridge of your nose. A guy I worked with came back from lunch complaining about the glasses/nose-ridge problem until somebody finally asked him why he just didn't use contacts. "Don't hold enough beer," he replied.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top