[Mastrogiacomo]

I have a shooting session coming up for a job I'm trying to get. It's an 8-4 session. I "must" qualify although I'm getting the impression candidates can bring their own firearm for this -- but this hasn't been confirmed. Assuming it's true and I can use my 9mm Beretta -- I'm near sighted, left eye dominant and right handed...is it alright to keep my regular glasses on when shooting? The last eye doctor said he was surpised I didn't "because it would help" and besides, eyeglasses are made of plastic not glass. Obviously, if I had time to get Oakley in prescription for shooting I would but no time. I won't even have the custom fitted ear plugs I'm waiting on so I guess it's those foam plugs for now with muffs...

My gun club doesn't let us shoot closer than 50 ft. which I find excessive. I don't know what the distance they'll be using at this training range, but just to cover myself I don't want to miss because I was squinting to see the target. I'm not Clint Eastward -- or even Gena Rowlands...advice?

Laura

[Beetle Bailey]

I always shoot with my eyeglasses on. Don't know how your vision is, but I would try to practice and/or qualify the same way I would work if I were in your shoes.

BTW, I always wear either glasses or contacts, so YMMV.

Also, there is an advantage to wearing the plastic protective shooting glasses over the regular vision glasses. The sides of your eyes are not protected with regular vision glasses and it is possible for either flying brass or burning powder from another shooter to get you from the side :uhoh: .

[Highland Ranger]

I bought a pair of "Fitovers" from Cabelas (Link (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0020422711783a&navAction=jump&navCount=0&indexId=&podId=0020422&catalogCode=2UE&parentId=&parentType=&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=search&hasJS=true) )

Nice yellow color, they work great and are comfortable.

These should fit over all but the biggest glasses. Mine are 52/20 which are pretty big anyhow (big face!)

Don't see why anyone who would want you to carry a gun for a job would want you shooting without your glasses if you needed them . . . . is this a joke?

Also don't see how any range would allow you to shoot without hearing and eye protection so you'd be wearing something anyhow . . .

[Chupacabra]

I used to shoot with just my eyeglasses and they worked pretty well. They deflected quite a few spent cases. But then I wised up and asked myself if it was such a good idea to be using $100+ dollar glasses to deflect hot pieces of flying brass. From then on I either didn't wear them (my eye sight is good enough to see the target out to 20 yards) or I wore protective shooters glasses over them.

Side note. The range I go to allows regular eyeglasses in place of the standard eye protection.

[Mastrogiacomo]

I may have to wing it until I can get some Oakleys. I won't have time to get this for a while yet as money is very tight -- and even if I could afford it, no time. Hopefully, if I get this job glasses are among one of many things I can afford. Not sure what the training range allows with regard to eye protection -- guess I'll find out the hard way....

[Dave Markowitz]

I always shoot with my prescription glasses, since I'm quite nearsighted. I don't have a separate set of shooting glasses. Actually, the idea never occured to me.

My glasses have shatterproof plastic lenses, FWIW.

[Lennyjoe]

I always shoot with my prescription glasses on.

Made sure when I ordered them I got the polycarbonate lenses.

Im in the same boat. Left eye dominant, right handed. Just learned to shoot left handed is all.

[Greg L]

You guys had better be behind some serious cover if you make me shoot without my glasses. Just have someone there to point me in the general direction of the target :D .

Greg

[dairycreek]

or whomever actually makes your glasses about making sure your glasses can be used for shooting. I don't mean the prescription but treating the lenses so that they will provide protrection and also not get scratched. My personal optometrist is also a shooter and so I have always told him to just "take care of it" whenver I get new glasses. So, my everyday glasses are also my shooting glasses. Good shooting;)

[cracked butt]

I have a pair of prescription glasses just for shooting. They have inexpensive frames and very large polycarbonate lenses so I'm not looking over the top of the frame when I'm shooting my compound bow or an iron sighted rifle from a prone position.

My wife calls them my 'geek glasses' and hates them, but I will not shoot without them- they saved my eyesight once already.;)

[Stand_Watie]

Safety goggles with the elastic strap will go on right over your eyeglasses and can be had for less than 10 bucks. I'd definitely recommend wearing your glasses while shooting.

[stv]

I got polycarbonate lenses when I ordered my glasses specifically so I could shoot with them. They work great, though I can understand wanting to get fit-overs if your prescription glasses don't have the greatest coverage. :)

[Model520Fan]

What Beetle Bailey said. Practice with what you will have on when you NEED the gun.

Your eye doctor was right. Unless you are only slightly near-sighted (about a diopter or so's worth), or in your 40's or 50's, you will see best for shooting with your glasses on. When you get old and can't focus close any more, a lower segment for bifocals for shooting should be probably +1.25, or maybe +1.00 if you're not very old yet.

Good luck with the job!

520

[Zach S]

Mastrogiacomo, do you pay for your glasses out of pocket or does your health insurance cover them? You can get Z87.1 prescription glasses with the side sheilds, if your insurance will cover part of the cost they might be worth looking into.

I'll probably get a set when I get around to having my eyes checked, however safety glasses are required where I work. If you just need a set for shooting they might not be worth it. Just a thought.

[Majic]

My job requires safety glasses and pays for my prescription safety glasses. I lucked out on both counts, free street glasses and safety/shooting glasses.
Safety lens have a different treatment than a regular poly lens. The main point is they are made to be shatterproof under heavier pressures.

[Mastrogiacomo]

Zach -- my health carrier covers nothing -- eyes or dental -- just the very basic medical care. If I get this new job, I'll be looking at better health coverage within two months of working there.

I don't know how to define my vision but the eye doctor said there wasn't any reason why I couldn't shoot with them on. Maybe I'll do that just for the day and plan to get the prescription Oakleys as soon as possible.

[Guy B. Meredith]

What are you looking at the target for anyway? :scrutiny: You're supposed to be looking at the front sight. Just put that fuzz ball or fuzz sihouette around your front sight--the center of mass thing. ;)

I always wear prescription polycarbonate aviator glasses with computer distance focus so I can see the front sight. Can't see the holes in the target even at 7 yds and at 15 yds a bullseye is fuzzy.

[Old Fuff]

Of course I wear my (plastic lens) glasses! Without them I couldn't see the gun, let alone the sights.

Put on your glasses. Pick up your Beretta (or whatever). Face a blank wall and see if you can focus on your front sight. While the wall , or anything on it, may be a blur the sights on your pistol should be in sharp focus. If so, you are good to go.

Can't get to the range? O.K., dry fire - - after being absolutely sure the pistol is unloaded. Put up a blank piece of paper on the wall. Take a stance, point the gun, pick up a sight picture with you focus on the sights, and hold on the piece of paper while pulling the trigger. Keep your attention on sight alignment and keep your focus on the sights while you pull the trigger.

Doing these thing will make you a better shot in a very short time, and cost you nothing. Have at it.

[Old Fuff]

Mastrogiacomo:

Stay cool. You have some heavy hitters behing you here, and they're all pulling for you on this. Your Beretta is good for hits on a silhouette target out to 100 yards and beyond - but nobody's going to ask you to do that. The only thing that will keep you from qualifying is if you get flustered. There are a number of ways to solve the eyeglasses thing that aren't expensive. You can do this because WE will do it together.

They don't call us "The High Road" for nothing.

[racenutz]

You guys had better be behind some serious cover if you make me shoot without my glasses. Just have someone there to point me in the general direction of the target

Same with me. I'm so nearsighted I can't even see the front site without my glasses on.

BTW, have any other folks that are near sighted tried shooting when you don't have your glasses on & can't see? When I tried it I did my best shooting (all shots within a 5” group at 7 yards) by putting the notch of the rear site where I want to hit.


I bought a pair of "Fitovers" from Cabelas

I'm curious how well they work as I've tried many different types of shooting glass & they all have fogged up on me.

[Hutch]

No one else has pointed it out, so I will. Prescription lenses MUST meet minimum standards for ballistic resistance. Maybe not as stout as polycarbonate lenses, but plenty useful enough, assuming they give adequate coverage. Shoot with your prescription, assuming they're not minimilist "granny glasses" or something.

[cratz2]

Ever shot I've fired in the last ten years was fired with me wearing my eye glasses.

[Mike Irwin]

My regular glasses qualify as shooting glasses.

High impact polycarbonate lenses with Crizel anti-scratch anti-glare coating. Wonderstuff. Better be for damned near $220 a lens!

[jro45]

I always wear eye glasses when shooting with out them every thing is fuzzie after 20 feet. I could never shoot 50 yds without them unless it was the size of a car.

[Highland Ranger]

I see a number of people saying their eyeglasses cover them as shooting glasses - not without side protection they don't. At least not at any range worried about their insurance.

Also, most saftey glasses fall under an ANSI spec and the lenses are usually stamped as such. I'm not sure that just being Polycarbonate is enough to meet the spec.

The fitovers I recommended above are $17 plus shipping . . . . not expensive and cover you flush to the face. Worth the money, confortable for me to wear all day. Yellow seems to cut down glare as well.

Good luck with the job!

[Waitone]

I question the size of your lenses. Granny style won't provide the coverage necessary. Big lenses with lots of coverage is better.

Consider a trip to an industrial safety store or a building supply like Home Depot or Lowes where you can purchase a set of shields designed to fit over you glasses and gives you full front and side shields. Not very comfortable but effective in a pinch.

BTW, you will do just fine.

[Archie]

qualify.

Let us know how you did and when you start your NEW JOB!!!!!

I will be praying for you as well.

[Mike Irwin]

Well, the glasses that I have, the ones I shoot with, were first put together for me by a shooting buddy who was my opthamalogist at the time. Since I've changed doctors (Gene retired) I'm using his specification at the new doctor.

It's the same material that Gene used for his glasses when he shot. As I understand it, the reason they're not stamped with the ANSI symbol is because they're daily wear lenses, not slip-over protection.

Granted, they don't have side protection, but they have good frontal coverage.

[JohnBT]

My eye doctor told me that the problem with a lot of the polycarbonate prescription lenses is that they aren't quite thick enough in the center. My Vairlux progressive lenses miss meeting the standard for safety glasses by a fraction of a millimeter. Of course, a lot depends on the precise prescription, so all y'all eyeglasses wearers might want to check closely with your eye doc.

The problem with using safety glasses over my glasses is that the ones I've tried royally screw up the seal between my muffs and my head. Yes, I always wear plugs under them, but my ears ring badly enough already and I'm not willing to give up a db of protection to noise leakage.

John

[J Jones]

I used to shoot with my regular glasses, but then I had a .45 case bounce off the lens and leave a little "reminder" in my field of vision, necessitating a new lens.

I get safety glasses from work and use those, if they're damaged, I can always get a new lens.

[Mastrogiacomo]

I just got back from the gun range -- not my own because I can't get closer than 50 feet and not sure how cold it would be outside. I went to an indoor range and let loose with my Berettas. This time I used the eye glasses. According to the range master -- I'm a good shot. :D However, tomorrow is another issue. We'll see if I qualify for the job. We'll be doing an all day thing so it'll probably be gun safety too. My thumb is killing from loading the mags with the mag loader and the base of my right thumb is a little chewed up but overall I had a blast and feel more confident.

One thing that has me confused -- I used the Brigadier and the standard 92FS today and got the mags mixed up in my bag -- now I don't know which goes with what gun. Are the mags different between the two models or will both work regardless whether it's a Brig or Standard 92?

[Sunray]

Put 'em on and do the test or whatever. When I had to start with glasses I asked specifically about this. I was told ALL prescription glasses are shock resistant. Like the others have said, you'll be fine as long as your specs aren't too small.
And find another club. 50 feet or 50 yards are both too far away for most shooting games. 7 yards or 21 feet is normal for 'combat' style shooting. 25 feet for ISU/NRA handgun target shooting.

[WhoKnowsWho]

I have glasses my work purchased for me that are full thickness glass and have side protectors. It's nice to have an emergency pair anyways.

[Chuck Jennings]

I always wear my prescription or my prescription sunglasses. I also always wear a baseball cap when shooting. The only brass/shells that have hit me in the head area have always bounced off the bill.

[bogie]

If you _need_ to wear glasses, and you go shooting _without_ glasses, I don't wanna be within your round's maximum impact distance...

Blind-as-a-bat-without-my-glasses-Bogie

[wanderinwalker]

I'm surprised you can shoot without your eyeglasses Mastro, honestly.

I always shoot wearing my perscription glasses. Frankly I don't worry about them getting dinged up or taking brass and whatnot up under them. I've had to adjust my Highpower shooting positions to accomodate my glasses (and skeletal structure). It's interesting, as I am the only shooter at the range who is shooting with a cant on an AR-15 (leaned either way to port or slightly to starboard, depends on position). We humans are very adaptable.

Wear 'em and don't worry. Good luck and good shooting.

[SteelyDan]

On a related topic, be sure to wear some glasses when disassembling magazines or anything else with springs. I ruined a pair of glasses a couple of years ago (from an AK mag spring), but it would have been a whole lot worse without the glasses.