What the heck is wrong with sights these days?

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CajunBass

CajunBass

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I remember way back in the day, when gun sights were made out of real material. Metal. And they were cut of out hard stuff that had sharp, highly defined edges that made it easy to line them up and take aim at a target.

Now I don't know what they make them out of, but it's always fuzzy looking to me. When I just hold the gun the sights look fine, but when I go to take aim they get all fuzzy again. Is this some new material ceated for the military as some kind of cammo? Or maybe the aliens did it? Those little green skinned guys never did like us having guns. That's why they didn't invade you know.

Then when the sights do look right, then it's the targets that are inferior and all fuzzy looking. Very strange I think. If I could find my glasses, I'd look into it more.

:D:D
 
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i don't know what they're making sights out of anymore.

my arms have gotten shorter over the years, and i can't see the sights very well anymore.:D
 
I know you are kidding, but this works well, for me , try getting a contact lens for just one eye, or two different lenses, one for near, and one for far. I couldn't believe the difference. I was able to see the target and line up the sights, for the first time in years.
 
gym: try getting a contact lens for just one eye, or two different lenses, one for near, and one for far.
Click to expand...
There is one that I haven’t heard before. It sounds like a great idea. Bi-focals really suck and this sounds like a great way to get around the problem!
 
I know you are kidding, but this works well, for me , try getting a contact lens for just one eye, or two different lenses, one for near, and one for far. I couldn't believe the difference. I was able to see the target and line up the sights, for the first time in years.
Click to expand...

Thanks gym. I might have to ask my doc about that.
 
Quote:
I know you are kidding, but this works well, for me , try getting a contact lens for just one eye, or two different lenses, one for near, and one for far. I couldn't believe the difference. I was able to see the target and line up the sights, for the first time in years.
Thanks gym. I might have to ask my doc about that.
Click to expand...

Its called monovision. When it works its great, when it doesn't you will be miserable. The key is if your brain can adapt to suppressing the vision of the other out of focus eye when you look near or far. If you are prone to motion sickness it's not likely to work well either.

But I agree its worth a try with contacts.

I have monovision done with lasik and it lets me see 20/15 at distance from the left eye and 20/20 with the right eye from about 20" to 8' away. Its a joy to be able to use iron sights again!

The major deficit I notice is the blind spot merge is pretty much always out of focus except when looking at something in the distance where both eyes can focus on it.

I could never get the hang of wearing contacts.

--wally.
 
I went the monovision route about two years ago and it has worked out very well. I had my eye doctor optimize my right eye to focus on the front sight. As a result, the front sight is sharper than ever. I did find that it is important to wear the contacts everyday in order for my brain to make the adjustment.
 
Seriously, good irons are very hard to find. CZ is one of the few that knows how to make them anymore. I've had other maker's sights busted in half from pumping into a tree. I believe if more shooters could be exposed to high-quality irons they would not be so reliant on optics.
 
yep i think you otta go see the eye doctor. good luck. actually i was thinking of checking into that. as my 15 year old son can shoot way better than i. he is shooting 300 yards iron sites hitting steel no problem. i do wear glasses. but im really thinking of checking out that laser surgery thing. not too sure of the cost. however i shoot so much and eyesight is important
 
I wear gas permeable contact lens and a few years ago I had to go to more expensive bifocal lens (still gas permeable). They work for me! I can read without reading glasses that I used for a couple of years.

I wish I could afford to get my eyes lasered.

Paul
 
Tallpine, my optometrist told me that having two different lenses in glasses is exactly what they did before they could construct bifocals -

Like others have mentioned - I have contacts in that monovision arrangement and I can shoot pistol without any problem - but with rifles I find my glasses (bifocals) are easier to manage? The downside to getting old I guess.

:)
 
just to follow up, some folks take to it right away, others never do, but from talking to the eye doctor, and some folks who use just one lens, it's pretty much trial and error. The 2-3 week venue is a good rule of thumb. Also starting out with a 15 to 30 minute period and increasing it till the brain figures it out, is a good plan if you don't see perfectlly right away. I was suprised to find that the doctor has done several of these for shooters, and customised the distance for the length between the sights and the eye. Like for me, when I work, I have the distance set for 18-36 inches, this is so I can see my computer screens. I trade stocks, and use 4-6 screens, so the average reading distance of say 12-14 inches is to close for me, and the other monitors may be 36 inches away, so I messed around with the prescriptions until he got it right. If you have stigmatisms, it can still be done, but the doctor has to take 4 measurements instead of 2, so make sure whoever you use is willing to put in the time to get it right. Some folks , as mentioned use just one lens, I found that my distance is 20-20, but with the 2 lenses it is even better. Close up, I can't see the first 2 feet, to read this, but I can see it from about 3 feet . Lol, the longer we live the more stuff we need to compensate for.
 
I actually have two pair of glasses right now: my normal distance glasses, and a pair of "desk glasses" that are adjusted for about 24 - 36" from the computer monitor.

To read a book I generally use no glasses at all.

I've been thinking about swapping the lenses around since the frames are the same, just to try it out. (right eye: close / left eye: distance )The only problem with that is that my distance lenses are the kind that turn dark outside and my desk glasses are clear.

Right now I'm stuck to the point of not being able to shoot very well with iron sights. Though I can shoot well enough - "Minute of Bad Guy" at room distance ranges. ;)
 
I picked up a pair of bi-focal shooting glasses at Sportsman's Guide. They were $12. Since I'm wearing shooting glasses anyway, I thought I'd give them a try.
 
When I can find my sights, it always seems like they're waving around. Look! It's on the target! Uh-oh! Now it's off the target! Cheap dang sights. Gonna have to get some quantum-nano cordless electromagnetic ruby lasers, I guess. Novak sells 'em, pretty sure.
 
The Bi focal shooting (safety) glasses work reasonable well but I had to tilt my head back enough to be annoying, but they got me by until I had lasik.

I was more worried about what I'd do if, God forbid, in I needed a gun in the middle of the night and couldn't hope to see the sights. Now I don't worry about it.

--wally.
 
The two different lenses approach does work. I use plain old drugstore cheapies, dominant eye with 1.5 and the other with 1.25. Both the sights and the targets (out to 25yds) are acceptably clear.
Gonn'a try 1.25 and 1.0 next just to check.

The only problem is moving around. The ground doesn't appear where it actually is and it's easy to stumble, especially when running, like doing a field course.

Since our club frowns on falling down with a loaded shootin' iron in hand, I've had to watch this some.

Otherwise, it works fine. Cheap, too.
 
The only problem is moving around. The ground doesn't appear where it actually is and it's easy to stumble, especially when running, like doing a field course.
Click to expand...

I wonder if custom made inverted bifocals would work in that situation, the lower half could be for normal/distant vision, and the upper would help you see the sights... the opposite of normal bifocals.

I have cheap Winchester bifocal shooting glasses, the bottom part just helps me see ammunition boxes and gun details, and I still struggle to see the sight picture through the unmagnified upper part.
 
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