Help with vision and sight picture

[mikemike22]

I have been shooting with competition in mind for a couple of months now. I am 45 and am trying to figure out my best options for shooting with my vision. Here are some basics: Near sighted Left eye is -1.25 right eye is -1.25 I am left eye dominant, but I am right handed. For several years I have worn a contact in my right eye but not in my left(the bi-focal effect). As you get older your close up visions suffers. Now that I'm shooting I don't think that is a good idea. Here is what I have tried.

Contact in right eye/right eye open=closeup visions suffers and it is hard to focus on the front sight.

Contact in right eye/left eye open=I can focus on the front sight, but target is very blurry.

Contact in left eye/right eye open=I can focus on the front sight, but target is very blurry.

Contact in left eye/left eye open=closeup visions suffers and it is hard to focus on the front sight.

Tried both eyes open the other day, either double sights or double target. you get the idea.

I am sure I could adapt to any with practice, but there has to be a preferred scenario in this. Shoot with no contacts in/ or both in/ in dom eye/ non dom eye? Both eyes open would probably be best I would think.

Any help much appreciated, I am sure I'm not the only one with this issue. BTW I am shooting a M&P Pro 9L CORE, if that info helps.

[JaeOne3345]

I am left eye dominant and right handed. I shoot with both eyes open, but if the ghost image bothers you, try this....

1. Put some chapstick or lotion on your right index finger.

2. Hold the gun in your weak/left hand hand in front of your LEFT dominant eye. (yes, with your left hand, just for now).Make sure you are looking down the sights with your left eye.

3. Now, close that left eye, but do not move the gun at all.

4. Take your greasy right index finger and cover the gun and just the gun by putting that index finger on your right eyewear lens. This will have blocked out the ghost image of the gun that the right image sees.

Either always put chapstick here, or for a more semi-permanent solution, put a small piece of scotch tape there. This will help you use your left dominant eye and ignore the ghost image from the right, but still keep your right eye available for looking at other things through the lens. When you shoot freestyle with both hands, as long as you index to the left dominant eye, you should be ok.

I tried to use my right eye since it "matches" my hand and it never worked out. It took me about a week of dry fire to adjust my index so that I lined the gun up with my left eye every time again.

Don't fight the dominant eye.

Edited May 24, 2014 by JaeOne3345

[BobS761]

Here's what I think, because I just really like shooting. Wear whatever gives you normal vision, close you left eye, and get out and shoot matches. You won't be the only squinty eyed shooter out there. For a more permanent solution, talk with your optomitrist, maybe even taking your pistol with you, (permission first of course), so they can see to your needs. Only caveat is this is coming from someone that just enjoys the sport, tries to always improve, but has a lot of distractions that prevents me from overthinking it. YMMV, depending on your goals.

[mikemike22]

JaeOne3345 - Really great advice, I am going to give this a shot. I would rather shoot with both eyes and I think this method will work, given time and practice.

BobS761 - I hear you man, I love it too. I am kind of, uhem very competitive type of person. With that said I have no aspirations of becoming a pro. I know its not the arrow, its the indian. This indian just needs better eyesight.

[JaeOne3345]

For the record, I am near sighted and -6.00 in both eyes for contacts, with astigmatism also.

Ditto on just closing the non dominant eye if that's what works. Blocking it with tape just means you don't have to squint. The end goal of reducing visual confusion from two visual pictures is the same.

Edited May 24, 2014 by JaeOne3345

[mikemike22]

I still have the issue of either having good vision up close(w/o contact) or for distance(w/contact). I guess common sense would dictate good close-up vision. That is one thing I have noticed is that without close-up vision I am having trouble getting the front sight lined up correctly with the rears. I cannot see the gap on either side very well. Another question is depth perception with just one contact in. It is not as good as I learned from my 3D archery days.

[Jaxshooter]

I wear two contacts when shooting iron sights. Right dominate eye focus on front sight and left non dominate eye for distance. I know this doesn't work for everybody but you may want to try it. I shoot with both eyes open.

[mikemike22]

Jaxshooter-Thanks, I will try this as well. It is all going to require training. BTW I was possibly wanting to get some Rudy Project glasses for shooting. I might go ahead and get the prescription ones if I get this vision thing figured out. Any particular ones you like for 3Gun? tint?

[pjb45]

I am left eye dominate and right handed, additionally I have mono vision . The left eye is for distance and the right eye is for seeing close. I have tried all the suggestions. I gave each option plenty of practice and match time. I particularly dislike the tape over the left eye. I kept trying to look around it. I used the Browning magic dots to no avail. Changed contacts so my left eye was short distances and the right eye for far. Now, the only time I use this method is when I am shooting sporting clays or skeet. The funny thing is I can shoot scoped rifles or shotguns with either hand almost equally as well. But I digress.

What I noticed is my classifier times exhibit almost no difference regardless of which method I used for shooting.

I finally settled on what was comfortable. For me, I just close my left eye when shooting, I open it when I am moving. When the gun is up, in front of my face it is very natural for me to close my left eye and get a sharp focus on my front sight.

[P.E. Kelley]

54 here with corrected vision via eyewear.

Right eye dominant and left handed pistol shooter. (right for long guns)

I have played a bunch with RX for vision and as a 3 gunner I have settled on being able to see beyond my front sight.

This allows me to run all 3 guns well, rather than setting up my vision for pistol only.

That said, I don't have the ability to "see" the front sight anymore. I recognize it and the front /rear relationship

within my field of vision and find that is plenty good enough for any shot presented in practical competition.

In other words...don't get too wound up in having a crisp front sight. Target focus actually works.

And "focusing" on trigger control trumps everything.

My little quote for this is..."we don't miss due to sight misalignment, we miss align our sights with our trigger finger"

[Maxximuss]

Shoot two eyes open. Learn to recognize/concentrate on the left target (if you are using your right eye to aim). My wife had this problem to begin with, she would put scotch tape on lens of her left glasses until it was fixed.

[fmj3]

Jaxshooter-Thanks, I will try this as well. It is all going to require training. BTW I was possibly wanting to get some Rudy Project glasses for shooting. I might go ahead and get the prescription ones if I get this vision thing figured out. Any particular ones you like for 3Gun? tint?

I do the same thing with prescription glasses - left lens focused for distance and right lens focused on the front sight.

I'm also right handed, left eye dominate and I just put a small piece of frosted tape on the left lens - just enough to obscure my vision when I focus on the front sight. I can see the targets when I look down range and the front sight is crisp when I focus there. I will say it took a while to get used to shooting with that set up, but I think it's starting to feel normal now during a match.

[Moltke]

Bench zero your pistol with only your dominant eye open

Actually sight your gun in if you haven't

When shooting fast and up close, go with both eyes open

If the shot requires more precision then close one eye

Practice fast transitions between close & far targets until you do this naturally

And then just focus on watching your sight lift off target

[bountyhunter]

I still have the issue of either having good vision up close(w/o contact) or for distance(w/contact). I guess common sense would dictate good close-up vision. That is one thing I have noticed is that without close-up vision I am having trouble getting the front sight lined up correctly with the rears.

Might want to try a Meritt sighter (peep hole sighter) it helps focus the target and sight better at the same time. I have been using one for about 2o years, they do help.

[bountyhunter]

My little quote for this is..."we don't miss due to sight misalignment, we miss align our sights with our trigger finger"

Yep. Showed up really obviously when I first tried a red dot sighter.... you can't help but notice when you pull and the dot jumps. With iron sights, harder to notice the sights jump when they move.

[mikemike22]

All great input, which leaves me feeling about as F'd up as a football bat. Seriously, I am going to have to spend quite a bit of range time to see what is most comfortable and just go with it.

Thanks

[Endurokids]

Maybe it's just me but I don't mind the sights being a little blurry as long as I can see the target.

I close one eye for for long targets and small steel.

I wear "bifocal" contacts for good distance vision, they work enough for the sights, but I still need cheaters to read.

[Vincerama]

This might sounds stupid, but what about glasses with plain glass in one lens and prescription in the other. So you can shoot both eyes open, but one eye is focused. Sort of like the chapstick or scotchtape solution, but keeping the "bad" eye clear? Might be a bit screwy though.

So ... tactical monocle?

I've tried a bunch of times to train myself to shoot with both eyes open ... any good way to do this with success? I'm a squinter.

[robport]

I have 20/20 vision during the day, but cataracts and shoot inside. I get visual "artifacts" as the light dims.

I'm trying to see what works too. I tried different sights (ATS), but now am trying fiber front and back.

I bought some double bifocal (bifocal top and bottom) safety glasses and if I wear them just right, it works great.

I think the winner might be clear safety glasses with a stick-on 1.5 reading lens right in the middle of the dominant eye vision.

I'm putting it in the middle, so I don't have to remember to raise of lower my head to see the sights.

So far, I can see the sights great. We'll see, though how competition goes.

At least I can't get much worse.

[moostapha]

Left handed and left eye dominant guy here...new to USPSA, but I was pretty good at precision rifle (air and smallbore) and I wound up shooting a lot of right handed rifles over the years.

The big thing I noticed is that with my very strong left eye dominance, its just not possible to shoot with my right eye. Even with a blinder (tried a dozen colors and shapes), I just don't get a sight picture with my right eye. So it's left eye closed or don't bother.

So, go with your eyes. You can learn to point and press a trigger with your other hand, baring some handicap.

If you can't, when I have to shoot weak hand only strings, I just use something close to a precision air/free pistol stance and cant the gun just enough to get a sight picture with my strong eye. People have joked that they think I'm a righty in disguise....im new, so it's not amazing...but no worse than strong hand only. The groups are about the same.

Doing dry fire presentations from your chest can help get muscle memory for the angle, but only after you can do it free and strong hand. If you haven't done that yet, its freaky when it clicks....terms like "flash sight picture" and "fuzzy target AMD rear, clean front sight" make a lot more sense once you've seen them for yourself. And, yes, they mean fuzzy target, not fuzzy targets.

sent from a device without a real keyboard, sorry for things that don't make sense.

[HardChrome]

The front sight should be your main focus, the target secondary and your rear sights tertiary.