Eyesight and shooting

[RobbyMaQ]

I recently discovered in low light conditions that I was having trouble maintaining focus on the front sight (even with night sights) on a handgun...
I recalled seeing a post recently on ingo about a competition shooter who requested 60% prescreption glasses so they could see both far and near 'sorta'.

In a recent google search I found this article: "I Can't See My Gun Sights!"
The shooter describes focusing on the target and 'viewing through the sights'? Can anyone confirm? Would opening my rear sight notch allow such a thing? I was surprised at how little I could see in dusk conditions, and it really set me back (despite the night sights).

Any old timers that can chime in on this? I Know (from my search) that old eyes, glasses and shooting have been discussed before, but can;t seem to find a consensus. if I need to wear bifocals all of the time, then I can deal with that (tilting my head and all). But if others have found a way around it, then please let me know...

FWiW I am a graphic artist. The past few years I have found my eyesight failing.... For closeup detail work r pill bottles, I need to wear cheap walmart glasses 2x or 3x. But now I am finding it difficult to even read a computer screen 15" away

 

[Snapdragon]

I don't have anything constructive to add, but I feel your pain. My glasses correct for reading and distance, but I have a hard time with that intermediate area, whether it's my sights or my computer screen. I've bought three pair of glasses in the past year in an attempt to see the screen better on my work computer.

 

[gregkl]

Robby, that is Rob Leatham that has the 60% prescription. As for me, I went to my eye dr. and approximated the distance of the front sight from my eye and she came up with a 1.50 mag reader to get the front sight in sharp focus. I now shoot pistol with shooting glasses with built in readers.

I am not sure if this is the best way to shoot since I don't see the target very clear, but I am trying to trust all those that say front sight focus is the most important thing.

For rifle and shotgun I am okay with non-magnified glasses. Well, with the exception of my cross dominance which has me adding tape over one lens...

BTW, I am not an old timer when it comes to shooting...just old!

 

[looney2ns]

Talk to your eye dr about glasses made for the exact distances you need.
Measure said distances, don't approximate.

 

[2A_Tom]

Talk to your eye dr about glasses made for the exact distances you need.
Measure said distances, don't approximate.

This is exactly what you need to do I have a friend who has two pair of bi-focals she has one pair for reading/living and another for computer/living. Your doctor can correct for any given distance. I just don't know how that will translate to target distance.

I have also heard that Bosch and Lomb nakes a variable distance contact lens.

 

[GLOCKBOY]

I had a pair made with my right (dominate) eye focused to the distance of my front sight. The left eye was made for everything else (very mild prescription ) it works well.

It did take a bit to get used to it. I hardly notice now.

 

[Mgderf]

Another alternative is called Crimson Trace.
Works VERY well in low-light situations.

 

[MohawkSlim]

As a rifle instructor I've preached front sight, front sight, front sight for years. But, as a pistol instructor - especially in low light - I've told folks to go for a more instinctual point shot with both eyes open instead.

It's not like you need holes touching holes (which is the precision you get when focusing on the front sight) when defending yourself with a pistol in low light. You need to hit minute of man, center mass, high center chest, CNS, or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days. Most of us can point something at a sound with our eyes closed. We don't even need to see it in order to point right at it or throw a baseball at it. Same goes for our pistol. We can make our ears, eyes, and hands all line up fairly easily at some point out in space. Most of us very rapidly and without a lot of practice.

But let's say you're taking the time to try to line up your eyes (that don't work so well anymore) in low light (that prevents you from seeing your sight very well) on a target you can't see very well either. That's going to take more time and it's also focusing your eye (ONE eye) on the light near you and not the light near the target (With TWO eyes!). What you end up with then is a target you can barely see, a sight you can barely see, and a process that takes longer.

Compare/contrast that with focusing BOTH eyes on the target and then instinctually pointing your firearm at it by raising it into your line of sight and pointing it at the target. You're going to be "close enough" and it's going to be a lot faster. Plus, when you go to court you can tell the judge, "I saw the bad man pointing a gun at my kids" as opposed to, "I could make out a shadowy figure but I couldn't really tell what he was doing because I was too busy looking for my front sight."

Consider the type of shooting you're going to be doing and work your eyes around it. Front sight is always best for precsion but precision is not always necessary.

 

[Gunner72]

Don't really have any experience with this but talking to your optometrist is probably the best thing to do. Dr. will have better insight on this. Have you ever thought about eye surgery??

 

[churchmouse]

As a rifle instructor I've preached front sight, front sight, front sight for years. But, as a pistol instructor - especially in low light - I've told folks to go for a more instinctual point shot with both eyes open instead.

It's not like you need holes touching holes (which is the precision you get when focusing on the front sight) when defending yourself with a pistol in low light. You need to hit minute of man, center mass, high center chest, CNS, or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days. Most of us can point something at a sound with our eyes closed. We don't even need to see it in order to point right at it or throw a baseball at it. Same goes for our pistol. We can make our ears, eyes, and hands all line up fairly easily at some point out in space. Most of us very rapidly and without a lot of practice.

But let's say you're taking the time to try to line up your eyes (that don't work so well anymore) in low light (that prevents you from seeing your sight very well) on a target you can't see very well either. That's going to take more time and it's also focusing your eye (ONE eye) on the light near you and not the light near the target (With TWO eyes!). What you end up with then is a target you can barely see, a sight you can barely see, and a process that takes longer.

Compare/contrast that with focusing BOTH eyes on the target and then instinctually pointing your firearm at it by raising it into your line of sight and pointing it at the target. You're going to be "close enough" and it's going to be a lot faster. Plus, when you go to court you can tell the judge, "I saw the bad man pointing a gun at my kids" as opposed to, "I could make out a shadowy figure but I couldn't really tell what he was doing because I was too busy looking for my front sight."

Consider the type of shooting you're going to be doing and work your eyes around it. Front sight is always best for precsion but precision is not always necessary.

Like Rob (OP) says, I to have observed my eye site fade in the last year or so. I wear bifocals to read etc. but spend most of my time with out the glasses. I shoot without them as they do not help.
I am in my mid 60's and am now realizing this will only get worse and faster than I would like. I can still ring the gong 8 for 8 (hand gun) at 50 off hand and scare the heck out of the gong (4 or 5) at 100 but it is harder now. I have gone back to point and shoot methods like you state. They do work especially in self defense type shooting.

 

[cobber]

But... in a low-light, self-defense situation you might want to see the target clearly enough to be sure it's not a friendly or a relative.

I prefer to shoot without my glasses (see the sights clearly) but in a real-life situation I'm stuck with whatever I've got at the time...

 

[dudley0]

I had laser surgery a few years back. Decided that I would trade a pair of prescription glasses for a pair of readers. The readers are easier to obtain.

In doing this I went from being able to focus on sights to not being able to make them out now. I won't practice with the readers on because that is not how I typically move around.

Now I am stuck with not being able to get a clear view of the front sight. I have been doing more and more point shooting because of this, which shows up in a bad way when I shoot dots.

 

[lovemachine]

I recently discovered in low light conditions that I was having trouble maintaining focus on the front sight (even with night sights) on a handgun...
I recalled seeing a post recently on ingo about a competition shooter who requested 60% prescreption glasses so they could see both far and near 'sorta'.

In a recent google search I found this article: "I Can't See My Gun Sights!"
The shooter describes focusing on the target and 'viewing through the sights'? Can anyone confirm? Would opening my rear sight notch allow such a thing? I was surprised at how little I could see in dusk conditions, and it really set me back (despite the night sights).

Any old timers that can chime in on this? I Know (from my search) that old eyes, glasses and shooting have been discussed before, but can;t seem to find a consensus. if I need to wear bifocals all of the time, then I can deal with that (tilting my head and all). But if others have found a way around it, then please let me know...

FWiW I am a graphic artist. The past few years I have found my eyesight failing.... For closeup detail work r pill bottles, I need to wear cheap walmart glasses 2x or 3x. But now I am finding it difficult to even read a computer screen 15" away

When I took ACT's Low Light shooting class, which I would HIGHLY recommend, I remember Obijohn mentioning that in Low Light, that's where a RDS would really shine for someone with poor eyesight. Especially in low light conditions.

For me, I remember how difficult it was shooting low light with a 3-dot night sight system. It was too much going on. I have since moved to the Ameriglo Hackathorns, which is a plain black serrated rear sight, and a larger orange front sight. It helped me TREMENDOUSLY.

I don't know if that helps, but I would suggest you send rhino and Obijohn a message about this as well.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I took my SIRT training pistol with me to my eye doctor for a sight distance guide. We talked about options and ended up going with a type III progressive bi-focal lens. Type three starts to get stronger sooner than my normal type II lens. He told me to try them out for a couple weeks and if I was not able to get adjusted to them, he would re-make them in type II. I wore them for a couple weeks and could not get past the slight dizzy feeling, so I had the re-made in type II. What they did though was allow me the ability to not have to tilt my head so far back to get into the strong part of the lens.

The glasses were $900 list but with insurance we only paid about 1/2 of the list price. I considered getting a cheaper pair without all the bells and whistles like feather weight lens, anti glare, transitions, buffed edges, anti scratch coating and ultra light frames, but decided that I need to practice with the same glasses I wear everyday.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Well, I will visit the eye doctor soon enough. Depending on what he says will determine whether I will be needing to wear glasses all the time.
If so, then I will look into strength/focus at pistol sight distance.

I've been 'point shooting' I guess, and I gather for self defense, I certainly wouldn't have an issue hitting center mass without using glasses. I'm certainly not going to find and put on glasses in such a scenario anyways.

But FNS showed me that my point shooting isn't working so hot for 8" rounds at 15 yards. And it took a serious second for me to even find the front sight, which was still a fuzzy blur. I run warren tactical night sight that has a 'blacked out rear'. A larger front dot may help.

I had no idea glasses were so expensive

 

[looney2ns]

Another alternative is called Crimson Trace.
Works VERY well in low-light situations.

No prescription or Dr visit required.

 

[mbills2223]

Would you consider surgery, Robby? My brother did it several months ago and the results are absolutely incredible. I dunno the details of all of that but it sounds pretty sweet

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Would you consider surgery, Robby? My brother did it several months ago and the results are absolutely incredible. I dunno the details of all of that but it sounds pretty sweet

I a bit nervous about surgery involving my eyes to be honest. I wouldn't be opposed to asking the optometrist for details though

 

[mbills2223]

I a bit nervous about surgery involving my eyes to be honest. I wouldn't be opposed to asking the optometrist for details though

I'm lucky enough to have great eyes, but I hear you there...it would freak me out a bit...what with the using a laser to burn off a layer of your eye and all lol

 

[N8RV]

Robby, like others have mentioned, I had a special pair of shooting glasses made specifically for pistol accuracy -- dominant eye focused at 25" and my non-dominant lens is progressive. It only takes a few seconds of weirdness for my brain to catch up, then I'm good to go.

However, a week from today I'm having LASIK performed. We discussed monovision, but the reality is that for most of my daily activities, clear distant vision is much more important to me. I can always buy readers.

Perhaps I will regret this decision, but presbyopia will progress regardless.

Good luck finding a solution that works for you.