Tips for aging eyes?

[drysideshooter]

I am trying to find any information I can on ways to help overcome the effects of age on getting a good sight picture. I am just starting to shoot USPSA in production class with a XDM 9mm. With good light I am very accurate with the gun as it came out of the box. In dimmer light though it is substantially more difficult to get a clear sight picture. I am willing to change the sights to anything legal in production division. Is there a color other than white that may be better? Would a different width front sight possibly make a difference, more or less daylight around the sides of the front sight? Am I just destined to struggle a bit until I make the jump to something like a red dot sight?

[BritinUSA]

Flat black would be better than white.

You are focusing on the sights against a target that is beige or white (poppers). So a thin black front sight and black rear sight would produce a clearer picture. It's cheap to test too, just get some sight-black and spray over the dots (it should wipe off afterwards) and give it a try.

[bbbean]

I am trying to find any information I can on ways to help overcome the effects of age on getting a good sight picture. I am just starting to shoot USPSA in production class with a XDM 9mm. With good light I am very accurate with the gun as it came out of the box. In dimmer light though it is substantially more difficult to get a clear sight picture. I am willing to change the sights to anything legal in production division. Is there a color other than white that may be better? Would a different width front sight possibly make a difference, more or less daylight around the sides of the front sight? Am I just destined to struggle a bit until I make the jump to something like a red dot sight?

Have you looked at a fiber optic front sight? Makes all the difference for me. In the meantime, you could consider painting the front sight a fluorescent orange/red/pink or yellow/chartreuse/green, depending on what color shooting glasses you normally wear.

[Sarge]

Not a sales pitch, BUT, I just turned 50 and had the same issues. I run a red FO front with black rear and it made a difference. But without a doubt the biggest improvement came from wearing high quality shooting glasses. I found Rudy Project glasses in Photochromic red to be outstanding. Indoors or out these glasses are amazing in their ability to make that front sight stand out. They are similar to transition lenses in that they darken in bright sunlight while maintaining the same clarity. Indoors they actually make things appear brighter and much clearer. You should try a pair. Visit e-rudy.com through the vendors area on this forum. Don't forget to use discount code 2alpha for a great deal. I personally wear the Genetyks. But Rudy makes several types of shooting glasses that come with the photochromic lenses.

[LPatterson]

I have your problem of ageing eyes for which I normally wear trifocals and have changed most of my iron sights to a green FO because it is not as overwhelming as red. I also shoot Open and I didn't want to get in the habit of just putting red on the target and shoot.

[drysideshooter]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone. I will probably try all of it and see what works the best for me. The Rudy shooting glasses sound like they make a pretty big difference. I typically wear contacts, otherwise bifocals or something similar would probably work.

[bbbean]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone. I will probably try all of it and see what works the best for me. The Rudy shooting glasses sound like they make a pretty big difference. I typically wear contacts, otherwise bifocals or something similar would probably work.

Instead of bifocals, consider having your dominant eye lens simply ground to the proper prescription to bring your front sight into sharp focus and your non-dom eye to your distance prescription. You'll cut the cost of lenses dramatically, and you can be much more flexible about head position.

I tried the bifocal approach with several lenses, each putting the "reading" portion in a different place, but in practice, it was hard to keep my head in the proper position when shooting around barricades, making rapid transitions between wide target arrays, shooting into the sun, etc.

[Neomet]

Good call on the shooting glasses. I use both the Rudys and the new Dillons. The Dillons in particular seem to really sharpen contrast but they are not photochromic. Not too much of an issue here in AZ as we almost always

shoot in really bright sun.

[Paul Burtchell]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone. I will probably try all of it and see what works the best for me. The Rudy shooting glasses sound like they make a pretty big difference. I typically wear contacts, otherwise bifocals or something similar would probably work.

Instead of bifocals, consider having your dominant eye lens simply ground to the proper prescription to bring your front sight into sharp focus and your non-dom eye to your distance prescription. You'll cut the cost of lenses dramatically, and you can be much more flexible about head position.

I tried the bifocal approach with several lenses, each putting the "reading" portion in a different place, but in practice, it was hard to keep my head in the proper position when shooting around barricades, making rapid transitions between wide target arrays, shooting into the sun, etc.

+1 BINGO !!

[lugnut]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone. I will probably try all of it and see what works the best for me. The Rudy shooting glasses sound like they make a pretty big difference. I typically wear contacts, otherwise bifocals or something similar would probably work.

Instead of bifocals, consider having your dominant eye lens simply ground to the proper prescription to bring your front sight into sharp focus and your non-dom eye to your distance prescription. You'll cut the cost of lenses dramatically, and you can be much more flexible about head position.

I tried the bifocal approach with several lenses, each putting the "reading" portion in a different place, but in practice, it was hard to keep my head in the proper position when shooting around barricades, making rapid transitions between wide target arrays, shooting into the sun, etc.

+1 BINGO !!

+1 again. You will be surprised how well you can shoot without a "crystal" clear sight alignment. For that reason I like to see a good air gap on the sides of the front sight but wide enough so I can see when the top of the front sight lined up with the tops of the rear sight. I use black front and rear sights.

Oh fwiw- when light is dim it gets harder for everyone.

[Jman]

Had my eye doc make mine. They focus the dominate eye on the front sight as mentioned earlier. Worked very well for 9 months or so. But of

course my farsightedness is not improving with time. I have finally begun a transition to Open. I have 20/20-20/10 vision and love

shooting through plain clear unaltered shooting glasses.

Everyones eyes age differently. Some never need specs . I love pistols so for me it's Open or back to shooting Clay sports full time. We'll

probably all finish up there anyhow.

[Singlestack]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone. I will probably try all of it and see what works the best for me. The Rudy shooting glasses sound like they make a pretty big difference. I typically wear contacts, otherwise bifocals or something similar would probably work.

Instead of bifocals, consider having your dominant eye lens simply ground to the proper prescription to bring your front sight into sharp focus and your non-dom eye to your distance prescription. You'll cut the cost of lenses dramatically, and you can be much more flexible about head position.

I tried the bifocal approach with several lenses, each putting the "reading" portion in a different place, but in practice, it was hard to keep my head in the proper position when shooting around barricades, making rapid transitions between wide target arrays, shooting into the sun, etc.

+1 BINGO !!

+1 again. You will be surprised how well you can shoot without a "crystal" clear sight alignment. For that reason I like to see a good air gap on the sides of the front sight but wide enough so I can see when the top of the front sight lined up with the tops of the rear sight. I use black front and rear sights.

Oh fwiw- when light is dim it gets harder for everyone.

+1 more. I sat right in the Optometrists chair with my pistol in my hand and he flipped lenses until I could see serrations. I have my right eye focused to my FS and my left eye to infinity.

[Chris Christian]

I hadn't considered having one lense ground for distance and one for front sight distance. I might try that for my 60 year old eyes. In the meantime, I shoot with a pair of shooting glasses ground to a "computer/reading glasses" distance, with a green FO front sight and a white bar rear sight. It's the old SIG bar/dot system that I have always found to be quick to acquire. The sights are in perfect focus, the target slightly blurred. With 9mm/.38 Spl I can't clearly see bullet hits beyond 10 yards, but I know where the sights were when the shot broke, and run off that. With the 45 I can see hits further. It has worked well for me (IDPA MA/EX, depending on the gun division) and I am normally among the most accurate at any given IDPA or USPSA match. It might work for others.

Chris Christian

[JThompson]

OPEN!

Edited March 26, 2010 by JThompson

[Graham Smith]

Plain black rear sight, green fiber optic front sight, and Rudy Photochromic Red glasses can help maximize contrast. Also, squinting a bit can help.

[bbbean]

Plain black rear sight, green fiber optic front sight, and Rudy Photochromic Red glasses can help maximize contrast. Also, squinting a bit can help.

Have you compared red and green fibers through your red lenses? Red cancels out green, so your green FO isn't as bright as it could be if you were wearing yellow or green lenses. red FO, on the other hand, should jump out and grab you by the collar through your red lenses.

Edited March 26, 2010 by bbbean

[Graham Smith]

Have you compared red and green fibers through your red lenses? Red cancels out green, so your green FO isn't as bright as it could be if you were wearing yellow or green lenses. red FO, on the other hand, should jump out and grab you by th ecollar through your red lenses.

The green FO works very well for me indoors or out regardless of lens color or lighting condition. The red, on the other hand, does not work as well indoors or in poor light.

YMMV

[Pezco]

I use Decot Rx shooting glasses and they can modify each lens differently to allow you to have a front sight focus with your dominate eye and the distance focus with your non-dominate eye. This combination works excellent! I also turn 50 this year!

[bbbean]

Have you compared red and green fibers through your red lenses? Red cancels out green, so your green FO isn't as bright as it could be if you were wearing yellow or green lenses. red FO, on the other hand, should jump out and grab you by th ecollar through your red lenses.

The green FO works very well for me indoors or out regardless of lens color or lighting condition. The red, on the other hand, does not work as well indoors or in poor light.

YMMV

Just basic color theory. If you like the green FO for use in low light, you really ought to consider a yellow or green lens. That'd make them jump out more.

[Glockcomma]

+1 more. I sat right in the Optometrists chair with my pistol in my hand and he flipped lenses until I could see serrations. I have my right eye focused to my FS and my left eye to infinity.

[Bongo Boy]

Instead of bifocals, consider having your dominant eye lens simply ground to the proper prescription to bring your front sight into sharp focus and your non-dom eye to your distance prescription. You'll cut the cost of lenses dramatically, and you can be much more flexible about head position.

Yes, it works. Here an upside down grind on a pair of Wiley-X's, front sight prescription at the top on the right lens only, distance grind on the left lens.

...and here, a pair of ESS glasses with a Walmart reading lens fastened to the top inside of the right side only.

[ranger]

I use contacts - far lens in right eye and medium lens in left eye.

[Stuck in C]

I also went to "monovision"- close sight focus in the right lens and infinity focus in the left. It worked great for 3 or 4 years but recently I started to get splitting headaches when I wear them for more than a few hours. Not sure what I will try next.

[Paul Burtchell]

I also went to "monovision"- close sight focus in the right lens and infinity focus in the left. It worked great for 3 or 4 years but recently I started to get splitting headaches when I wear them for more than a few hours. Not sure what I will try next.

Maybe all you need is a new prescription??

[sidnal]

I shot for 2 years without a prescription until I finally realized that you have to see the sights even if the targets are fuzzy. I need 2.0 reading glasses. For shooting I had a 1.5 presciption in my dominant eye and "plano" (clear) in the other. I got a prescription frorm my optomitrist and sent it to Optics Planet.com. They ground the lenses and put them in Wileyx frames. The lenses are photo sensitive so they are clear but darken in sunshine. The best solution these days is the Rudy glasses with a prescription in the dominant eye but I haven't bought them becasue I

CONVERTED TO THE DARK SIDE

Open is the onlly way to go for older eyes b/c the dot is focused on infinity. No prescription is necessary!

Edited March 28, 2010 by sidnal