Woes of the middle-aging... can't see the front sight clearly WITH my glasses on

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1KPerDay

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I don't have terrible vision; around -0.25 in one eye and -0.75 in the other, but I just got my prescription updated, which was at least 2 years old. I'd lost my previous pair of glasses so had been wearing my 3-year old ones for matches/target shooting, and they're fine. I can see the front sight clearly. At distance things become more blurry, but whaddayagonnado...

Anywho, I put my new prescription glasses on and went to the range, and.... what the heck? Why can't I see the front sight? Ah. Lifted my glasses up to my forehead, and lo and behold, the front sight is sharp again.

I used my old prescription glasses in the past couple matches, and I've tried shooting at the range using my new ones, with mixed results. If I have a bright FO front sight on a gun I can mostly hit the plates at 18 yards but the front sight is definitely not sharp.

I guess I'll just use my old glasses for matches until the frames break or the lenses get too scratched up. Maybe I'll order a pair of glasses using my older prescription specifically for shooting.

Like my dad used to say... getting old isn't for wimps.

I'm not even 50 yet. This sucks. LOL
 
I worked as a finish carpenter for years. What does that have to do with shooting? I had my prescription ground into the upper quadrant of my glasses so I didn’t have to tilt my head to see hinges or tape measures above my head. I used the same glasses for shooting revolvers. Front sight was nice, crisp and sharp.

Good luck!

Kevin
 
Nearsighted too. Glasses will fuzz my front sight; Trijicon HD, TruGlo TFO (Green front/yellow rear) and XS Big Dot are useable, contrast is good.
 
Lol I hear ya. I use 2x readers to see front site and target blurry. I am farsighted so glasses have little correction but progressive bifocals. Real handy.
 
Lol I hear ya. I use 2x readers to see front site and target blurry. I am farsighted so glasses have little correction but progressive bifocals. Real handy.
 
As a competition shooter I found it best to have specialty glasses just for shooting.

I found an optometrist that also shoots so bringing in my gun was a non-issue!

After setting up a prescription for front sight focus we put on a set of "try" lenses. It's a goofy contraption that he can put different lenses into to fine tune the prescription for my shooting glasses. I now have a crisp front sight on my 6" revolver and 5" semi-auto comp guns!

My "off" or "opposite" eye lens is set for distance. This has worked for me for several years. For optical/red dot sights I just use my regular daily glasses!

Smiles,
 
For rifle hunting I use stick-on bifocals in the upper left part of the right lens of my normal glasses. They are flexible, can be cut to size and shape and installed when wet with water. They stick in place when dry and can be peeled off and reused. Front sight is sharp when looking through the stick-on while cheek is on the stock. For general looking around the stick-on is above and out of the way. They are available at Amazon and others.
 
I feel your pain. At 59 years old I have tried pretty much everything to help my fading close focus. Glasses can help some, but be aware that the more magnification you use, the more parallax you have. In other words, you can see the sights clearly now, but the target may not be exactly where you think it is. Look at a vertical edge with a pair of lined bifocal readers and turn your head slightly and you'll see what I mean. If you shoot competitively in speed events, you will also find as you age your eyes not only don't focus as well, they don't focus as fast. As of 2 months ago, I flew the surrender flag and put red dots on every gun I own. Cost me a small fortune. Was still pretty competitive at steel challenge with irons, but was having to make too many make up shots for my liking. Just couldnt see the sights well enough, fast enough.
 
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Why can't I see the front sight?
Because your myopia is getting worse, and you are becoming presbyopic. When you remove your glasses, it's like wearing +.25 and +.75 diopter add powers lenses, respecitvely.
The good news? You will be able to just take your glasses off to read in the next few years, until the myopic correction exceeds the reading add. The bad news; You'll need the glasses to see clear at distance from now on. Your old glasses were working for shooting because when your eyes were getting worse, the glasses were undercorrecting them, becoming in effect intermediate range glasses. (AKA computer glasses) The front sight is at about the same distance a computer screen is usually viewed at.

When you eventually get multifocals, get progressive lenses. You can use see the front sight of a pistol clear with them just by holding your head up a bit higher, and viewing the front sight through the intermediate section of the lens.

Maybe I'll order a pair of glasses using my older prescription specifically for shooting.
Not unless you can get your eye doctor to rewrite one the same as that one for you. They expire at two years.
 
I order online and can get whatever prescription I wish. Thanks for the insight :cool:

According to UT regulations governing dispensing, however, they must be dispensed "by a person within or from the state and in the ordinary course of trade from a permanently located and established place of business" So it seems buying prescription eyeware off the internet is illegal in UT. (unless you have it shipped to a dispensing optical shop; kind of like doing an FFL transfer.)

Just sayin'.


Utah In Utah, a person does not need to be a licensed optometrist to sell prescription eyeglasses if they are dispensed pursuant to an unexpired prescription from a licensed optometrist or physician. A prescription for eyeglasses does not expire unless the optometrist or physician includes an expiration date on the prescription that is based on medical reasons which are documented in the patient's file. Eyeglasses must be dispensed by a person within or from the state and in the ordinary course of trade from a permanently located and established place of business. A person dispensing prescription eyeglasses cannot attempt to traffic upon assumed skill in licensed testing of the eye.

Source:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/...cription-Eyeglass-Regulations-2016-update.pdf
 
Ya, day after I turned 45 i woke up and everything was blurry...been shooting shotguns ever since, now almost 60 I'm trying to find a 10 ga scatter gun...
But seriously, lazer surgery in my left eye gave me 10+ more years of decent eyesight at a cost of about 1500
 
IF you don't want to start using optics, then either get specialized shooting glasses, if you go this route make sure they are safety glasses. or try a fiber optic front sight. I added one to my MKII for steel challenge and my 1911. I tried using a red dot on my pistol but always saw 2 dots or a big starburst.
 
Same problem, one of the reasons I've consolidated almost entirely to 4" barrels, anything more and the front site really starts to blur.

Also, Ameriglo CAP green SQUARE really works best for my eyes.

Also, I'm colorblind, so there's that factor.
 
It's called presbyopia. Welcome to the club!
Aside from seeing a competent optometrist, you can paint your front and rear sights, for contrast. Prime them, with
White Out, or white nail polish, then, use any number of bright colors, different, at front, and rear.

I prefer red at the front,
and green, at the rear right position.
 
Same for me. There were some things in WI's regs I didn't know.
I wonder what's in it for them? I mean, I see the point of making sure prescription eyewear is sold by people who know what they're doing. but if I have a legit exam/prescription from a local ophthalmologist, why should my state care where I purchase? Is it some kind of state kickback racket?
 
I wonder what's in it for them? I mean, I see the point of making sure prescription eyewear is sold by people who know what they're doing. but if I have a legit exam/prescription from a local ophthalmologist, why should my state care where I purchase? Is it some kind of state kickback racket?
My guess is that some online glasses purveyors are less than scrupulous in checking whether an Rx submitted to them is valid; With contact lens sales, we have to respond within one business day as whether the Rx is valid when a Pt. submits it to buy contacts. If we do not, they may go ahead with the sale. I have had people try to order contacts online with an Rx that has been expired 8 years!


Mind elaborating? As a fellow cheesehead I'm always interested in stuff I didn't (but probably should) know :)

Read the link I cited in post 13. Detailing what I knew before and know after reading it seems pointless.
 
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I got my optometrist to write me a prescription for "shooting glasses". I haven't actually had the prescription filled, yet, because I want them filled in safety glasses form factor and I haven't been able to find an optician that offers prescription lenses that big. So I can't tell you how they work, yet... they're going to be an experiment. But what she did is to measure how far out the sights are when in a typical shooting stance and then she adjusted my regular prescription that she got from my refraction for the difference in the distance. And I also asked her to do that only for my dominant eye, and for the non-dominant eye to give me a "plano" (ie no correction) lense.

PS - I've had no problems buying glasses online in Wisconsin.
 
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