My aging eyes, a range report

[stevieboy]

I'm no youngster (I'm 64) and, like a lot of people my age, I'm contending more and more with fading vision. I need reading lenses and my distance vision without glasses is less than optimal. I have progressive lenses in my eyeglasses which, supposedly, have a neutral area somewhere between my reading and distance correction.

In the past year or so I've had increasing difficulty seeing the front sights on my handguns. Everything is blurry, even with correction. Some sights are worse than others. For example on my little S & W 36, a J-frame, the front sight is invisible. I can still make out the front sight pretty well on my 1911, however. My shooting has begun to deteriorate as it becomes harder and harder for me to find the front sight. I've developed a tendency to shoot everything high because I tend to tip up the front sight in order to see it. I take way too much time between rounds because I have to struggle to reacquire the front sight after each shot. I used to be able easily to shoot 1 1/2" groups at 10 yards with most handguns. Lately, I've been settling for 3 to 4", all higher than my imagined POA.

Today, in desperation, I took my glasses off and shot using plastic safety lenses. To my amazement, I was suddenly able to see the front sight clearly. The target blurred far more than I was used to, but the front sight on my gun, my wife's Model 14, was as crisp and clear as if I'd held a magnifying glass over it.

Instantly, my groups improved. Suddenly, I was back to getting 1 1/2" at 10 yards and 3 - 4" at 25. Also, my shooting pace improved dramatically. I was putting the sight on target with confidence and squeezing off a round every 1-2 seconds.

Those of you who share my problem might try what I did. Take your prescriptions off and shoot using only safety lenses. Hopefully, you'll be amazed at the results as I was.

 

[NWPilgrim]

At 55 I have the same problem. Back in my forties I could see the front sight sharp and clear. Now it is blurry with contacts or glass and I too tend to shoot high, especially i the fron sight has a white dot with some of the black tip above the dot. I can't see the black above the dot so tend to shoot high.

Next time at the range I will try no corrective lenses and just the protective glasses. I am so near sighted I don't know if I could even see a target stand 25 yds away!

With glasses I can hit orange clay pigeons out to 25 yds most of the time. I've resigned myself that I will not be shooting 2" groups anymore and settle for "center of mass" with a handgun. For rifle I am moving more to using optics for anything beyond 50 yds. Even my beloved ghost rings on the M1 Carbine and Garand are not sharp front sights anymore.

This is one reason i live flat top AR15s, so I can mount an optic to replace that blurry front sight.

 

[tbeb]

I do as you do "stevieboy". I'm 61. I wear lineless bifocal eyeglasses. I can shoot better with my eyeglasses off. I do most of my practicing at 10 yards so I don't care if I can see the target at longer distances. It's neat to read about someone else who found the same solution as I.

 

[nodlenor]

Sounds like a lot of us have that same problem. I'm 65 and wearing the no line bi-focals also. I've been taking my glasses off while shooting my pistols for a few years now. I don't know if it would work with a rifle and scope or not, might have to try it.

 

[Old Grump]

Throw in astigmatism and cataracts and you learn all kinds of tricks to keep shooting. Like amber prescription shooting glasses adjusted for a 30" focal point and painting the front sight white with a little green stripe at the top. All green was to dark, all white was to much and it blurred on me. I hate to admit it but I'm on the verge of getting my first handgun scope. Hang in there, what we can't do with brawn we have to do with sneaky.

 

[tguil]

Old Grump. I'm having my cataracts and astigmatisms corrected by surgery as soon as the motorcycle riding season and hunting season are over. I have found that my distant vision is right now actually better without my glasses. The doc says I'll be ready to "get back at it" after the surgery. Probably no handgun hunting this fall but my scoped rifle works just fine. Still doing OK with bow and arrows too.

 

[Teuthis]

For self defense ranges one should consider using point shooting techniques when the eyes start to age. I have done that ever since I have been shooting; was trained in it early. Now, I shoot slightly over the sites, and do not try to line them up or focus on the front sight. I focus on the target and peripherally engage the sites to line them up. Point shooting works at self defense ranges, but it must be learned and drilled.

I cannot see the sights well at all at the indoor range where I shoot. So even at 25 yards, I focus on the target and point shoot the gun and I get reasonable groups, acceptable for self defense. Any more, I just do not shoot at that range for target practice purposes indoors.

 

[mrt949]

Just turned 61 this month . Man how time flies. My right eye is getting FUZZY now I must start shooting LEFT EYE .Till I get surgery .

 

[Cajun Ken]

I'm 74 and I use non-prescription safety glasses, point shoot, and best of all, with my Bodyguard 38 I point shoot using the laser.

 

[tguil]

I've considered scoping my Redhawk for hunting. How do old eyes that are a bit "fuzzy" work with a scoped handgun without wearing glassesaz? I know that I get a clear picture with a scoped rifle. No sense scoping the Redhawk if I still have to wear "specs".

 

[B.L.E.]

I wear +1.125 reading glasses for pistol shooting. Go to the drug store and try on different reading glasses, you want a power that makes print at arm's length in sharp focus.

 

[Mr. Wild]

I'm 62 I also have progressive lens in my glasses.
Can never find that sweet spot with them while target shooting.
I think I'll try the safety glasses thing and see if it helps.

I thought I was the only one with this problem.
Maybe gun makers should invent sights for us old farts so we can use the sights like we use to when we were younger.

Now lets see, a rear notch sight with a 1 inch notch with neon window.
Front sight 1 inch wide with flashing neon lights.

 

[stevieboy]

I went back to the range today, this time toting my S & W Highway Patrolman. Yesterday's experience was no fluke. For the first time in what seems like years I could clearly visualize the front sight. I quickly realized that anything I didn't put dead center was my fault (there were a few of those!). But, there were also a lot of shots that went right to POA.

What really gratified me was my ability to fire at a rapid pace. I'd been shooting more and more slowly as I groped to find the front sight and then, to hold the very blurry image on target. With the front sight clearly visible I was able to shoot quickly and effectively. There were a couple of guys sharing the lane next to me and they were firing what looked to be Glocks. For a while I was shooting more rapidly than they were -- with .357s as opposed to their 9mm or 40 S & W -- and I was still hitting pretty much everything I aimed at. I felt like a kid again.

 

[Squibb]

I'm right there with you, folks. I'm 64 and I'm here to tell you getting old isn't for the squimish. My eyes have been giving me consistant problems for a few years now.

When I was at the club a few weeks ago the member on the next lane had something attached to his glasses; it looked kinda like a peep sight. He said it allows him the keep both sights, and the targrt, in focus. It did not have any optics in it, and it pivoted on a samll suction cup. When he told me it was $70, I kinda quit paying attention. But I understand there are similar devices out there for less money. Any one know about these?

 

[Couzin]

Yep - the aging eyes thing is frustrating. Affects my handgun range time - but the bad eyes and a worsening cross dominance has just wrecked havoc with my shotgun clays games. I am almost ready to just give up.

 

[Old Chipper]

At 68 I thought it was just me. I stopped using the bulleye targets and made me a full size Man/Target. If I can't see if it hit, I can listen for it.
My question is, Where the heck is the Golden Years I heard about???

 

[tguil]

I too am 68 and for me my Golden Years are OK. I have a good retirement income and am in good health. Never did shoot targets all that much so my eyes are only a problem when comes to handgun hunting and by limiting my range I still do pretty darn well. Better be enjoying what we still have.

 

[IXLR8]

Have you tried a laser? If I get caught in a glasses off situation, I will still be able to see the red dot and the intended target. At night the sights are only a backup to the laser.

I just turned 50 and reluctantly just purchased my first pair of bifocal glasses. Usually when I go to the range I wear bifocal contacts. My contacts are setup for monovision, one is stronger than the other. I put the weaker one in my aiming eye and the stronger for distance. I try to practice shooting both eyes open, and have pretty good success. I am nearsighted and this may not work for someone that is farsighted.

Overall my vision has improved since I started wearing the bifocal contacts, because they teach your eyes to use areas of vision that you may have never used. Children under 13 were never prescribed contacts, but early tests show that children as young as 7 can stop using glasses after their brain figures out the different way to see through the eyes. This is established by wearing the bifocal contacts for a short time.

If you have never worn them, you can look at something for second and it is a total blur, but then your brain figures out how to reconstruct it through the parts of image that are in focus. The first few days are tough, but once your brain figures it out, it can apply it almost instantly, whether you are wearing corrective lenses or not. It is weird sometimes because although I cannot make out an object across the room without corrective lenses, but I can see a digital clock display well enough to tell the time.

 

[Couzin]

IXLR8 - do you shoot clays / skeet with the bifocal contacts? Does it work?

 

[OldLincoln]

+1 for point shooting 5-7yds. Don't shoot much longer than that, but when I do I semi use sights and can hit the target. Groups, don't need no stinkin groups, they're for kids!!