Prescription shooting glasses-ideas?

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sharkman

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Until now middle age eyesight hasn't affected my shooting very much. A little farsighted, I need reading glasses but see good otherwise. Shooting mostly pistols I do well with or without prescription lenses. Shotguns and casual clays? No problems. Garands, 03A3's, M1A's? Hmmm, well not as good as 25 years ago but still do OK on a SR-1 target at 100 yds.

Until tonight...Tonight my eyes met their match with a S&W MP-15X. Instead of groups I had patterns, looked like I was shooting a shotgun. No, I take that back I think most shotguns have better patterns! With standard prescription glasses I got a nice front sight picture, but couldn't see the target. Switch to uncorrected shooting glasses I could see the bull ok but the front sight was way too fuzzy. Less than ideal lighting and shorter sight radius than other long arms might have played some part in it but the fact remains I think it's time to invest in some specialized shooting glasses.

Any recomendations on what kind of glasses, progressive lenses etc I should get?
 
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You said the front sight was in focus, so your glasses are fine. The only thing that will let you have your sights and the target in focus at the same time is a telescopic sight. Just another benefit of aging.
 
I'm 59. I went to the range Sat., 1/9 to test reloads for the M1. I noticed the peep sight was oval...not round! I got the same group/ "pattern" you mentioned. Not what I wanted to see. Next trip, I'm going to try some "150" drug store reading glasses. Probably won't help much...just gives me another reason for a range trip! :D

A scope really does help at our age and or with our vision problems. We can still shoot when we can SEE the sights! My sons just laugh at me...and my grandson is eager to beat me! He is only 6...but he is ready.

Mark
 
Sharkman, I have the same problem, having recently become a Curio and Relic.;)
I use these glasses:
http://www.gunnersalley.com/product/ESSACESSORIES/ESS_Shooting_Glasses_Accessories.html

I bought the prescription insert, and had my optician cut me a pair of lenses.
Left eye has normal distance prescription and bifocal, right lens has same, plus, I had her grind a half strength bifocal prescription at the top of the lens.
This lets me see the front sight, and the target halfway decent.
It was kind of expensive, but really helped me be able to see enough to shoot iron sights.
Good luck.
 
Also talk to your optometrist about them. I don't shoot that often, but recently got into pistols again.
Need my glasses to shoot decent groups. Talked to my doc at last checkup and was prescribed new bifocals, with polycarbonate safety lenses, non-glare coating, and scratch resistance coating. They are a little larger lens size than I normally wear (for more protection). I normally wear glasses for just reading purposes, so I did not opt for the transition lenses since I rarely wear them outside.

NVCZ
 
Sharkman, you really don't have a problem yet. But you will. If you are like most of us, you are at the age when your vision begins to degrade rather rapidly. Your lens prescription will change annually. This period of deteriorating vision will last for fifteen or twenty years. Then your vision or lack thereof will level off and your script will change little from year to year. Of course, you will be an old man by then.

The first thing to understand is that you don't need to see your target clearly. A common shooting fault is to let the master eye flash from the front sight to the target. Most shooters with this fault are not even aware they do this. Actually, as you know, the eye can focus on only one thing at a time. So as long as the front sight is clear the target should be fuzzy. Young eyes can focus extremely rapidly so folks aren't really aware that the eye is focusing each time they glance from the sight to the target. Remember, if you are seeing the target clearly when you shoot, you are not focusing on your front sight.

You can use reading glasses that bring the front sight into sharp focus. When you buy the glasses take something with you that will simulate the front sight of your pistol, extend your arm and select the glasses that bring your simulated sight into sharp focus. I have tried all of the "solutions" over the years, and I have found that this works fine for me and I am 75 and can't see much of anything without glasses.

A second method is to purchase a lens holder that attaches to your shooting glasses and accepts interchangeable lenses. This gizmo looks like your jeweler's loupe that attaches to his glasses. I'm sure you have seen them.

A third option is to purchase a Merit adapter for your glasses. This has an adjustable iris similar to an old fashioned camera shutter. All it does is constrict the aperture that you are looking through and thereby sharpens your vision. This actually works quite well. The Merit adapter used to be a common item on the target range.

Of course the best option is to have a set of prescription glasses made up for yourself. The common way to go is to have the lens for your master eye cut so that the entire lens will give you a good clear picture of your front sight. This is necessary if you shoot both rifle and pistol because your eye looks through the lens in different places for each firearm. Consequently a progressive lens won't work. The other lens is ground to your normal prescription and it can be a progressive if you like. The trouble with this solution in your case is that your vision is probably going to go through a rapidly changing process of deterioration, and it will be expensive to have a new pair of glasses made every year or so.

A cheaper solution is to have your optometrist get you a supply of mylar lens they are small circles that will stick to your glasses wherever you place them. And they will peel off when you wish to remove them. They can be reused many times if you are careful with them.

If you have a carry permit, you should often practice using your street glasses. If you should ever have to defend yourself, you don't want to be looking through glasses that may require you to waste a precious second looking for a front sight when all you want is a flash picture. It is also a good idea to work on point shooting where your focus is on the target rather than the sight.

Hope you find a solution that works for you.
 
Here are a few places that people have ordered from. If you do an internet search for "prescription safety glasses" or, "prescription shooting glasses" you will find many options. Sometimes the best thing is to find an optician in your area that specializes in sporting eyewear.

These were featured on the show "Shooting USA."
http://www.sunbuster.info/shooter.html

These site was used by a friend of mine
http://www.safevision.net/shooting/index.html
 
Decot, Randolph (Ranger), Post 4, Hi-Def Spex all make scrip shooting glasses in a myriad of colors for all light conditions. They make decent driving glasses as well.
 
ua gotz to trust ur spotter---



every 2 years i get new glasses\bi-focal progressive with all the extras; inc polycarbonate
i put my now 'old' ones in my range bag.
my eye doc is gun friendly and years ago made up a basic pair for me focused at 40"--where the front site is on a pistol and most rifles.
as an experament it was interesting and kinda works. i can see (sic) it working better for some than others as all i's aint equal in needs.
 
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