Sights For Old Eyes on G34

[Smitty79]

I have a G34 with DP adjustable rear and a FO front sights. I can shoot 10 in groups off hand and 6 in groups from a rest. I miss way too often in matches. This seems terrible. I have a G19 with Warren tactical rear and a flat black front sight. Group size is a couple inches smaller. I feel like I am having a problem seeing the top of the front sight as that distance is "never never land" for my bifocals. Am I tool old and blind to use front sights with dots? I am very tempted to get a flat black front sight for the G34, but I wanted to see what folks think before spending the money.

[JBP55]

I can not see well and the best front sight for me indoors and out is the Ameriglo Pro Glo. Everyones eyes are different but I can see the Pro Glo much better than a fiber optic indoors.

[dskinsler83]

To me you get a better sight picture with all black

[ChiefG]

what size is your FO front? I switched to smaller size from .125 to .100 and it helped me.

[lugnut]

First of all how old id "old"? Grouping info doesn't help if you don't tell us how far the targets are... unless I'm too old and missed that somehow.

Also, I'm amazed with the glasses people use to shoot. I can't imagine using bifocals to shoot. How can that work for tight shots when you are looking out the top of your glasses and need sharp front sight focus?

Also- I highly recommend using a monivision set up. Dominant eye sees the front sight clear and the other eye is set up for far distances. You can play around with this a bit.... or try using pair of reading glasses or a weak pair of reading classes.

My eyes are pretty bad but in slow fire I can usually do fine. I'm predominantly far sighted with +4.00 in shooting eye, +3.50 in non dominant eye (monovision set up). I can probably bump them up a bit soon too.

[Smitty79]

Group is at 25 yds. In an isosceles stance, the front sight isn't far enough away to get crisp focus on the front sight wearing shooting glasses with my distance correction.. I have a hard time seeing the metal above the FO. The sight is .105 wide, the thinnest FO Dawson makes.

[lugnut]

Group is at 25 yds. In an isosceles stance, the front sight isn't far enough away to get crisp focus on the front sight wearing shooting glasses with my distance correction.. I have a hard time seeing the metal above the FO. The sight is .105 wide, the thinnest FO Dawson makes.

Ok yeah so you need a bump in your prescription on your dominant eye so you can see the front sight better. If you don't do that it doesn't matter what sights you use IMO.

[Henry625]

I talked to the guy that owns the place that makes my glasses in the prescription the doctor prescribed. He listened to what I was saying, actually went out to his truck and got his Glock 22, unloaded it and

handed it to me and told me to aim at something with the frames I had picked out on my face. He then took a Sharpie and marked where my pupils were.

When he cut the lenses, he inverted the bi-focal so it was where my pupils were while looking at the

front sight.I see a clear front sight and I can see clearly on the ground as I run to the next shooting

position. You have to make sure that the bi-focal power is not too strong or you will not be able to seethe targets clear enough. I can see the targets, but not clearly enough to make out the perforations of

the scoring zones at some distances. I use these glasses when shooting iron sights(fiber-optic front

blades).

I did give in to the "old age" and have put red dot optics on three of my pistols.Getting old is a challenge for sure.

Edited August 4, 2013 by Henry625

[deanq]

As you've found out, 3 dot sights are not conducive to accuracy with older eyes. I have found that for the quickest & most accurate pistol shooting, A plain black front and a plain black rear work best. For your AR, get a red dot. Either an Aimpoint or an Eotech if you don't have an astigmatism.

[B45C22]

Dawson will make you sights in any width you want. They did for me. It's like $20 extra, but worth it if that fixes your issue.

[JBP55]

I can not see a plain black front sight well at all.

[zzulu]

Sorry for being late to the party with this suggestion. Maybe it will help others.

Hold your sights on target using your normal stance and grip. Have someone measure the distance from your sighting eye to the rear of the front sight. Take that number to your optometrist and ask him to make bifocal lenses such that the top is focused for the front sight and the bottom is focused for your normal reading distance. If the focal distance of the top lens falls between two available values, opt for the longer focal distance. Ask to have the bifocal line set 2mm lower than usual. This will assure it is out of the way but it will still be useful for seeing detail at near.

Now what you have are bifocals that will snap the FS into focus immediately. The rear sight will be a bit out of focus, (the greater the sight radius, the blurrier the RS will be) and the target will also be somewhat blurred.

Full disclosure...if you are shooting long precision shots, this plan will NOT work due to target blur.

I know this works because in an earlier life, I was an optometrist and have prescribed many of these for older shooters. In fact I would have them bring the weapon into the office for the measurement. This may be unacceptable these days.

ZZ

[polymerfeelsweirdman]

As you've found out, 3 dot sights are not conducive to accuracy with older eyes. I have found that for the quickest & most accurate pistol shooting, A plain black front and a plain black rear work best. For your AR, get a red dot. Either an Aimpoint or an Eotech if you don't have an astigmatism.

I have very minimal correction (some astigmatism and very very low power correction) and 3 dot sights still don't work well for me at lower light levels. I find that blacked out and serrated rear sights work fairly well for me so I ordered a dawson hd competition rear to try.

[HOGRIDER]

First of all how old id "old"? Grouping info doesn't help if you don't tell us how far the targets are... unless I'm too old and missed that somehow.

Also, I'm amazed with the glasses people use to shoot. I can't imagine using bifocals to shoot. How can that work for tight shots when you are looking out the top of your glasses and need sharp front sight focus?

Also- I highly recommend using a monivision set up. Dominant eye sees the front sight clear and the other eye is set up for far distances. You can play around with this a bit.... or try using pair of reading glasses or a weak pair of reading classes.

My eyes are pretty bad but in slow fire I can usually do fine. I'm predominantly far sighted with +4.00 in shooting eye, +3.50 in non dominant eye (monovision set up). I can probably bump them up a bit soon too.

Agree!

I also have monovision contacts, and found using my normal contact (distance) in left eye along with a standard +1.5 contact in my right allows me to focus on the target, bring the sights to eye level, and then focus on the front FO sight. Works really well for "my" older eyes.

Also, some good info:

http://www.decot.com/content/Old_Pistol_Shooters.htm

[captain037]

When you get your new plain front try our old ppc gun trick and smoke the front and rear with a carbide smoker. They will be even sharper.