Eyes Getting Worse - Need Glasses

[413Maxwedge]

I am near-sighted and can see close up (in the same room) just fine without glasses. But I wear prescription glasses for distance, such as driving or going to a movie theater.
I mainly carry for self defense, so when I target shoot It's at 20' / 7 yards distance and I don't need my glasses.

I have a couple 6" revolvers and I'm having a hard time shooting out past 20' due to my vision. Without my glasses I can focus on my sights but not the target. With my glasses I can see the target but cant clearly see the gun sights. I have a similar issue when driving with glasses; I can see the cars and road signage but can't focus on the radio.

So what should I try for distance shooting? Can anyone recommend a cheap "reading glasses" type from the local pharmacy to try? I have tried bifocals in the past but could not get used to them and gave up after two weeks of headaches.

Thanks for any advice. I'm sure many of you have similar issues.

 

[bigggbbruce]

The Lounge would be correct for basic chitter chatter.

 

[dben002]

You need to look into "Transition lenses"......multiple distances in one lense....close up for reading....mid range...and long range.....Just ordered mine today.....even come with a coating that turns dark in the sunshine and now even turn dark in the car. They used not to turn dark in the car because the windshield stopped UV rays from coming through.......

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

After I had cataract removal surgery I was unable to focus on the front sight...and my groups showed it. What made the difference was using reading glasses...in my case 1.50 magnification. I can see the front sight perfectly and my shooting improved to where it was before.

 

[HJBM&P22Custom]

If you can clearly focus on the front sight, then you should be able to shoot good enough at 7 to 15 yards. I have 20/70 vision in my dominant eye with my glasses on so I see a blurry target at those distances. But it is not a problem because I'm not ever trying to really clearly focus on the target anyway.

Just get a crisp picture on the front sight and lay it generally pointing at the target and your hits should be good and consistent.

 

[sandog]

I have a prescription for some of those traditional lenses that dben mentioned, but haven't got them yet.
What has been working very well for me are Foster Grant "Ironman" glasses from Walmart, $15.
The ones that work for me are 1.5x, now I can see the sights and the target.

 

[413Maxwedge]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll get some cheap Walmart 1.5x and see how they work out.

I have tried bifocal, both with and without lines, and never got over the headaches and dizziness so Im not wanting to try that again. I also had transition tint but didn't like those: Im in and out of buildings all day and it took too long to adjust.

I'll pick up some wally world specs and go from there.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Charlie Askins wrote about having glasses specifically ground for shooting.
Years ago I knew a service repairman, he had bifocals with the near vision lenses in the upper part since he was always looking up at close distances.

 

[Nightowl]

Years ago, I worked with my optometrist set up my shooting glasses so that my right eye focus was on the front sight of my 6 inch shooting guns. The left eye focused on distance, at that time there was no correction for distance. I also had bifocals cut in the lenses for close work. The target is always going to be fuzzy if your focus is on the front sight. That has worked pretty well until lately, when indoor shooting the old eyes were having a hard time finding a black sight on a black target. I installed a green dot Holosun on my 627-5 which works great for indoor shooting. I have to admit, it is more costly than the Walmart solution!

 

[Onomea]

I've been near sighted, corrected with glasses, since I was 12. At 73, I wear bifocals, and have for the past 25 years or so.

I can see the front sight without glasses. (Can read without glasses, too, if I pull the book up to within 20 inches or so of my eyes.)

For shooting, though, wearing my bifocals, I could not see the front sight clearly. I went to an ophthalmologist who is also a shooter, he was recommended to me by my shooting club as the go-to guy for prescription shooting glasses.

He provided me with prescription shooting glasses where the focus of both lenses was between the front sight and the target. The idea with this approach is that while you can see neither the front sight nor the target perfectly, you can see them both well enough to shoot well.

I used these for about six months, but was not really happy as I wanted to see the front sight crisply.

Reading on the forum here, I came across a post on this topic. I think it was by Ivan, wherein the poster said his father-in-law had been a champion pistol shooter with prescription shooting glasses whose approach was to have his dominant eye lens focussed on the front sight and the other eye lens focussed on the target/infinity. The poster explained that one's brain soon adjusted to this approach

I liked this idea, and discussed it with my ophthalmologist. He was skeptical. He said many/most people could not handle the discombobulation that it caused. I decided to try it anyway.

It works for me.

When I first put the glasses on, it is a little weird. But within ten seconds or so, my brain adjusts and it feels normal. I can see the front sight just fine, as well as the target. I see both, clearly and crisply.

I like these glasses a lot better than the first set of shootong glassses that were focussed inbetween the front sight and the target.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Since my cataract surgeries I no longer shoot by echo location.