Shooting With Glasses

[steverjo]

I have to wear prescription glasses. For general wear, I use bifocals and for just reading or computer work, I have reading glasses.

When I am aiming my pistol, which glasses should i use? If I use my bifocals, in order to keep the front sight in focus I have to hold my head at an unaturally backwards angle to see the front sights in the bifocal area. If i wear my reading glasses, I can hold my head at a more natural angle, but I will not be able to make out the target clearly either before or after my shot.

 

[glockman19]

I just had lasik and can now see with 20/15 in each eye. search the threads and find the one on lasik. It had greatly improved my life and shooting.

 

[Dot_mdb]

Using Progressive lenses instead of bifocals you won't have to throw your head back as far and you will see the front sight more clearly.

There are other solutions possible with glasses but it depends on how much you want to experiment and how much money you want to throw at the problem. It pays to talk to an eye doctor who is also a shooter.

Bill

 

[MaricopaKid]

possible solution

Howdy!,

I had the same problem a few years ago. Although I wear progressive lenses, I still had to make slight adjustments in tilting my line of sight. My optometrist recommended "distance only" bifocals. Worked for me! Hope this helps!

David

 

[dracphelan]

I second the distance only bifocals. Also, if you go the separate pair of shooting glasses route, get them cut as safety glasses. This has made a world of difference for me.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Using Progressive lenses instead of bifocals you won't have to throw your head back as far and you will see the front sight more clearly.

Agreed.

I just had lasik and can now see with 20/15 in each eye.

Yes, but if out of your own pocket ... $$$$.

BUT - if your vision is such that you cannot function well without glasses (e.g., if they were suddenly knocked off, broken or whatever), IMO you should put off a few guns for a while and get it done. Mine is not there yet.

 

[Dot_mdb]

"distance only bifocals" Never heard that terminology. Please describe exactly what they are and how they work.

Bill

 

[fastattack]

I'm suffering from the same problem as steverjo. My neck kills me when I come home from the range. I'd just like to have a pair of glasses which brings my distance focal point into the length of my arm so I can focus on the front sight. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has done this and how well it worked.

 

[rcmodel]

All you need to see clearly is the front sight.
It doesn't matter if the target & rear sight is slightly blurry.
Pick whichever works best for that and you will do the best shooting.

Nobody, even with perfect vision, can focus at three distances at once anyway.

I wear gradient bifocals, and also bought a cheap pair of reading glasses that best focus at front sight distance.

If you want to spend the money when you get new lens, they can put a small bifocal spot in the top right corner of your lens just for front sight focus.

Or you can use a Merit Iris attachment on your glasses to clear things up.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/productdetail.aspx?p=8767


rcmodel

 

[Dot_mdb]

>>If you want to spend the money when you get new lens, they can put a small bifocal spot in the top right corner of your lens just for front sight focus.<<

I tried that approach but I was not happy with the results. If you go that route you cannot have a progressive lens so you might have to put a bifocal for reading at the bottom. The intermediate distance lens at the top is sometimes used by electricians who have to work with overhead wiring. Also, at the time they would only make up the lens in a material that was very thick for my perscription. The experiment cost me $400.

To focus on the front sight of a handgun you need to focus at about 30" depending on the length of your arm and the length of the barrel. Most people would need only a very minor magnifcation for that distance. I believe it would be possible to have the whole top half of the lens made with that magnication and the result would be perfect focus for shooting and slightly less visual acuity at far distances. The left eye would take over for distance and you would probably not notice the difference in your overall vision.

Bill

 

[Cloudpeak]

I bought a pair of "Bolle" safety/shooting glasses that featured interchangable polycarbonate lenses in one clear and 3 tinted lenses that had a prescription insert that presses in from the back. I had my dominate eye (right) lens set to focus on the front sight and the left lens set for distance. This has worked out very well and was reasonably priced. I have another set of inserts that are typical bifocals that I use for work (thereby making the glasses deductable)

Cloudpeak

 

[Ala Dan]

My old eyes are gett'in weaker with each passing day. With that said, I wear
no line bifocals (vari-lux lens) when shooting/reading; or any other activity
that requires good eye-sight. I also have the lens tinted, so they act much
like sun glasses in bright, sunny conditions~!

 

[zxcvbob]

Go to zennioptical.com and you can buy a pair of single-vision eyeglasses for about $9 (plus $5 S&H) That's cheap enough that you can play around with the prescription a little, .25 diopters at a time.

I wish I had known about them before I paid $175 for a pair of bifocals that I never use. I ordered a pair of single-vision glasses .25 diopters weaker than my prescription from Zenni and they are great. By backing off the strength a little, I don't need to bifocals yet (I'm nearsighted) I just take the glasses off to read fine print. With the glasses on, I can focus anywhere from 2 feet away to *almost* infinity. Things fuzz up slightly at a distance, but I'm OK with that.

 

[jimmy]

With my trifocals, I use the middle lens (intended for the distance of a computer screen) to focus on the front sight. My head tilts back some, but not so much as with the bifocals I used to wear.

 

[steverjo]

thanks for your responses. This gives me some ideas to play with.

 

[robctwo]

I got a set of trifocals with the center focus on the sights. I had them put the center focus way up in the lens. The optician had a hard time understanding what I wanted and was a bit put off with the shooting reference, so I told her that I worked at a computer most of the time. I held out my arm and pointed my finger and said "My screen is about here". I told her that I wanted a bit of distance lens above, and a slight bit of closeup below, so I have a trifocal with lines, but the biggest part is focused at the point of my sights. I don't need to tilt my head a bit to see the sights. Very nice.

 

[Autolycus]

I would go with Lasik.