Aging, eyes and targeting

[Deltadude]

Here's a question I guess most of us will have to address at some point in time.

As my eyes are getting older/tired, it's getting more and more difficult to sight in the target.

Do you usually wear your reading glasses or regular ones? As for me, I have to consistently adjust the distance of the slide from my eyes so I can see all 3 dots lined up true...

So who says today's 40's is the new 30's must not shoot.....

[iareConfusE]

Focus on the front sight is most important. You should be able to line up a focused front sight between two blurred out rear sight blades, though it will be harder as you age. I have friends that wear glasses or contacts to shoot. I'm really nearsighted, so I don't need glasses to see my sights, but I can't see a .45ACP hole at 7 yards, so when I shoot, I can only guess where my hits landed. If I wear my glasses I can see the target and the holes just fine, but I can't see my sights at all...

[stevie]

I have the same problem, 50 plus year old eyes suck. Some people have special glasses set up for just shooting but my opinion is use your everyday glasses. Thats what you will be wearing when you need your firearm.

Currently I am using progressive lenses, they are a pain in the butt. Thinking maybe bi-focals will be better?

[redcliff]

Gold bead or fiber optic front sights help a lot for me. I like the gold bead due to the more nostalgic appearance.

I'm considerring installing a small red dot sight on one of my handguns again; I had a BHP with one in the late 90's and it was very fast and easy to use.

[huckberry668]

I started having focus problems a few years back. I tried to have a pair of prescription glasses made to allow me to focus on the front sight. it works but I found this little thing works even better.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=21401/pid=8767/Product/MERIT_DELUXE_OPTICAL_ATTACHMENT

[Hilldweller]

Ain't gettin old a PIA?

When I did shoot, 20 some-odd years ago, my eyes were great and I shot very well. Today, I doubt I could hit there proverbial "broadside of a barn'.

I'm thinking that "instinct shooting" (no sights used) at a combat type range would work though. Otherwise I feel I"m down to closing my eyes and "Use the Force Luke"..... <pray>

[mkane]

Scopes on everything for me, being real close to 60 with vision issues. Someone mentioned wear your everyday glasses, can't see the sights. If your worried about hitting something in a situation out of the ordinary, use a shotgun. Precision target shooting is my preferred disipline and glasses don't cut it.

[Cnynrat]

Presbyopia is the bane of getting old. That's the condition that leads to people who have been nearsighted their whole lives gradually needing longer and longer arms to be able to read a newspaper (not sure anyone actually reads newspapers anymore, but you get the idea).

I've tried a few different approaches, none of which are perfect. Currently, I wear glasses with progressive lenses, so I have a continuous range of focal lengths based on what part of the lens I look thru. Center and above lets me see at distance, and the bottom part of the lens is for reading up close. I can tilt my head back and forth a little and there is a sweet spot where the front sight really pops into focus. Kind of a pain in the neck, but it works OK for my purposes.

I used to run monovision contacts, but they normally want to correct your dominant eye for distance vision, and your other eye for close up work. I know of some people that have had the reverse done so their dominant eye is corrected for near vision, in some cases even with Lasik correction. This may or may not work for you. In my case monovision always seemed to leave me with a mid range that was always just a little fuzzy, and of course my front sight falls into that range.

[smoothy8500]

I had the same issue pistol shooting indoors and had a set of glases made. I measured the distance from my eye to the front sight and next appt discussed it with the eye doc. He spent some time working with me to get perfect focus at that distance. Glasses focus on the front sight, the target is quite a bit fuzzy but it works.

[ThortheDog]

I have the same problem, 50 plus year old eyes suck. Some people have special glasses set up for just shooting but my opinion is use your everyday glasses. Thats what you will be wearing when you need your firearm.

Currently I am using progressive lenses, they are a pain in the butt. Thinking maybe bi-focals will be better?

That's the approach I've taken, too. Figure I need to be able to shoot my best under everyday circumstances (no opportunity to call "time out" to switch glasses).

I also found it a pain when I first started shooting with progressives. Over time it's become pretty natural for me and is working well. Cnynrat gives what I think is a good description:

Presbyopia is the bane of getting old. That's the condition that leads to people who have been nearsighted their whole lives gradually needing longer and longer arms to be able to read a newspaper (not sure anyone actually reads newspapers anymore, but you get the idea).

I've tried a few different approaches, none of which are perfect. Currently, I wear glasses with progressive lenses, so I have a continuous range of focal lengths based on what part of the lens I look thru. Center and above lets me see at distance, and the bottom part of the lens is for reading up close. I can tilt my head back and forth a little and there is a sweet spot where the front sight really pops into focus. Kind of a pain in the neck, but it works OK for my purposes.

Good luck finding what works best for you.

[Bug Splat]

It was a bit awkward having this talk with my Optometrist.....

me: I want an extra set of glass for.... sport stuff.
him: to protect your eye like in basketball?
me: No.... more for seeing thing at about arms length away to 25 yards
him: Baseball?
me: No.... like target practice
him: oh, ok like darts?
me: sure, darts. I need to see the dart in my hand and the target

He is very hippy-ish so bringing up guns would not have helped me at all.

[Deltadude]

Sigh....

Looks like at some point, gonna have to trade in the Glock for a Taurus Judge!

[Cnynrat]

I have one of these that I brought into my optometrist's office when we had our discussion:



He was cool with it.

[Bug Splat]

I have one of these that I brought into my optometrist's office when we had our discussion:



He was cool with it.

HAHAHAHA really?

[bombadillo]

Here's a question I guess most of us will have to address at some point in time.

As my eyes are getting older/tired, it's getting more and more difficult to sight in the target.

Do you usually wear your reading glasses or regular ones? As for me, I have to consistently adjust the distance of the slide from my eyes so I can see all 3 dots lined up true...

So who says today's 40's is the new 30's must not shoot.....

If you have any technical questions, I make shooting glasses regularly for people so PM me sometime and I'll help you out with anything you need. I'm a licensed optician and have been at it about 12 years now so I've seen a pair or two.