Went shooting today, man my eyesight is getting bad!

I've been wearing progressive lenses for several years. This past year, I bought a pair of handgun shooting glasses. The left lens is focused exclusively for distance; the right lens is focused at arm's length so my sights are sharp. They have really improved my shooting. The down side is that when I'm done shooting and put my regular progressives back on, it takes my eyes a while to readjust.

doubleh said:

I have a couple or three handguns with red dots and that seems to be the simplest and best solution to aging eyes. BUT--- I like to shoot with iron sights.

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I, too, like shooting with irons. I like the added challenge and I don't like the way "optic" sights make a handgun bulky and less easy to find a holster that works. To me, a handgun should be "handy" and stuff hanging on the top of the gun make it less so.

doubleh said:

I'm on my third pair of readers, each a little stronger than the last. At least they are cheap.

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The problem with using cheap "readers", as I see it, is that you are compromising the safety of your eyewear; both in terms of the composition of the lens and the amount of protective area around the eye it covers. I do hate having to give up the cheap factor...

SwampWolf said:

I, too, like shooting with irons. I like the added challenge and I don't like the way "optic" sights make a handgun bulky and less easy to find a holster that works. To me, a handgun should be "handy" and stuff hanging on the top of the gun make it less so.

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Many holsters are cut away in the area corresponding to the rear of the slide. Mernickle’s designs are mostly of that type. They accommodate red dots perfectly.

SwampWolf said:

I, too, like shooting with irons. I like the added challenge and I don't like the way "optic" sights make a handgun bulky and less easy to find a holster that works. To me, a handgun should be "handy" and stuff hanging on the top of the gun make it less so.



The problem with using cheap "readers", as I see it, is that you are compromising the safety of your eyewear; both in terms of the composition of the lens and the amount of protective area around the eye it covers. I do hate having to give up the cheap factor...

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I use full lens, not the half lens, readers and I cover them with a pair of dark, over the glasses, safety glasses. There is a good selection of these and they are also cheap. I can't tolerate the bright sunlight here without some help.

I feel the pain. I have had glasses since I was 12 and my eyes get worse every year. I see these threads where folks are shooting with iron sights out to 50 yards and I get a little bit of jealous rage Even with my glasses, I can't even see a 4" target at 50 yards!

I have found that those little red sticky bullseye stickers help a bit. The target is still fuzzy but it's a bright red fuzzy.

Kendahl said:

As we get older, our eyes lose their ability to focus at different distances. The solution is bi- or tri-focals. I've always been near sighted which means close objects, like the front sight on a handgun, are naturally in focus. To shoot, I take off my bifocals and put on a pair of uncorrected safety glasses from Home Depot.

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You are one of the lucky few; mild simple myopia with presbyopia. There will come a time when simply removing your glasses will not suffice for near and intermediate vision. Enjoy it while you can!

The memory isn't the first thing that goes.....it's you eyesight.
I had given up pistol shooting until I discovered a Millet SP-1 red dot sight mounted on a Ruger MKII and accurized by Clark Custom Guns...that was 20 years ago and I'm still shooting it.
Those little Fast Fire sights by Burris sure look like just the ticket for old eye syndrome .
Gary

gwpercle said:

The memory isn't the first thing that goes.....it's you eyesight.
I had given up pistol shooting until I discovered a Millet SP-1 red dot sight mounted on a Ruger MKII and accurized by Clark Custom Guns...that was 20 years ago and I'm still shooting it.
Those little Fast Fire sights by Burris sure look like just the ticket for old eye syndrome .
Gary

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I'm sure the Burris is great although I don't have one. I bought a Ruger MK III 22/45 lite and wanted to try one but having no experience with that type of sight I opted for a clone for about a quarter the price of the Burris. I mounted it with a dovetail mount to see how I would like it and I love it. It's still doing it's job quite well so a Burris is still in my future.

Find a good optometrist that will work with you.

I’ve been nearsighted for years. Slowly the farsightedness crept in.

I got bifocal contacts. Had to play the “better here, better here” game for a bit with my gun.

She dropped the power in the right eye just a tad and increased the close up a little until the front sight was perfectly in focus. So, I have good close up vision with both eyes and my far away vision is about 20/20 in left eye and about 20/30 in my right eye. Still very good to see the target and the front sight.

Also, have the front sight correction made in the top left corner of your right eye lens. That way when you tilt your head down a little to shoot, you are using the correction and not tilting your head back and up trying to find the right spot. (Assuming right eye dominant).

A good optometrist can do wonders. Please find the right one for you.

I can still shoot pistols ok. I am 70 and wear glasses. My problem is shotguns. I used to be a sporting clays league shooter. A few weeks ago while visiting in Denver I was invited to shoot by an old friend along with my son-in-law. He brought a pair of Berretta autos for me to shoot, my SIL used an 870 pump. I realized I was outclassed when I saw his custom Parrazzi. Turns out he is a state champion and we would be shooting a very challenging tournament course. My SIL did ok, he is a great shot and very coordinated. I couldn't even see some of the targets much less hit them. All shots were doubles, smaller faster clays in cover. I just could not focus on, and shoot fast enough for about half of the targets. Fortunately he took us to some normal but still hard targets I could see and hit.

RK pretty well jacked my eyes up,,, (Glasses are ~OK~ but my RX is pretty strong, and clear vision outside of the progressive area just isn't happening,,,)`

My Ophthalmologist reffered me to a Specialist. Due to RK, the shape of my cornea is more like a volcano than a gently rolling hill. =(

He recommended 'piggy-back' contacts,,,..
.
Never heard of such a thing, but you basically place an individual soft contact lens in your eye and then place an individual hard contact lens over the soft lens,,,

If everything goes as planned, you will no longer be able to call me FOUR EYES!

It will be more like Mr. SIX EYES then!!!! LOL!!

The hard lenses are custom made and I get 'em in ~2 weeks~. Sure hope it all works out OK,,,

I'm in my 60's and have the eyes to prove it so for actually shooting bullseye matches I have had to go to red dot sights. I just can't shoot a decent match group when I can't focus properly with iron sights any more. Not a problem with a man sized targets the trifocals work fine for that. But I'm not trying to place 10 shots in a single hole group using just one hand so the iron sights are adequate.

My last two pairs of glasses are known as occupational trifocals. Regular bifocals on bottom for reading with distance vision prescription above them with trifocals at the top of the lenses. The trifocals are perfect for handguns for me as I shoot with a slight head down stance. Had to compromise a bit. The lenses are plastic but of safety glasses thickness. Also have anti-scratch and UV resistant coatings. I then bought clip on sun glasses that work better while driving than the transitions lenses I had been buying although I miss the transitions when going in and out of buildings. I highly recommend this approach.

Yes, I've recommended them before. Unfortunately, we don't offer them where I work currently.

I have found that 1. Getting good prescription shooting glasses (I use Ranger 68's) which I use for everyday wear helps a great deal. and 2. If you have a good eye doctor he will correct for many variables and not just the power magnification (things such as barrel distortion). So far I have stuck to bifocals but I'm thinking of trying out progressive lenses on my next go-around. Note that these glasses must come in 'digital progressives' which match any areal distortion you may have with your eyes.

I got these. The lenses are easily user-interchangeable. They have a digital Progressives technology that can mimic any needs (e.g. bifocals) as well as advanced custom coatings (I got the 'All-in-one' for basic needs, the Blackout for sunny days, the Freshwater Green for hunting/fishing). The 'Win/Win' is another good choice. Every 2 months or so they'll have a 20+ percent off sale. The next one will likely be July 4th.


https://www.sportrx.com/randolph-engineering-ranger-classic-68mm-cable-temple.html

Make sure to check out their pre-built guide:

https://www.sportrx.com/prebuilt-guide

I also got these mil-spec ones for work since I destroyed the frames of the previous pair. Mil-spec means the frames are more durable:



https://www.sportrx.com/smith-gray-man-tactical.html

I have seven pair from this company ... great optical quality. Good shipping but you need to stay on your toes because sometimes products may be discontinued between your order and their fulfillment. They'll take care of you but they have been caught unawares when that happened and I had to ask them 'where are my glasses' ... They also carry Oakley, WIley-X and Costa as well as all the other name brands.

I saw no place in their Rx input format to specify Optical Center Height for single vision lenses or lined bifocals. Shooting glasses should have the OC set up to line up when the head is on the stock or tipped forward for handgun shooting. To be fair, I did not see one on Decot's website either.

Here's my 2 cents ..... I too was having trouble seeing and thought I was needing my glasses changed. I waited till my insurance would cover new glasses which they do ever 2 years. When I did go to the eye Dr. I had glaucoma and had optic nerve damage that cannot be fixed. I am a right handed shooter shooting with my left eye which is not in very good shape either. To any and all that are having trouble with sights go to the eye Dr. before you wait too long. I reckon I thought glaucoma was something that happened to others and not me and I was very, very wrong! I sure wish I had caught my issue sooner as shooting a .22 rifle with peep sights was one of my favorite things and now its gone forever.

My instructor at a class referred to his red dot sight as a "geezer" sight. He's an old competitive shooter, getting up there in age. Besides his eyesight, his hands aren't that steady anymore. I'm only half his age. When I get there, they'll have to get the shotgun from me before they put me in the old folks home. Besides that, I'll have a coonhound service dog for every disability in the book.