Vision/shooting question

[Gazoo]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had their sight diminish with age. I have a combination of near sighted, far sighted and astigmatism. My doctor said my near sightedness and astigmatism can be compensated for, but not all three. He said as we age the lens gets thicker and less resilient thus the muscles around it are not as able to focus at short focal lengths as it as when we are younger.

What this causes for me is the inability to get a good sight picture and focus on the target at the same time. I can adapt for this with the right scope, but shooting iron sights is a challenge and the scoped revolvers I have had in the past offer their own set of problems. If I wear glasses that allow me to get a clear sight-picture the target is blurry.

I used to like to shoot silhouette, but I know that I could not even be average at non-scoped now.

What do you guys do to adapt?

[Oriondk]

I need reading glasses so have trouble seeing the front sight. I found some Winchester shooting glasses that are like bifocals. I do have to tilt my head back, but at least I can see the sights. I don't care so much if the target is blurry, I can still see it.

[Gazoo]

I need reading glasses so have trouble seeing the front sight. I found some Winchester shooting glasses that are like bifocals. I do have to tilt my head back, but at least I can see the sights. I don't care so much if the target is blurry, I can still see it.

That's fine for an animal, but can you see the 10 ring? I cant well enough to get repeatable results.

[Max]

Good points Mike and your right, I have to settle to either see the sights perfect or the target. I prefer to see the target perfect and my vision is still good enough that I can see good at arms length. I recently had lasik and my distance vision is 20/20 but without a doubt my reading vision isn't what it once was but when tested they did say my reading vision was much better then 90% of the people my age. I can still do the computer without reading glasses but to do anything real close I need them.

[rjrivero]

The 10 ring doesn't move. It's always in the middle. So, as long as you can focus on the front sight, let the rest be blurry. :2cents:

[capngeo]

I'm right with you there Mike.. I can see the target just fine, but the sights are a blurr... Then of course there are the shakes which are worse as I age (or drink more... not sure). Maybe its time to give up and get a shotgun!

[Oriondk]

I was taught to focus on the front sight so that's why I do it that way. I would like to put high visibility sights on my guns and see if I can due without the bi-focal arrangement, but haven't got around to doing that yet. My distance vision is fine.

[snake charmer]

Never watch the target, watch the front sight only, it will surprise you how accurate you will be. I train a new shooter with the target turned backwards so the scoring ring is not visable and have them fire ten rounds, when we pull the target and score it always scores in the 80% range. It is imposible to see the target and front sight equally clear, the human can't do it so watch the front sight. I have perscription shooting glasses made that have a focal length set on the front sight, I can't see the target or anything closer than my wrist. Trry it, it works.

[snake charmer]

That's fine for an animal, but can you see the 10 ring? I cant well enough to get repeatable results.

See my post under range reports, you couldn't shot like this if you watch the target. If you don't watch the front sight how do you know where the gun is pointed?

[Aunegl]

yeah, my eyes are shot, too. I've been using Merit Sight Focuser for years.

https://www.eabco.com/css_sts2.html

[rjrivero]

yeah, my eyes are shot, too. I've been using Merit Sight Focuser for years.

https://www.eabco.com/css_sts2.html

Cool optical theory behind those. Same principle as the "pinhole vision test."

Quite often, we have folks who come in complaining of eye pain. They usually take out their contact lens due to pain. Then they can't focus on the snellen eye chart for visual acuity. It's really important to know if the eye problem is cornea to the lens, or the retina. It's BAD NEWS if you miss a retina problem, because time is eye sight.

So, we use a 3x5 card with a pin hole in it. If you hold a pin hole directly in front of the eye, you can focus at infinite length. (Distance) You block out all the light that is not directly perpendicular to the fovea.

The same principle holds true with pinhole cameras.

[budroe]

Like Snake Charmer said, you've gotta concentrate on the front sight, even if the target is a bit blurred. Ain't it a shame, you spend you whole life working so you can finally buy a few guns you love to shoot. By the time you can really afford what you want, you're too old to get the most out of them.

[StrawHat]

Front Sight, Front Sight, Front Sight.

As for bifocals, tilting your head back to use the traditional bifocal strains the neck muscles and causes you to want to quit shooting earlier. If possible, have your eye guy grind the bifocal in the upper portion of the lens.

When I wore a tool belt I had a pair of safety glasses ground with my Rx on top and bottom. When installing door hardware or otherwise working above my head I did not need to crank my head back, just look out the top of the glasses. One day I tried them at the range, wow! Wish I had them when I was competing. It was so nice to have my front sight in focus again.

[snake charmer]

Front Sight, Front Sight, Front Sight.

As for bifocals, tilting your head back to use the traditional bifocal strains the neck muscles and causes you to want to quit shooting earlier. If possible, have your eye guy grind the bifocal in the upper portion of the lens.

When I wore a tool belt I had a pair of safety glasses ground with my Rx on top and bottom. When installing door hardware or otherwise working above my head I did not need to crank my head back, just look out the top of the glasses. One day I tried them at the range, wow! Wish I had them when I was competing. It was so nice to have my front sight in focus again.

I take my gun to the eye doc and him write a perscription for a focal distance to the front sight. I have two pair one yellow and one clear.

[Oriondk]

It doesn't really bother me using the bifocal shooting glasses. It is a little awkward shooting from the bench, but I don't do that very much anyway. I figure I probably shouldn't rely on them too much, though. If I'm ever in a situations where I have to grab the gun for self-defense, I may not have time to grab glasses, too.