Glasses/Contacts and Iron Sights?

[wolfts01]

I wasn't sure if this should go here or in the Accessories and Gear section, so I put it here.

I am terribly nearsighted; I can't focus more than 2-3 inches in front of my face without glasses. It's bad enough that my prescription is strong enough to make the world appear noticeably smaller. This hasn't been a problem for pistol shooting, mainly because of the size of the sights and where I look through the lenses when aiming.

I just picked up a ruger 10/22 yesterday to get into shooting rifles. I've been practicing dry-firing and sighting, and I have a terrible time keeping the front sight in focus. It appears to be almost too small for me, and I can only keep focus on it if I use both eyes to focus. When I use one eye, the focus randomly shifts to the rear leaf sight and I have a hard time getting it back to the front sight because I can hardly see it. I think there's some parallax effect too, as I don't naturally look through the middle of the lens like I do with pistol shooting for some reason.

Are there any solutions that can help with this problem? I did wear contacts before for about a year or so, and the minimizing effect was gone (actually was VERY disorienting when I first put them on). I'm thinking about looking in to them again, but I'm wondering whether contacts will hinder shooting in some other way (going blurry, dry, etc.). They aren't the most SHTF friendly things, either.

Just wondering what everyone with bad eyes like myself does to overcome this problem. All thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[Dewidmt]

I scoped all my rifles, even .22's, about 5 years ago. I can still see iron sights if I work at it, but the target is REALLY blurry when I do. Went with a holographic sight on my SHTF AR. I can keep both eyes open and still see my target well.

 

[Yukon227]

I have had similar trouble before, you might try a colored front sight or a drop of bright paint on the bead to help keep focus, that has helped me in the past

 

[sloughfoot]

If your eye doctor will work with you and your rifle, the problem can be solved.

You won't be the first shooter who brought a rifle to the Doctor's office.

 

[ckcollins2003]

Hmm, that's definitely weird that your eyesight was better in contacts than your glasses. Contacts are never as strong as your glasses as long as you have the correct prescription in.

I wear my glasses most of the time when shooting, but I have very dry eyes. My contacts start to itch within the first 6 hours of wearing them, but if you feel comfortable shooting with them, I'd just wear some eye protection for the matter of dust, residue, etc. getting into your eye and possibly tearing the contact and scratching your eye.

 

[Sticky]

Aperture iron sights usually sharpen the sighting picture.

Use something like a ballpoint pen to make a hole in a piece of paper and look through it. If things become visually sharper then you might try aperture sights on your rifle.

This maker is popular on Ruger and Marlin rifles seen at Appleseed shoots and other places: Ruger® 10/22 Rifle - adjustable aperture sights

 

[96firephoenix]

Hmm, that's definitely weird that your eyesight was better in contacts than your glasses. Contacts are never as strong as your glasses as long as you have the correct prescription in.

My experience is the exact opposite of yours. that may be because most of my correction is astigmatism correction, but I ALWAYS see better out of my contacts than my glasses. I do get it where looking through diff't parts of the lens makes a difference, but not in the focusing. My problem is that if I look through a diff't part of the lens, a square target is now a trapezoid or a rhombus, but with contacts, the center of the lens is on the center of my iris all the time and everything is hunky-dory.

I"m slightly farsighted (20/10) with a hella big astigmatism (1/20), and it makes life very interesting if that correction goes away.

the dry eyes thing is pretty universal though. contacts = eyes dry out more easily

 

[ckcollins2003]

My experience is the exact opposite of yours. that may be because most of my correction is astigmatism correction, but I ALWAYS see better out of my contacts than my glasses. I do get it where looking through diff't parts of the lens makes a difference, but not in the focusing. My problem is that if I look through a diff't part of the lens, a square target is now a trapezoid or a rhombus, but with contacts, the center of the lens is on the center of my iris all the time and everything is hunky-dory.

I"m slightly farsighted (20/10) with a hella big astigmatism (1/20), and it makes life very interesting if that correction goes away.

the dry eyes thing is pretty universal though. contacts = eyes dry out more easily

Hmm, that might be why I'm different. I've never had astigmatism in either of my eyes. My eye sight isn't horrible, prescription is a -2.50 in my right and -2.75 in my left, but it's bad enough to where I couldn't see a clear bullseye if I were to shoot without my glasses or contacts.

Wolfts01, do you have astigmatism? If your doctor hasn't gotten you correction lenses in your glasses, that may be part of the problem with things getting "smaller". You might have him check for it if he hasn't already...

 

[Bigum1969]

I'm reading this thread with a lot of interest. My eyes aren't the best, and I suck with iron sights.

 

[Wild Deuce]

Get off the forum and see your eye doctor. Tell him what you told us.

After that's out of the way, try something like this. It's not a cure all solution and certainly wouldn't be considered a SHTF item. However, it is helpful for a relaxing day of target shooting at the range.

 

[Bigum1969]

Get off the forum and see your eye doctor. Tell him what you told us.

After that's out of the way, try something like this. It's not a cure all solution and certainly wouldn't be considered a SHTF item. However, it is helpful for a relaxing day of target shooting at the range.

Good advice

 

[K_W]

I was worse than you, I loved it for working with small electronic parts, but hated it any other time. Laser eye surgery fixed the issue and I have 20/20 vision now, and I can still see very close up.

 

[Bartman]

Being new to firearms, I don't know all that much about iron sights but i do know a thing or two about eyes. Some people see better with glasses, some people see better with contacts, it all depends on the prescription. (Well not ALL, a dry contact lens will be blurry no matter what the Rx is.) "Vision" is not just about visual acuity. You can see 20/15 but your glasses may drive you nuts. Nearsighted scripts make the image smaller, far sighted prescriptions make it bigger. Astigmatism scrips make the floor slope away from you. And the clearest part of the lens is ALWAYS in the center. You're both right, contact lenses may not give the best acuity but the vision is a lot more "natural." You don't get the magnification changes, especially with higher prescriptions, and they eliminate a lot of the distortion too.

The *biggest* problems are with those of the over 40 set. You young bucks can change your focus from downrange to the sights with very little difficulty. For someone who's arms are getting too short to read the newspaper, it happens much slower. Which makes me wonder how old the OP is, although I would never be rude enout to ask. All of which means, bring this up with your eye doctor. Trust me, he or she has heard it before and they can work with you to alleviate the problem.

Soapbox dismounted.

 

[danmdevries]

I recently consulted an eye surgeon for vision correction surgery.

He asked what my goal for the surgery was.

I told him one: when I have a train wreck of a patient my glasses have fallen off or need frequent adjustment. If I'm wearing contacts I have about 6-8 hours from the time I put them in until I need to switch back to glasses but I frequently work 12-16hr shifts. And two: my POA/POI is different between glasses and contacts and it needs to be more consistent.

I'm in the same boat as the OP. Parallax effect with glasses, limited focusing ability with contacts. I'm -5.75/-5.25 there's no getting away without wearing corrective lenses. I can see very well close up but nothing beyond. Which is another hinderance if I wear contacts at work I don't have the option of looking under the lenses of my glasses for precision small scale work.

For the OP, there isn't much you can do except switch to scoped or discuss with your eye doc and see if there isn't an alternate option.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I wear contacts every day. The new ones stay comfortable for a long time, and I have no issues. I would not want to shoot without safety glasses though, as lead can get into your eyes. Really not good when wearing contacts.

 

[wolfts01]

I was worse than you, I loved it for working with small electronic parts, but hated it any other time. Laser eye surgery fixed the issue and I have 20/20 vision now, and I can still see very close up.

I agree, it is a big plus when looking for part numbers on super small surface mount components, but even then I have to hold the thing right on my face to see it.

Being new to firearms, I don't know all that much about iron sights but i do know a thing or two about eyes. Some people see better with glasses, some people see better with contacts, it all depends on the prescription. (Well not ALL, a dry contact lens will be blurry no matter what the Rx is.) "Vision" is not just about visual acuity. You can see 20/15 but your glasses may drive you nuts. Nearsighted scripts make the image smaller, far sighted prescriptions make it bigger. Astigmatism scrips make the floor slope away from you. And the clearest part of the lens is ALWAYS in the center. You're both right, contact lenses may not give the best acuity but the vision is a lot more, "natural." You don't get the magnification changes, especially with higher prescriptions, and they eliminate a lot of the distortion too.

The *biggest* problems are with those of the over 40 set. You young bucks can change your focus from downrange to the sights with very little difficulty. For someone who's arms are getting too short to read the newspaper, it happens much slower. Which makes me wonder how old the OP is, although I would never be rude enout to ask. All of which means, bring this up with your eye doctor. Trust me, he or she has heard it before and they can work with you to alleviate the problem.

Soapbox dismounted.

The difference between glasses and lenses was enormous for me. I felt as though everything grew to 150% of its normal size, and when I turned my head I felt like I was not at the center of rotation (like a camera on a stick or something). These effects went away after about 2 days or so, but I can still tell the size difference when I first put them on.

I'm only 21, but I've worn glasses since 2nd grade. I know I've been getting more nearsighted as I grow, so laser surgery would not be a good idea I would think. I might think of it later on down the road when I've settled, but I only intern now so I can't afford it.

I'm thinking about going to have my prescription checked, and I'll try some of the newer contacts that have come out since I've stopped wearing them. The peep sight I ordered yesterday will have to do for now, however.