A question for concealed carriers who have had cataract surgery with distance implant

[lrrifleman]

After reading an interesting article in Shooting Sports USA about pistol shooting and eye glass prescriptions, I started thinking.

Apparently reading glass focus distance is shorter than sight focus distance. I find that my sights have always been a bit blurry when I would look through my reading glasses. How do you tend to compensate in order to see the sights of your carry arm, presuming you wear bifocals with a distance correction, do you:
a) keep a reading prescription and accept a blurry sight picture,
b) have your sight picture prescription for your dominant eye and reading prescription in your non-dominant eye,
c) have both lenses with your shooting prescription and have separate reading glasses?

Thanks for sharing!

[fredj338]

I have had cat surgery. One eye sees close one far. I do wear bifocal shooting glasses for practice & competition. They are progressives & close distance is set for my front sight at arms length. Yes it matters. Switching from front sight to distance is pretty seemless but everyones eyes are diff.
Another route to go is have your dominate eye set for front sight & off eye for distance in your shooting glasses. Like the mono vision I have, it works quite well but again, everyone's eyes are diff & many cant do mono vision. Yes separate glasses for shooting v reading, just easier.

[RBSQUARED]

I had both eyes done in 2014.
I only wear glasses for reading. I find that I have no issues with the sights on my S&W Bodyguard 380.
It also has the Crimson Trace built in. That is one thing I will NOT use as it runs right back to you!
The sights are okay, I just line them up with the rear sight blurry and line up from there. Guess I just have had too much experience from the military! Even Night Qualification in the early 1980s was just over the barrel with chin on top of the stock. Only two of old Drill Sergeants that had served combat duty had it come natural.
Bob

[andy52]

I've always be near sighted and couldn't see well at long distance 10 or 15 yds are so. Now that I've grow older I can't using my normal glasses to see close up but if I take them off I can still see just fine, so now I just take them off for close up. It does become a problem when shooting however with handguns, if I take them off the sights are clear and sharp but the target isn't, if I keep them on the sights are blurred but the target is clear.

[Barrie]

I had my r/eye lasered last year and a new lens installed. I also had the Glacoma surgury done at the same time which took a total of around 3 months to fully heal up. Its not the same as what I had but is quite good for handgun shooting. Definitely better then the alternative which was blindness.

[Ivan the Butcher]

I had my last new Rx glasses made a year and a half ago. I had new lenses for my old frames made.(I'm right handed) Left lens Normal bi-focal, Right lens Reading Rx with focal point set 34" from my eye. (that's the distance to the front sight of a 4" K-frame!) They also work well on my 6" revolvers, Snub nose revolvers, and 1911's.

If you are a 3 position rifle shooter, The focal length is much further, and the "Center of the Rx" is in the lens corner next to the bridge of your nose. Hunting and Varmint guns seem to have scopes these days nose!

Ivan

I haven't tried my "Shooting" glasses on a 10 or 14 inch Contender yet, but it has to be better than my unaided eyes!

[Krogen]

This is an interesting topic. My ophthalmologist is a Bullseye shooter. His recommendation was for close range correction at a foot or two beyond the front sight. Reason being the sights are in "good enough" focus and the target doesn't go unacceptably blurry. Sure enough, when I put 1.25 diopter flip down lenses on my glasses the front sight was sharp as a tack. I couldn't see the target very well. 0.75 diopter lenses were just right as he suggested.

[ameridaddy]

(c) for me.

[ancient-one]

I use reading glasses, Shooting I use plain lenses and let the sights be a little fuzzy and the target clear.

[Kanewpadle]

Originally Posted by ancient-one

I use reading glasses, Shooting I use plain lenses and let the sights be a little fuzzy and the target clear.

I would say yes because I do the same.

With contact lenses my eyesight is 20/20. But I need readers for up close. The sights have blurry for me for several years.

My carry guns have front sights that are larger and brighter which help but my precision shooting days are long gone.

I know that if I can identify my attacker inside 15 or so yards, I can put good hits on target. That’s all I worry about.

[Big Cholla]

I had cat surgery about 6 years ago. My master right eye came out 20/15 to 20/18 depending on how tired I am when examined. My left eye is 20/30. I wear 'cheater's of 1.25 to 1.50 diopters for reading and close work on my workbench. Rifles with scope or peep sights are OK. Handgun sights can get a little iffy for precision shooting. I just move the handgun to the left and use my left eye for a very acceptable sight picture with the target just a little fuzzy.

I am not worried in the least about slightly fuzzy sights on my handgun if in a self defense situation. The MOA of man is pretty big at self defense distances.

[christak]

Originally Posted by lrrifleman

After reading an interesting article in Shooting Sports USA about pistol shooting and eye glass prescriptions, I started thinking.

Apparently reading glass focus distance is shorter than sight focus distance. I find that my sights have always been a bit blurry when I would look through my reading glasses. How do you tend to compensate in order to see the sights of your carry arm, presuming you wear bifocals with a distance correction, do you:
a) keep a reading prescription and accept a blurry sight picture,
b) have your sight picture prescription for your dominant eye and reading prescription in your non-dominant eye,
c) have both lenses with your shooting prescription and have separate reading glasses?

Thanks for sharing!

I had cataract surgery in July and August of 2018 and corrected both eyes for best possible distance vision. My distance vision is quite good (20/20) even without glasses now. However, I still have a slight astigmatism in each each eye and correcting that resulted in even better distance vision (20/10). Since I need glasses for reading anyway, I chose to get progressive lenses to correct the astigmatism for my distance vision in addition to adding the correction for reading. With the progressive lenses, you can find a spot in the lenses for clear vision at any distance you choose. You decide if you want clear sights, clear target, or something in between. Has worked well for me... YMMV

Also, for the record, I naturally had monovision prior to my surgery (what you described in "b" above)...it worked ok for shooting, but I didn't like it in some situations I encountered in everyday life...with one eye blocked by something and your vision is impacted (can only see near or only see far).

[URIT]

I first needed glasses at age 44 and used reading glasses. I soon got shooting glasses with the focal point one foot from the tip of my index finger when my arm was fully extended.

A few years later I needed bifocal but kept using the shooting glasses. When my old shooters needed correction, I got trifocal lenses with the mid-range set the same as my original shooters.

The trifocal lenses work well for me but it did take some practice to get used to raising my head to the proper sighting position as I brought the firearm to a shooting position.

[Rpg]

I had cateract surgery about 10 years ago. My surgeon hunts and shoots.

We settled on mono vision: left eye for closeup, right eye for distance. My vision tests at 20/20 or better for distance and closeup: I don’t use glasses to correct for anything. My dark glasses and shooting glasses are uncorrected

No problem seeing sights on handguns, working on a computer or shooting a shotgun.

Find a good surgeon. Have a long talk with him so he understands what you want to accomplish and you get a detailed understanding of the options he offers. Don’t be reluctant to shop around for a surgeon who understands what you want to accomplish.

[growr]

Had both eyes done in 2015, I wanted my medium and distance vision to be razor sharp and crystal clear. They did that and then some.

When shooting iron sights on any of my firearms I put on a set of safety glasses with a 1.25 diopter lens.....I have NO vanity using reading glasses for....reading.

What I get is a front sight that is very sharp and defined....I don't care if the target is out of focus.....just put the front sight where it has to go and pull the trigger......no muss, no fuss, no hassle!

Might work for you as well.

Randy

[Execpro]

Had Cat Surgery 6 years ago. Put distance lenses in RT eye. See 20/20 at distance, but use reading glasses. Painted all front sights Testers Bright Yellow if the gun doesn't have night sights. Front sight slightly blurred but the yellow paint makes it pop and with Testers Flat Black paint on back sight (If needed), I have no problem getting a good sight picture.
Tried Shooting RX Glasses years ago, but for me they were a pain. In a self defense situation you can’t ask the assailant to wait until you put your glasses on. Just Sayen.

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

[pasound]

Cataracts for me too. Had both of my eyes repaired two years ago. Went from 20/100 in one eye and 20/150 in the other to 20/20, except for reading/computer/shooting lenses. I'm now a little bit farsighted. Long guns still focus at the front sight, pistols not as well. Slowly collecting/mounting red dots and reflex sights for my favorite shooters. Self-defense shooters are mostly my j-frames with sights now marked with paint. At full right arm, I don't need my glasses.

[DWalt]

I have double distance-corrected implants and wear bifocals mainly for reading and close work. I have no problems seeing the sights.

[Old Corp]

Cataract surgery two years ago. Had been nearsighted for most of adult life. Went for mono distance vision and now am somewhere between 20/20 and 20/30 for distance.
After initial healing I was having some real issues with most handgun's front sights. Got a pair of SSP shooting glasses with the 'cheater lens' located at the top, IIRC, I got the +1.50.
They worked, but took a little getting used to.

As time went by, and I assume further healing, the front sights began to get clearer. Still have the SSP glasses, but found I rarely really use that 'cheater' portion of the lenses.
Still have to wear readers for anything up close, laptop, small parts, fly-tying, etc.

So, in my experience your eyes continue to change a little even after the initial healing. If I'd known that, not sure I'd have rushed to get the SSP glasses.