I own a Shield 9mm with factory 3 dot sights and am 63years young. At about 40 my 20/20 turned into (first) reading glasses till now i'm sporting bi-focals. Over the years I have been thru training courses from different sources and one thing that's been consistent is look at the front sight, front sight, front sight am a believer in that. So I'm thinking I might be better off with a plain(no dots) rear and a dot front sight, the goal being to draw my focus better to the front sight. And I'm wondering if any of you folks have gone this route and how it's worked out for you.
My Shield and my old eyes
- Thread starter Zoner
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Yep - the bullet goes where the front sight is pointed when the gun fires... The rear sight is for fine tuning! Select a front sight you can see well and go from there.
Florida J Frame
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I had my optometrist fine tune my prescription for shooting and it helped a lot.
NCW Ray
Member
I'm not nearly as old as you ... I'm only 61 so can't completely relate! 
An easy way to see if you like a 1 dot sight picture is to put some black tape over the rear dots and give it a try. Then if you like it you can either permanently black out the rears or buy a custom set.
Ameriglo.net sells individual front and rear sights so you could buy a blacked out rear sight if that's all you wanted.
Personally I like 2 dot sights such as the Ameriglo Pro i-Dots. They are night sights and come with a LimeGreen or Orange luminescent outline around the front tritium insert. I bought the LimeGreen and really like them. The LimeGreen is easy to pick up in the daylight.
Oh and the i-Dot's are made by Trijicon so they are quality sights.
Good Luck!!!
An easy way to see if you like a 1 dot sight picture is to put some black tape over the rear dots and give it a try. Then if you like it you can either permanently black out the rears or buy a custom set.
Ameriglo.net sells individual front and rear sights so you could buy a blacked out rear sight if that's all you wanted.
Personally I like 2 dot sights such as the Ameriglo Pro i-Dots. They are night sights and come with a LimeGreen or Orange luminescent outline around the front tritium insert. I bought the LimeGreen and really like them. The LimeGreen is easy to pick up in the daylight.
Oh and the i-Dot's are made by Trijicon so they are quality sights.
Good Luck!!!
My old (67) eyes prefer Diamond Speed Sights.
Available for the shield.
Available in several colors with or without tritium:
Available for the shield.
Available in several colors with or without tritium:
I wear progression lenses and have for years. I have found that there is no way I can get any combination of rear sight and front sight, front sight and target, or rear site and target into focus. I have simply focused on putting the front sight on where I wan the round to go and squeeze. I don't put a lot in the 10 ring this way but I am comfortable that I can hit center mass, or inside the 7 ring, out to 24 yards.
Well, I'm not that old, but have the same problem as I progress to my first set of glasses.
The bifocals (readers) are way to blurry for the target and I have to tilt my head up to high. The far vision won't focus on the front sight.
I can shoot well all day long with glasses set for the front sight distance, but these aren't the ones I use everyday when not shooting, so that's cheating for when I would expect to use the firearm.
I'm experimenting with sights, thanks for all the suggestions in this thread. What I've found really works is Crimson Trace Laser Grips......... With my everyday glasses and a laser backup I'm very confident in where my bullet goes.
The bifocals (readers) are way to blurry for the target and I have to tilt my head up to high. The far vision won't focus on the front sight.
I can shoot well all day long with glasses set for the front sight distance, but these aren't the ones I use everyday when not shooting, so that's cheating for when I would expect to use the firearm.
I'm experimenting with sights, thanks for all the suggestions in this thread. What I've found really works is Crimson Trace Laser Grips......... With my everyday glasses and a laser backup I'm very confident in where my bullet goes.
I'm 61 and dealing with declining visual acuity too. I've got Trijicon HDs on both my M&Ps. Being night sights, there are little dots on the rear sight, but they are not outlined and, for me, just disappear when it isn't dark. The front sight has a big neon donut around the tritium insert. The front can be orange or, my favorite, yellow. It really stands out and makes sight acquisition fast and easy.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Trijicon-Sights-Wesson-Shield-Outline/dp/B00IUB0M90/ref=sr_1_4?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1446935563&sr=1-4&keywords=trijicon+hd+night+sights"]Amazon.com : Trijicon HD Night Sights Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Yellow Front Outline : Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jlN0vLyUL.@@AMEPARAM@@41jlN0vLyUL[/ame]
If you don't want night sights, or the expense, I expect there are fiber optic front sight posts out there that should be very visible in any sort of decent light.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Trijicon-Sights-Wesson-Shield-Outline/dp/B00IUB0M90/ref=sr_1_4?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1446935563&sr=1-4&keywords=trijicon+hd+night+sights"]Amazon.com : Trijicon HD Night Sights Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Yellow Front Outline : Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jlN0vLyUL.@@AMEPARAM@@41jlN0vLyUL[/ame]
If you don't want night sights, or the expense, I expect there are fiber optic front sight posts out there that should be very visible in any sort of decent light.
The shield is intended for sudden encounters at bad-breath distance.
Can we agree on that?
Now, are you REALLY going to spend time developing a sight picture in those circumstances?
Its all well and good to take these little pistols to the range, and try to shoot groups for recreation.
In application for its intended purpose, you need to be able to present the weapon quickly, and fire equally quickly, by SIMPLY POINTING the weapon. If you spend time hunting for the sights - no matter how large they may be, or how glowing and shiny they may be - the bad guy is going to either shoot you first, or he will have closed the distance such that you are now engaged in a wrestling match for control of the firearm.
Just keeping it real.
Can we agree on that?
Now, are you REALLY going to spend time developing a sight picture in those circumstances?
Its all well and good to take these little pistols to the range, and try to shoot groups for recreation.
In application for its intended purpose, you need to be able to present the weapon quickly, and fire equally quickly, by SIMPLY POINTING the weapon. If you spend time hunting for the sights - no matter how large they may be, or how glowing and shiny they may be - the bad guy is going to either shoot you first, or he will have closed the distance such that you are now engaged in a wrestling match for control of the firearm.
Just keeping it real.
Ole Joe Clark
Absent Comrade
Our last trip to the range was a real "eye" opener for me. I had printed some black bullseye targets from the computer. After we got set up I asked to shoot my wife's revolver. When I pointed at the target, the front sight just disappeared. It was the same color as the target! I could not see it. You might consider that before you change to black sights.
The next time we go to Hobby Lobby we will pick up some hot pink or red paint and paint the sight.
The next time we go to Hobby Lobby we will pick up some hot pink or red paint and paint the sight.
The ameriglo sights work good for me , nice bright orange/ green front that also is a night sight, and the rear sight is a notch and comes in no dot , single dot night sight, or 2 dot night sight rear. I like the no rear dot version and it is the cheaper of the 3. they are well made and tap right in to the shield. 69-89 depending on where you get them online. Bob
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Thanks for all the replies....i'm gonna black out the dots on the rear sight and see how it goes... use something temporary for now. I think i'll get the result I want which was just to focus a little better on the front sight, not look back and forth between the front and rear sight worrying about where the dots are.....
gunfighter48
US Veteran
Fingernail polish works great on the front sights and it's fairly durable! The other thing that helps me (I'm 67) is to widen the rear sight gap to .140". That gives me more daylight on either side of the front sight. I also put a set of Ameriglo Orange/Green sights on my Shield 9mm. The orange is very easy to pick up.
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MyDads38
Member
My old (67) eyes prefer Diamond Speed Sights.
Available for the shield.
Available in several colors with or without tritium:
Thank you for the link, these look very interesting and different than what is normally offered. I like the standard 3 white dot sights on all my handguns, but this really gets my attention
Making progress I think. So I blacked out the rear dots then tried getting a sight picture of some bad guys on TV....i'm in CA so our "compliant Shield" means thumb safety, mag disconnect, and LCI. After blacking rear dots the first thing I noticed was the front sight appeared to have a little white "stem" beneath it. Never noticed it before. It was the white lettering atop the LCI....another distraction. Blacked out the letters with a sharpie. Since I never noticed it before removing rear dots tells me it's working... more focused on front sight now.....i could see a set of the "Hackathorn" sights on my Shield......Mike
EOChief66
Member
I am having the same problem with my Shield. The rear two dots are more in focus than the one on the front blade and I tend to see them clearer. So I tend to focus on them and not the front blade.
I will cover the rear two next time I am at the range and try that!
I will cover the rear two next time I am at the range and try that!
Mid 50's and bifocals-all black rear sights and bright fronts seem to help. I have black serrated face Bowie rear sights and the Trijicons with bright colored rings on front on two carry M&Ps, blacked out rear and bright red front factory on another. Next set will be Trijicon HDs on the Shield.
Munsterf18 said:
For younger guys or people lucky enough to not need glasses the problem is with your regular everyday bifocals or single lens glasses, if you maintain a good stance and head alignment, the sights are out of focus but the target will be in focus.
Referring to the link from Mister X, I will attest bringing the target into focus and leaving the sights blurry, allows you to maintain good stance and head position and gives results as good as using prescription glasses to bring the front sight into focus. I have adopted this technique the past few months and improved my shooting.
Munsterf18 bring up a good point for those practicing for conceal carry with prescription glasses dedicated for shooting. Not practicing with your everyday glasses is akin to practicing with a firearm significantly different than what you carry. It might give you good results at the range but not prepare you as well for a real life situation (?).
I really miss when I was a teenager. I knew everything and everything was in focus all the time.
