Sami Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I recently purchased an H & K SP Tactical 45 been loving it getting more comfortable by the day I have been having trouble clearly making out the sight picture Then today after cleaning the gun with my reading glasses on Eureeka! perfectly clear front sight. Problem is with my reading glasses on I can barely make the target at 15 meters I see fine at distance with no glasses but blurry as can be up close. I know seeing the front sight clearly is key but barely seeing the target cant be the way either. Any advice from any 4 eyes Master Shooters out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 That would be me, I guess. I feel I was very fortunate, when the time came to update my prescription recently, to find an optometrist who was also a shooter (albeit he shoots long guns, not pistols). I told him over the phone, before I even made an appointment, "I'm a competition shooter, I was wondering if I could bring my unloaded gun into your office, have you measure the distance between my eyes and the front sight when I'm in my shooting stance, and set up the focal length on the scrip for that?" He said sure, and that's exactly what we did. I'm not convinced that reading glasses are the best way to go for shooting. I've noticed that, with the focal length set up for my front sight (and I use those glasses as my everyday eyewear), when reading a book, that is normally, actually, held considerably closer to the eyes than the front sight of a handgun, the lettering looks blurry. I either have to live with that or hold the book further out to gets the letters more clear. I'd suggest, if possible, getting a prescription with the focal length set up on your gun's front sight. With that setup, I have no problem switching my focus to a target, even out to 35 yards or so. Of course, YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Prescription safety glasses. I made a pair of Oakley Half Jackets into prescription shooting glasses for iron sights. Not a Master though. FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 About two months ago I had it proved to me by a previous winner of the Sobel Trophy (individual national PPC champion) that being able to see the sights clearly isn't nearly as important as everyone thinks it is (for our type of shooting). He has a set of glasses that can electronically make the target fuzzy and the sights clear, the target clear and the sights fuzzy or both the target and the sights fuzzy. This set of glasses also has a camera in it that projects what the shooter sees on the computer screen and records it. Amazingly (to me anyway) it really didn't matter how the thing was set....line up the fuzzy blob of a front sight in the middle of the fuzzy blob of a rear sight and put that on the fuzzy blob of the target and with a good trigger press you got nicely centered hits out to 25yds. If you could find a set of glasses that let you see the sights even reasonably well while still able to see the targets I think that would be a good compromise. I wear glasses or contacts to correct my distance vision (like -1.75 and -2.5 so it's not a huge correction) and with no correction the front sight is a bit fuzzy and the targets are definitely fuzzy, but I can still get good hits that way. With my glasses/contacts everything is clear, but I could live with the front sight being a little bit fuzzy if I had to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All-Gator Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Get a lens for your dominant eye that is ground for seeing the front sight clearly and a lens ground for distance for your non-dominat eye. Your brain will integrate the disparate foci. I've been shooting my iron sights that way for years. A-G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Santiago Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I tried the reading glasses for bit. I now have bifocal contact lenses which pretty much replaced the reading glasses except for the really small print. They also give me a clear sigth picture and clear target picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I went to the drugstore reading glass display. Held out my arm at full length and found a pair of readers that allowed me to see the hair growing on the back of my hand at full arm extension. Targets are a little out of focus at 25 yards and the sights are crystal. Very nice compromise for me. Custom prescription would be better but readers work just fine. When I have time I will get a pair of prescription glasses but I am in no rush now..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Not a Master here but I find these posts very interesting as I too am "visually challenged". If I correct my vision so my front sight is very clear- far vision is annoyingly bad. If I correct my far vision (+3.0L, +3.5R), my front sights are ok but not perfect. I too will agree that you don't need crystal clear sights to shoot very well in this sport. The front sight can be blurry and you can still see if it's centered or high, etc. I use my far vision contacts usually, sometimes a tad stonger in my dominat eye. I can tell you one thing... though I'm only an Expert in IDPA (SSP, ESP and CDP) and B in USPSA Prod- I AM NOT limited in getting to Master by my eyes I can tell you that! Shooting is only one ingredient of action shooting. Much of the skill needed to get to Master are working on everything "between" the shots... at least IMO. All this being said... I think someone with 20/15 vision has an advantage... just like a 25 year old has over a 50 year old. But there are plenty of 50+ year old shooters that won't let their age get in the way of kicking your ass!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirpy Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Not a Master but I tried what you are talking about. My big problem is moving with my vision fuzzy with my reading glasses! I don't exactly have 2 left feet but the RG made it almost impossible. One caution about DS RG...I don't believe that some/maybe most are rated as safety glasses therefore might be unsafe for shooting JMHO. FWIW Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bergie Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 They do make cheater safety glasses. I haven't tried them but I may get a pair being that they are quite inexpensive. It may be worth a try. http://www.nationalsafetyinc.com/10357/483...s--Readers.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseman Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I did what Duane did. Appt. with local optometrist, took pistol in and he did a fine job of scripting what I needed to have the sight sharp and the target good enough. After two years of wanting to have these glasses made it was nice to get it done. They worked fine and did absolutely nothing to improve my shooting. I sometimes use them now and sometimes not. Makes little difference to my hits or speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabby Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I recently purchased an H & K SP Tactical 45 been loving it getting more comfortable by the day I have been having trouble clearly making out the sight picture Then today after cleaning the gun with my reading glasses on Eureeka! perfectly clear front sight. Problem is with my reading glasses on I can barely make the target at 15 meters I see fine at distance with no glasses but blurry as can be up close. I know seeing the front sight clearly is key but barely seeing the target cant be the way either. Any advice from any 4 eyes Master Shooters out there? I bought a custom made pair of shooting glasses. I can't remember the name of the company ... but they often advertise in the USPSA magazine ("Front Sight"). You send them your eye prescription and tell them the kind of shooting you want to do. They formulate a special prescription for your vision and type of shooting. For me ... these glasses have made a world of difference! It sounds like you could benefit from these glasses. By the way, I also wear bi-focals and have the same problem as you. For me, they were my remedy. If you can't find them advertised in Front Sight ... PM me and I will dig through some old receipts and information and find the contact information. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunchient Pistol Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I recently purchased an H & K SP Tactical 45 been loving it getting more comfortable by the day I have been having trouble clearly making out the sight picture Then today after cleaning the gun with my reading glasses on Eureeka! perfectly clear front sight. Problem is with my reading glasses on I can barely make the target at 15 meters I see fine at distance with no glasses but blurry as can be up close. I know seeing the front sight clearly is key but barely seeing the target cant be the way either. Any advice from any 4 eyes Master Shooters out there? Lots of good advice here so I would like the experts to weigh in on a variation of Sami's question. I had Lasik surgery, which means my eyesight is perfect 20/20 now, but I need readers to get good focus on things that are close up, like the front sights of my pistol. Should I do as one respondent suggested, and get a lens ground for my dominant eye that brings the front sight into focus? Any other Lasik folks figure this out yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary1911A1 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I recently purchased an H & K SP Tactical 45 been loving it getting more comfortable by the day I have been having trouble clearly making out the sight picture Then today after cleaning the gun with my reading glasses on Eureeka! perfectly clear front sight. Problem is with my reading glasses on I can barely make the target at 15 meters I see fine at distance with no glasses but blurry as can be up close. I know seeing the front sight clearly is key but barely seeing the target cant be the way either. Any advice from any 4 eyes Master Shooters out there? Lots of good advice here so I would like the experts to weigh in on a variation of Sami's question. I had Lasik surgery, which means my eyesight is perfect 20/20 now, but I need readers to get good focus on things that are close up, like the front sights of my pistol. Should I do as one respondent suggested, and get a lens ground for my dominant eye that brings the front sight into focus? Any other Lasik folks figure this out yet? I recently had Lasik done too. Now at three weeks plus I am still improving some, but when stable I plan on having custom shooting glasses done as you stated. Good luck to both of us. Right now my Single Stack Slide is at Springfield's Custom Shop for a fiber optic front which I think will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH45 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Get a lens for your dominant eye that is ground for seeing the front sight clearly and a lens ground for distance for your non-dominat eye. Your brain will integrate the disparate foci. I've been shooting my iron sights that way for years. A-G I had a pair of glasses made up like this and they gave me terrible headaches. I called the guy that made them and he said that only about 15% of people can use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfmun Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I also had a set of shooting glasses made up where my right eye prescription was focused on the front sight and the left eye was the normal prescription. I really like the glasses and they are not cheap, but I can't wear them. I get headaches after a very short time and targets out more that 20 feet or so are really blury. I have gone to the bright red fiber optic front sight and opened up the rear sight and that is working for me. I have also tried the reading glasses and having my bifocal put on top of the lens and these did not work either. thanks, George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmie Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 (edited) Hi - same problem - great distance vision but over 50 eyes for up close. Someone suggested using my reading glasses but distance was really bad and I felt like I was drunk even though my front sight was crystal clear!!!! I have ESS Ice safety glasses so I called the folks that do their prescriptions to get inserts made. I spoke to Terry and he spent at least a half an hour on the phone with me. He does a lot of px for shooters(obviously) so he knew exactly how to 'tweak' my reading glasses px for iron sights on my handgun. I can't believe how good they are. I even sent him my Oakley flak jacket glasses (which were sitting in a drawer) to put the same prescription in. His work is awesome. I highly recommend him. Here's a link to the site with his contact info. Make sure you ask for Terry. http://www.esseyepro.com/rx_prescription_l...l=84&step=2 Donna Edited March 1, 2009 by kimmie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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