Poor eyesight, target acquisiton

[HiWayMan]

Took my ma out shooting this weekend. Wan her to learn to shoot her dad's S&W M10 for self defence. She has shot alot before, but recently her eyesight is failing due to the life long effects of diabetes. She is right eye dominant and that eye only has about 30% vison left in it. The left eye has about 60% vision left. I tried many different ways of having her sight , but none were very effective. She can do well at about 12', but after that it is a crap shoot.

Any help y'all could give me would be great. Thanks.

HiWayMan

 

[Dot_mdb]

With enough practice she should be able to hit COM without being able to see the sights at all on targets out to 7 yards.

If she can see the front sight, even blurry, then I would have her forget the rear sight and just center the front sight over the top of the gun. That is going to provide good enough accuracy.

Forget about a bullseye type of target. She should have pretty good hits on a silhouette target from typical defensive distances even with instinctive type of shooting.

For someone shooting without relying on the sights it is iimportant that they grip the gun and present it in exactly the same position each time. If she has the patience to practice and wants to learn she will become good enough to defend herself.

Bill

 

[DMK]

I'd be most concerned with positive target ID. It wouldn't hurt to get her a very bright flashlight like a Surefire G2.

If she can get all shots on an 8x11" piece of paper at 7 yards, that's good enough for SD.

 

[HiWayMan]

thanks fellas

 

[jc2]

Try painting the front sight gold or bright yellow (model paint). It might help to paint the sight white and then paint the colour on it (makes it brighter). Birchwood-Casey (I believe) also makes a bright green sight paint. My experience is gold/yellow work best, but you can experiment to find out what she can see best.

 

[bountyhunter]

Ditto on sight paint. I use fluorescent orange on the front and yellow or green on the rear sight. At old age (myself included) it is probably best to use target focused sighting with both eyes open and locked on the target. raise the gun into the line of sight of the better eye and don't try to focus on the sights. Even if the sights are blurry, you can still pick up a bright orange spot and center it between the yellow spots. Accuracy using this method is very good out to at least 15 yards.

 

[Texas Bob]

Go see a "good " eye doctor and get a pair of shooting glasses made for her. Take along a "red gun" and have one focal point of one lens be at the distance of the front sight with her arm extended. The other lens can be set for 10-15 yds. She'll enjoy shooting more, and with enough practice sights will not relevant at combat distances, but the shooters confidence in themselves is.

 

[carpettbaggerr]

Take her to see the Swede.

 

[4v50 Gary]

What DMK says. So long as she can hit a sheet of paper at 12, that's good enough for Self Defense. Heck, she should also learn natrual point shooting for that distance.

 

[Gary H]

Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy is one of those conditions that put a conditional note on your driver’s license. It is progressive; what works today might not work in six months. I don't think that many of us know what it is like to have thirty percent vision. She needs to be able to I.D. a target in the home. The distances will be short, but you need to make sure that she can tell the difference between you and someone else that is of the same build. You should test a couple of times a year. You might install remote light control. This would allow her to control lighting. In low light, she will be severely limited. Since she needs light anyway.. consider a fiber optic front sight. Setup normal security measures, exterior lighting and a big dog. Moms like big dogs, they remind them of their husbands.. mess things up, eat whatever and pass ___ when watching TV..

 

[HiWayMan]

Good suggestions guys and I thank you again.

Ya, mom has a big Rottweiler, but the dog doesn't have a mean bone in its body. The other night I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol when I turned into her driveway (Burnt out license plate light). The damn dog didn't even get out of her house to see what was going on. This is the reason I want ma to hone her skills a little more. I just can't trust that dog to protect her.