Optometrist

[Ldy AlliDu]

I wish the range was open tomorrow[/quote
Have you tried the Texas City Range? (or is that the one you are referring?)
What about the one in League City?

Texas City is closed Monday's and Tuesday's
Clear Creek?
I was treated VERY well when I visited there, someone was shooting some home-made gun and it was unbearable, (always carry ear-plugs)
But I don't want to go there and cause a big ugly scene, so I am not going there

[Skiprr]

Take every advantage when shooting for groups eg target-shooting; however, to my way of thinking it's critical to practice for self-defence with whatever one wears normally, too - and even completely without, if it can be done safely.

I've said this time and again, but I'll say it once more - 99% of people will never focus on their front sight during their first armed encounter at halitosis distance; they will instinctively focus on the threat. Our brains are just wired that way.

Everyone is told "focus on the front sight" when shooting at the range, simply because it works - that is, it works well on the range..

On the two-way range it doesn't happen that way - so do some practice focusing solely on the target, as well. The easiest way to do this is to try to see where the bullets are hitting as they occur. Use your sights by all means - register where they are (the front sight alone is fine), but focus past them and shoot, because that is what is going to happen during a fight.

Yeppers. Gabe Suarez refers to it, somewhat inelegantly, as "meat and metal" shooting: what you see is a piece of undefined metal in your hands, interposed upon the body of an attacker. And a body that is most likely moving, at that.

Not to cause topic confusion, but one of my personal soapboxes is that very few CHLers practice true "halitosis distance" defensive shooting. If you're at zero to three or four feet from your target, you probably shouldn't be able to see your handgun at all: it should be indexed high and tight against your ribcage in a close-contact ready position. And the best data we have say that if you ever need to use a handgun to protect your life, 81% of the time it will be six feet or less from the bad guy; 34% of the time it will be three feet or less.

Conversely, this doesn't mean you should Dremel the sights off your handgun and never shoot at anything less than six feet away.

I think all the skills are necessary, from slow-fire marksmanship at 25+ yards to close-distance, moving target and moving shooter force-on-force training. But it's a continuum, a progression: new shooters need to develop basic marksmanship skills like reliable gun handling, sight picture/alignment, and trigger control first, then move on to practical elements like draw-from-holster, moving off the "X", moving targets, rapid fire, close-quarters defense, etc.

Bringing this back on topic, if you can't clearly see your front sight and your target (but not at the same moment) when you practice, it may be difficult to develop the visual recognition and muscle memory skills necessary to speed up the process under extreme stress...or to take an accurate hostage shot at distance.

That's why I advocate training both with and without eyesight correction. I think solid, repeatable competency with eyesight correction and static targets in a slow-fire mode comes first. Getting comfortable shooting tight groups at your own pace is a first step. If your vision is a problem, then it becomes difficult achieving those first steps and it hinders further progress.

The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi used to start his speech to the players each and every new season exactly the same way, irrespective of whether the players were rookies or three-year veterans. He would hold up a football and, after a long pause, say, "This is a football." He would go on (paraphrasing here) to describe that the objective was to move the football beyond the opposing team's goal line, while preventing them from passing yours.

The point is that any physical skill (that I can think of) is about fundamentals. It doesn't matter at what age you begin learning that skill, it still must be based on fundamentals. And it doesn't matter how many years you've been practicing that skill, it still must be based on fundamentals.

Ldy AlliDu, now that we understand a bit more, I strongly suggest doing whatever you need to do in order to arrive at being able to move your eyes quickly from a reasonably crisp target picture to a reasonably crisp sight picture. Develop that eye-body-gun alignment. Ingrain it. Then, as Lombardi might say, you can move on to develop pass-plays and quarterback-sneaks.

[Ldy AlliDu]

Very good advice, it is an interesting journey starting out,
I am also trying to protect my eyes and on some ranges it is mandatory, I invested in some nice ear-muffs that I really like, but if I must shove some large eye-protectors underneath, it defeats the whole purpose, am I right?
So I am trying to solve a couple of problems,
I want to try the bifocals because they actually fit underneath.

I noticed when I opened both eyes the red (frontsight) is now exactly to the left, (red,black-black), wonder if I can shoot like that

I am sure it will take a while until I get everything sorted out and get the real "feel".

[Ldy AlliDu]

"I think all the skills are necessary, from slow-fire marksmanship at 25+ yards to close-distance, moving target and moving shooter force-on-force training. But it's a continuum, a progression: new shooters need to develop basic marksmanship skills like reliable gun handling, sight picture/alignment, and trigger control first, then move on to practical elements like draw-from-holster, moving off the "X", moving targets, rapid fire, close-quarters defense, etc."

[MoJo]

I use the progressive no line bifocals they seem to do the most nearly natural job for me. The human eye can't focus sharply on more that one thing at a time so if the sight is blurry a little is OK as long as you see it. Like Andy says in a gunfight you won't remember seeing the sights, and you won't hear the blast or feel the recoil.

[Ldy AlliDu]

I use the progressive no line bifocals they seem to do the most nearly natural job for me. The human eye can't focus sharply on more that one thing at a time so if the sight is blurry a little is OK as long as you see it. Like Andy says in a gunfight you won't remember seeing the sights, and you won't hear the blast or feel the recoil.

This is what I have, in 5 years I have never used them so I am anxious to try, and I am practising at home,
Thanks.

[fickman]

I recommend that you get a checkup with an ophthalmologist.

I have Stargardt's disease (a form of macular degeneration) that causes issues with central vision, visual acuity, and night vision. There are over 20 forms of macular degeneration with varying levels of impact (some cause total blindness, some cause low visions, some cannot be treated, some can be treated but not reversed, some can be reversed) on top of a variety of other eye conditions that your optometrist might not diagnose (retinal, macular, foveal, etc.).

I was frustrating my optometrist because he couldn't figure my prescription out, but 3 minutes with the ophthalmologist and he knew what category of issues I was dealing with. He referred me to a retina specialist who has been managing my situation.

Anyway, right now I prefer night sites whenever possible, especially in an indoor range. My Sig P229 has them, and that's why I prefer it over my other carry guns at this time. I can still see well enough to drive and pass my shooting proficiency test. . . but I know there are certain shots I can't / won't take in a real world situation.

It's best to let a medical doctor (ophthalmologists are) diagnose you when you get into specialty issues - and the way you mentioned that you especially have difficulty indoors led to me posting.

Good luck! Hope all goes well!

[Ldy AlliDu]

Thanks for the information, I keep asking questions but maybe I need a better doctor?
What is/are night sites?
The plan is to stick with this one gun and go to the outdoor and indoor and figure out what I can see.

[CompVest]

Ldy AlliDu,

You are welcome to join the Woman's Pistol class at Pearland Shooting Club this Saturday, June 5th, 9 AM to noon.

[pbwalker]

Slightly off topic, so I apologize in advance.

How the heck do y'all shoot with both eyes open? I have tried and tried to no avail. As soon as I open my left eye, I completely lose the sight picture and get double vision.

If it explains anything, I shoot right handed but I am left eye dominant.

[fickman]

What is/are night sites?

Sights which glow in the dark.

They run close to $100 for most firearms, but the difference is HUGE!

How the heck do y'all shoot with both eyes open? I have tried and tried to no avail. As soon as I open my left eye, I completely lose the sight picture and get double vision.

If it explains anything, I shoot right handed but I am left eye dominant.

One sees two images of the sights but learns to distinguish the relevant one; for a left-eye dominant person, the right-hand image is normally the correct one. With time, you don't even notice the other "image".

I had an instructor teach me a way to adjust my standing posture so that I'm aiming across my body near my left shoulder (right arm fully extended across the front of my body; chin almost tucked into right shoulder). I can keep both eyes open and pick up the sights very quickly.

For handgun defense, it's my opinion that everybody should learn to shoot with both eyes open.

For those of us who have an opposite dominant eye and hand, the other option is to learn to shoot with the weak hand, which I felt was a greater compromise.

Definitely consider seeing the ophthalmologist. . . your insurance should cover a checkup like any specialist, and you can get a referral from your PCP if you need one. I now get all of my eye exams through the ophthalmologist and haven't seen an optometrist in almost ten years.

[Ldy AlliDu]

Ldy AlliDu,

You are welcome to join the Woman's Pistol class at Pearland Shooting Club this Saturday, June 5th, 9 AM to noon.

Thanks for the invitation, this would be really fun and a wonderful opportunity, I have to be somewhere this Saturday, but visiting PSC is on the list.

[jimlongley]

When I lived in IL, my optometrist was a shooter that I found through ISRA (maybe TSRA should take note) and he understood just where best focus should be. I have had several optometrists here in TX, and only one wouldn't adjust for shooting focus (I wear tri focals now, so I always have the mid range set for front sight distance and I can use it for computers) and I fired that optometrist fast. When I told him that I wanted the mid range set for my front sights, he started to tell me how bad it was to own guns, and I got up out of the chair, told him he was fired, and that I had better not get charged for the visit. I didn't.