Sight tips for old eyes

[magnumb]

This may have been covered before, but here goes ....
Most of us were taught many moons ago to focus on the sight for an accurate shot, with a quick check on the target for alignment. Again for many of us focus the front blade is very hard (without craning neck to look through progressives or bifocals), and focus on the rear sight for a good alignment is VERY tough if not impossible without optical assist from bifocals. This leaves two choices shoot from an un-natural compromises posture, or shoot with a very blurry sight picture.
Painting the front blade fluorescent green or orange helps some.
I have heard that some use a different technique of focusing on the target and allowing the sights to blur. Now we can easily focus on the target through our regular lenses (or no glasses for some). But can you see the sights well enough for a precise aim.

All useful comments on working with iron sights and aging eyes greatly appreciated. O--O.
Magnumb

 

[Geronimo Jim]

When I shoot competition...I have shooting glasses regulated
for the front sight. Front sight clear and clean and target is
fuzzy. I also practice with my regular glasses and tilt my head
back so the midrange of my trifocals cleans up the front sight.
I was taught for 50 years to always look at front sight. Trigger pull
is the most important followed by front sight.

 

[Zoner]

i was taught to focus on the front sight. The target is a little blurry and the rear sight is a little blurry but the front sight is sharp as a razor. Its because when you properly focus on the front sight the target and rear sight are in your peripheral vision

 

[nate-dogg]

For target shooting and plinking I would suggest using optics. For home defense I would suggest using night sights. Where the front and the rear sights all glow. This will help with the darkness of a home at night. I would also practice point and shoot at 7 yards without focusing too much on the sights because in the real life home invasion situation, it will most likely be a point and shoot at 7 yards or less in low light.

 

[URIT]

My old eyes are aided with trifocal glasses. I had the technician set the midrange by using the tip of my finger on an extended arm and hand. This gives me the perfect front sight picture. It also eliminates eye-fatigue when I spend hours using my desktop computer.

 

[Krogen]

Buy some stick-on bifocal lenses from Amazon. They stick to the inside of your shooting glasses with a drop of water. They come as full size lenses, but can be trimmed with some sharp scissors. I trimmed one to about 3/8" diameter and stuck it to my glasses exactly where I need it for proper shooting stance. With the small lens, it helps me take the same position from shot to shot, AND it's small enough that it doesn't interfere with my navigating the range.

Don't go overboard on power; get a +1 diopter if you can. My eye doctor is a Bullseye shooter. His advice was to set the focus point about 5 ft beyond the front sight. Reason being, if your front sight is perfectly in focus, the target is too fuzzy. With the focus in front of the front sight, it's a compromise. The sight is sharp enough and you can still see the target well enough. That's why +1 diopter is a good choice.

 

[gwpercle]

The best solution for my old , retinal detached eyes , is a Burris Fast-Fire .
Until the compact models came on the scene I used a Millet SP-1 tube type red dot sight, it works , but the Burris FF's are so much less bulky.
Gary

 

[Decker]

I've always focused on the front sight, but when I was a helluva lot younger, the rear sight and the target were pretty much in focus as well.
Fast forward several decades and I still focus on the front sight.
Being near sighted, I typically look over the top of my glasses to get good focus on the front. The rear looks pretty decent for aligning, and of course, the target is just fuzz.
However, I find that if I aim at the center of the fuzz, I actually do quite well. It's kinda like aiming at "center of mass" in a real scenario with thing happening fast.

 

[lrrifleman]

For pistol shooting, I focus on the front sight. Now my vision is not only affected by age, but also diabetes. Sadly, at Camp Perry this summer, I forgot an old trick ... darkening my sights. Outdoors, I found my front sight to be more Gray than black. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my carbide lamp and carbide for blackening my sights.

 

[Bkreutz]

I played around with different prescriptions when my eyes started getting old, my optometrist is a shooter so that helped somewhat. After a while I accepted the inevitable and went with a red dot sight, I focus on the target and the dot over the target is the same focus. Pull the trigger, hits every time. I don't have an optic on my carry pistol, but anything outside of 7 yards isn't considered self defense and I can point shoot anything closer than 7 yards. You'll be amazed how easy it is when you only have to focus on two points on the same plane (target and dot) as opposed to 3 points on 3 different planes (rear sight, front sight, target). It's like cheating. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[VNK971]

I wear reading glasses, and after retiring I no longer needed bifocals probably because I wasn't on a computer all day. For shooting handguns I got some reading prescription safety glasses. I started shooting bullseye and I only shoot iron sights. I found 0.75 are right for focusing on the front sight and being able to adequately see the bullseye at 50 yards.

 

[chiefbob81]

Spray and pray!

 

[Kiwi cop]

I wear contact lenses while working. I have glasses for when I drive more than a few minutes form home. The glasses simply do not give me a good front sight picture so I wear contacts while shooting as well. I simply concentrate on the front sight, ensuring that it is central in the rear notch and level. I place the front sight the central point of the target and generally get to hit what I am aiming at.

Front sight, front sight, front sight!

 

[Ribwizzard]

Keep some jelly beans in your range bag. Small slice with a blade and stick one on your front sight. Just make sure to bring plenty with you.

 

[joeintexas]

When I shoot with my grandson I like to give him a hard time, when I shoot he will say "which target were you shooting at" I'll say which one did I hit. He'll say you didn't hit any of them. I tell him to keep looking, there has to be a hole in something. He just shakes his head and chuckles. Old eyes are not fun.

 

[BAM-BAM]

For about $20 you can buy several sets of cheaters ....I settled on a set of +1.25 for best overall usage in action shooting.... sights good, targets OK.

For target shooting there are several makers of prescription glasses that have a small insert in the upper left corner of the right lens (right hand shooter) the rest of the lens can be clear or prescription.

" Hansen's Eagle Eye" is one expensive...... SSP Eyewear is another less expensive brand.... both are safety glasses.

 

[jwk]

Cheapie cheaters are a solution but they aren't safety glasses. If you can afford it get your eye doctor to get you a RX that focuses at the distance to your front sight then have a pair of shooting glasses made. Not as cheap as cheapie cheaters but less expensive than your eyesight.

 

[Hapworth]

What kind of shooting are you prioritizing? Plinking? Defense? Bullseye?

Here's a good read from Gabe White on vision and shooting that addresses, among other things, the virtues (for some) of target focused shooting.

Bottom line, see what you need to in order to get your hits, there's ultimately no right or wrong if the results are good -- and yes, that includes the old "front sight focus" idol falling, too.

Vision – Gabe White Training

Lastly, consider a quality red dot sight; the only thing you have to focus on is the target -- no more three plane management or lack thereof.

 

[500SNW]

Spray and pray!

And/or a laser sight.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5v54OPc8hM[/ame]

 

[BAM-BAM]

Cheapie cheaters are a solution but they aren't safety glasses. If you can afford it get your eye doctor to get you a RX that focuses at the distance to your front sight then have a pair of shooting glasses made. Not as cheap as cheapie cheaters but less expensive than your eyesight.

My suggestion about "cheaters" was to get them to experiment to see if shooting glasses would work..before spending $200-300 or more on specialty glasses.