Sight tips for old eyes

If you shoot right-handed...try to train you're mind to focus the left eye on the iron sights, and the right eye on the target or vice versa. It should meld into one clear sight picture --- at least for my eyes. You might have to shift (for right-handed shooters) the pistol to the left a little bit, but the technique might be harder to perform in dark environments.

For a diopter on the glasses: You can use a leather punch, paper punch and glue address labels. Leather punch a small round piece on the address label, then use the paper hole punch to give you a small round diopter hole in the center of the round leather punch paper hole on the address label; so you can paste it (after you remove the paper backing of the address label) on the top upper left or right hand corner on the lenses of your glasses. You can paste 3 or four diopters in the same area,

But if you try to remove them...they'll leave a gooey residue on the glasses, that might be hard to remove without scratching them.
 
Last edited:
sight tips for old eyes

Thanks for all the good ideas. I have tried a few of these myself.
The merit optical device (a variable aperture that you stick onto your lens) helps some. It's good for outdoors (rifle too). by looking through a pin hole it's easier to focus. You can check out the concept by making a small pinhole with your index finger and thumb if you are desperate and forgot a pair of readers. You may look a bit funny but try it on some tiny text and you can see the tiny aperture works. The smaller the better the focus, but it also cuts down on brightness. These devices work pretty well on bright outdoor ranges, and not quite as well on dark indoor ranges (though you may like a little like a borg!). I also have tried a swing in jewelers loop, but those are too much power. A set of computer glassed (very weak readers with a focus around 24-30 inches) work well also.

The problem is none of this will held me in real life when I'm just walking around wearing normal glasses in a defense scenario.

I may have to come to the realization that for target type shooting at the range for best groups in slow fire, or precision plinking, optics may be the only choice. A red laser works great indoors but is useless outdoors.
I sure wish they made green lasers for K/L frame, but so far only have seen for J's.

A red dot like a fastfire, or venom/viper may be a good answers for precise shooting.

One other comment makes sense that for self defense you are trying to hit a 6-8 inch group from 20 feet away. I have not practiced point shooting, but I'm guessing its possible to do that well with no sights at all, and would be much faster.

In a dimly lit room iron sights are even worse. How can you add night sights to S&W adjustable target sights with a fixed front blade?
 
If the revolver has a red insert front sight and fully adjustable rear sight, you can order glow in the dark night sights from amazon. I'll try to post a link below. If the front is true fixed then I can only suggest glow in the dark paint. Or you could try to find a 640 pro series that comes with night sights from factory. Or you could change your self defence gun to a j frame of your choice and use the green crimson trace lazer. I'm sure you know this but it's just some ideas.
[ame="https://www.amazon.com/Meprolight-Wesson-Tru-Dot-revolvers-Adjustable/dp/B0002INGM4"]Amazon.com: Meprolight Smith & Wesson Tru-Dot Night Sight for K,L & N revolvers. Adjustable set: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]
 
Last edited:
My last two pairs of glasses are what are known as occupational trifocals. They have bifocal lenses on the bottom as normal with my distance prescription above the bifocals and finally trifocal lenses at the top of the glasses. This works great for working at a computer station and even better for shooting pistols for me. This allows my preferred slightly head down stance for shooting out of my modified isosceles stance. They are not real popular so some compromises may have to be made. Mine are plastic lenses of safety glass thickness with anti-scratch and UV protective coatings. My next pair of glasses will be more of the same.
 
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.

Then, as years pass, replace the jelly bean with a marshmallow, then tennis ball, then-..........
 
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.

Great tip!
I keep a good fresh permanent black marker in my range bag.
Just put a “Steel is Real” stainless gripframe on my old 45C Blackhawk and after enjoying the glow of how much better the balance is I blackened the front/rear sights and dry-fired the drywall. ;)

Sometimes trifocals allow the middle lens to focus the sights and the distance lens to pick up the target.
Have not tried a comparison, tri vs progressive, outdoors yet as our reloading is on hold until the modifications to the station are finished.

We hunt with fishing rods in South Florida so reading the sonar just requires that the polarized sun glasses and the sonar screen are oriented properly...... do my glasses have a switch that when worn shut my sonar off, asked the new yachtsmen?
True story as the electronics company just missed that boat. :D
A new screen cover arrived promptly.
 
I focus on what I want to hit, the target. One advantage of a revolver for me is the sights are displaced forward just enough to be adequately in focus. My reading glasses are 2.25 diopters so I'm not extremely farsighted.
Faster shooting up close? Put the front sight on the target.
 
Give up, get a dot and shoot Carry Optics division, or Open. It's only gonna get worse. :rolleyes:
 

Attachments

  • 9Core.JPG
    9Core.JPG
    59.9 KB · Views: 38
  • CC 3.JPG
    CC 3.JPG
    58.9 KB · Views: 35
  • DSC00599.JPG
    DSC00599.JPG
    60.4 KB · Views: 36
If you need only a little near-distance correction, a pair of these Foster Grants in +1.50 diopters will be only about half that in the upper part of the lens. I have a pair for the rare days that I wear contacts to the range instead of my "shooting glasses" (a 25 year old pair of glasses that just happen to be 0.75 diopters weaker than my current long-distance prescription, and so about perfect for my front sight).

Foster Grant Multi Focus

They're not "real" safety glasses, but the ranges I go to will accept them. You can buy slip-on side shields for about five bucks if you want lateral protection, which is a good thing!
 
Last edited:
For a diopter on the glasses: You can use a leather punch, paper punch and glue address labels.
<snip>
But if you try to remove them...they'll leave a gooey residue on the glasses, that might be hard to remove without scratching them.
You can make an aperture out of 3M blue masking tape and it will go on and off without leaving any residue. If you have a clean surface to stick it on between uses, you may even be able to reuse it a few times. Maybe store several on the inside of the lid of a plastic ammo box?

I've made one by cutting a tiny "square" hole out of a "square" of tape with an Xacto knife, and it seemed to work somewhat. The "square" in each case was really a sloppy quadrilateral, because I'm not very careful or picky. It didn't seem to matter that the hole was not round.
 
Try a Merit Optical aperature disc. Suction cup sticks it to you glasses. Sharpens up the front and rear sights. It is great for my 58 year old eyes.
 
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.

You can keep a Bic lighter and plastic eating utensils in your Bullseye box. Light the handle end of a fork or spoon. The black smoke coming off works great in a pinch.
 
I used to compete in target archery for many years. I was taught to focus on the spot I wanted to hit, and let the pin blur and float.

Now that I have transitioned to pistol and gotten competitive in IDPA, plus carrying everyday, I have tried to switch gears and learn this front sight focus.

I gotta say I haven't been terribly successful. I find I need to close one eye to be able to do it, which goes against the grain, plus doesn't lend itself to situational awareness, either.

I've come to the conclusion that I just need to do what works for me and stay with focusing on the target. Maybe with continual dry fire I can make the transition.

Sent from my LG-SP200 using Tapatalk
 
Because of 5 partial retinal detachments (some in each eye) and subsequent laser repairs I have chronic floaters in both eyes & my left eye 20/50 with my glasses while my right eye is 20/20 with my glasses.

Being left hand left eye dominant I now have to train left hand right eye dominant for handgun shooting. I am managing that pretty well. Shooting handguns I tend to focus on front sight & target. I ignore the rear sight. In fact on my G27 I switched to front sight night sight only., my rear is standard blade with no illumination, this alone makes a better sight picture at night...front sight glows., put it on target forget the rear sight.

Long guns not so simple...I still shoot lefty but find a good red dot helps me stay on target...

As to general defense shooting...I practice a modified point shooting., i.e. gun up, line up to target with front sight generally alighned & let er rip..don't get hung up on the front sight too much & forget the rear sight.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top