Ok, so it's now been about 3 weeks and 5 trips to the range since I threw away my prescription lenses and started shooting with protective eyewear only. What have I learned?
First, at distances up to 15 yards I'm a far better shooter than I was with prescription lenses. It's truly like night and day. I'm able to see the front sight clearly for the first time and I can see the target well enough so as to put the front sight on the bullseye or just beneath it. The result, predictably, has been much smaller groups. What has really gratified is that the pace at which I shoot has picked up enormously. I'm no longer groping for the front sight, which means that I can squeeze the trigger as soon as I can put the sight on target. This morning I fired my CZ 75B. At 10 yards I was able to put 15 rounds within at 2 1/2 inch circle, firing at about 1 round every 2 seconds.
However, at 25 yards, it hasn't been all that much of a sucess. Yes, I can see the front sight much more clearly. But, the damn target nearly disappears at that distance. A NRA target with a 5" black center just appears to my uncorrected eyes to be a monochromatic blur, with the center more or less invisible. So, when I shoot at 25 yards, I'm relegated to putting the front sight on what is hopefully the center of the target and hoping for the best. The results are not measurably better than my shooting with prescription lenses, which rendered the target clear but which reduced my sight picture to a featureless blur. Today, with my CZ I was putting four out of five rounds within an area of about 5" in diameter, albeit not exactly the center of the target. That fifth round would, unfortunately, wander off somewhere, sometimes barely making it on paper.
I'm going to stick with "natural vision" on the assumption that I'll never need to shoot in a real-life situation at anything that's more than 15 yards away from me.
First, at distances up to 15 yards I'm a far better shooter than I was with prescription lenses. It's truly like night and day. I'm able to see the front sight clearly for the first time and I can see the target well enough so as to put the front sight on the bullseye or just beneath it. The result, predictably, has been much smaller groups. What has really gratified is that the pace at which I shoot has picked up enormously. I'm no longer groping for the front sight, which means that I can squeeze the trigger as soon as I can put the sight on target. This morning I fired my CZ 75B. At 10 yards I was able to put 15 rounds within at 2 1/2 inch circle, firing at about 1 round every 2 seconds.
However, at 25 yards, it hasn't been all that much of a sucess. Yes, I can see the front sight much more clearly. But, the damn target nearly disappears at that distance. A NRA target with a 5" black center just appears to my uncorrected eyes to be a monochromatic blur, with the center more or less invisible. So, when I shoot at 25 yards, I'm relegated to putting the front sight on what is hopefully the center of the target and hoping for the best. The results are not measurably better than my shooting with prescription lenses, which rendered the target clear but which reduced my sight picture to a featureless blur. Today, with my CZ I was putting four out of five rounds within an area of about 5" in diameter, albeit not exactly the center of the target. That fifth round would, unfortunately, wander off somewhere, sometimes barely making it on paper.
I'm going to stick with "natural vision" on the assumption that I'll never need to shoot in a real-life situation at anything that's more than 15 yards away from me.