TexasCHLforum.com

I love my eye doctor but I am not sure he would understand what I need for shooting, any advice, all I can see right now is a black gun
none of my glasses work.
Shooting outdoors is less of an issue.
And how many people shoot with booth eyes open?
Thanks

I shoot with 1 eye, until I realize it, then I shoot 2 - eyed
Also, when I shoot, I find that standard paper targets do not work for me, as I cannot see where I am hitting, so I get the "splat" targets at Academy (get the non-adhesive and get staple gun, you will get 3 times the targets for the same price as the adhesives)

I bet if you tell your Optometrist that you are a "target shooter" and having issues, they may be able to prescribe various lens colors with your prescription.

Both eyes open, although I prolly look like cross-eyed Mary. LOL

Seriously, if you are having trouble with near vision, try picking up a pair of those over-the-counter reading glasses that are pretty cheap. It will help magnify the front sight and still let you see the target. I'm assuming you've already determined which is your dominant eye and you're just having a problem focusing up close.

You might even find them at the Dollar Store so you'd only be out a whole $1!

I use a stick-on bifocal on the right lens of my shooting glasses. I got mine at Wal-Mart, but and other stores carry them too. The advantage is you can place them at the location on the lens that works best for you without having to tilt or adjust the cant of your head. With the bifocal in place get both the gun sights and the target in focus using both eyes open to shoot (the proper method for self-defense/combat shooting). Charles posted a thread on them here viewtopic.php?f=82&t=14335" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My optometrist (Dr. Hopping) actually forced me to start wearing contacts years ago due to an extreme difference between eyes. We've done a lot of adjustment over the years (my eyes change on a yearly basis), including a special combination of contacts that allow me to see both music and conductor (when the conductor is 70' away).

Handgun, I shoot both eyes open. Long guns, left eye closed. Can't do it any other way, no matter what correction I use.

I'm assuming you mean handgun shooting, in which case, yep, both eyes open.

If you normally wear bifocals or progressive lenses, and need both distance- and near-vision correction, the simplest solution I've found was to get prescription shooting glasses with two different, single-vision lenses: your infinite-distance prescription for your non-dominant eye, and for your dominant eye a prescription set to match the distance of your handgun's front sight from your face in your normal shooting stance. I can recommend an optometrist in the Houston Greenway Plaza area who will do this, if you aren't comfortable taling with you own doctor about shooting glasses.

Many of us "of a certain age" can't sharply focus on anything at any distance. :-/ So the two-single-vision-lenses solution proved best for me, who wears progressive lenses (and would otherwise be in trifocals without). I have to wear them about 10 minutes before shooting for my eyes to adjust to the differing focal points, but it works very well.

If the issue is only presbyopia--a weakening of near-distance vision with age--and your distance vision is still good, I think I'd go the route of the sitck-on magnifier on one lens of a pair of non-prescription shooting glasses that Keith B described.

A word of caution, though, to all of us who might use "special" shooting glasses: never become totally reliant on them. It's fine to use them at the range, in training classes, or in IDPA, but always include practice without them. And that can be difficult to do sometimes because your range may not permit you to shoot in your workaday glasses for safety reasons. But there is always dry-fire practice...which I think should log more hours than live-fire practice, anyway.

In my case, for example, with no glasses at all I can get a reasonably clear sight picture at the sacrifice of crisp distance vision. My regular glasses are relatively low-profile, so it's easy for me to tilt my head and look over the top of the frames. So I practice target identification through the top (distance) portions of my corrective lenses, then tilting my head down very slightly for front-sight focus before breaking the shot. At real-life defensive distances, the distance vision isn't needed before sight picture, anyway. I found it virtually impossible to quickly tilt my head the other direction to try to locate that small sweet-spot on my progressive lenses that brings the front sight into crisp focus.

Also sometimes difficult to do at your local range, but also necessary: practice in low-light conditions. We all know that bad stuff is most likely to happen in the dark, but I think too few ever train in low-light conditions. If your 20/20 eyesight is 25 years old, this presents less of a problem (though that does not mean practice isn't needed). Even if you have good eyesight in terms of clarity, as you age the rod and cone cells in your eyes change and night vision becomes more challenged. Some long-term conditions, like myopia, can hasten the effect.

This is a bit more difficult to practice dry-fire becasue you don't get feedback about whether or not you were really on-target as you thought you were, and your dry-fire targets in your home are generally quite familiar to you so there's no challenge in target location before acquring a sight picture. Still very worthwhile to practice, especially if someone can "prep" a darkened room by setting up a couple of "targets" in unknown positions before you enter. If you're willing to take practice to another level, Air-Soft replicas in a darkened garage is a great way to go. And don't forget to incorporate flashlight techniques in very-low-light environs.

Lastly (then I'll be quiet; honest), if you do go the route of prescription shooting glasses, first be sure the lenses meet the ANSI impact specifications (double-check this with the dispensing optician before plopping down your money), and second, give some consideration to finding a style that wraps the lenses around your eyes toward your temples, like so many of the sport glasses you see from Wiley, Bolle, and others. If you don't get wraparounds, get frames that have very little curvature so that they will match well with inexpensive, slip-on side shields that can protect from material coming in at the sides of your face.

This protection from the side is always a good idea in any live-fire environment, but it's particularly important if you ever shoot steel plates at nominal distances. Many training courses I've been to that included shooting steel mandated side protection to protect the eyes from backsplash that can come off the targets at sometimes unusual and unexpected angles. Even if you don't envision doing any steel shooting, it's a good idea to give consideration to side protection in any shooting glasses you purchase.

I was just gone a little while and I got all this great information,
Thanks,
I wear reading, about 1.25, this would be the best for lining up the sight, but not perfect.
also, I have driving glasses, not required, but I could tell it was time and I don't like to drive without them.
This is all trial and error and this point but the other day I was shooting the 357 outside with my driving glasses and I felt very comfortable.
I will have to close my left eye or nothing will line up.
The 357 is black/black with red in the middle, it is a longer gun.
3 white dots might not work for me
I found my bifocals and was really excited until I wore myself out trying on different glasses and nothing worked, I will keep at it,
I just figured that I normally don't read at arms length, so why am I even trying

If you go to http://bullseyepistol.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and look on the right side of the page for articles by Dr. Norman Wong, an eye-care professional, you will find lots of information and some things to mention to your optometrist.

Target shooting is not fighting. A technique that gives the best score on the target may not be relevant to real-life. I'm no expert on this, but I try to keep both eyes open, try to focus on the front sight, and worry since I can not see my front sight with my bifocals on. With my range glasses the front sight it crisp, the target blurry. With street glasses the opposite.

Having voiced my concerns to a friend who was a Marine (I understand there are no ex-Marines), he laughed and had me shoot a magazine full, fast, at a target at 10 yards, street glasses. His point was that although the group would not win any matches, it would have been good enough to halt an assailant right quick. It is a good confidence-building drill. OTOH if you are going to compete, Bullseye or IPSC/IDPA, you will want a special pair of glasses that will not work for everyday wear.

For the range, you may want an occluder - a little flip-down patch that covers your off eye but allows you to keep it open without distraction.

Currently for me without correction everything is a blur, with my contacts I can see the target but the sights are a blur, add on the reading glasses "+1.5" and I can see the sights but the target is a blur and I shoot 1 eyed. I need to find some of those stick on lenses I have looked at wal-mart but never see them. In the mean time I focus on the sights and aim for the middle of the blur.


Updated:
Just did a little research on the web and you can buy at Cabela's
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... .jsp.form1

Or Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Stick-on-Reading- ... =8-1-fkmr0

Or just search the web for "OPTX 20/20™ Reading Lenses"

I have to start somewhere, with my prescription 1.50, I see the closest 2 dots clearly, without any glasses, I see the white dot on top of the barrel clearly, it is a S&W, M&P.
Shooting this one last night with my driving glasses was an experience,
I can't wait to see what I can hit if I can see.

The bi-focals will work for now and I will go and find my red tape and see how that works, I will print out all your information because it will be a big help, thank you so much.

Teamless wrote:I shoot with 1 eye, until I realize it, then I shoot 2 - eyed
Also, when I shoot, I find that standard paper targets do not work for me, as I cannot see where I am hitting, so I get the "splat" targets at Academy (get the non-adhesive and get staple gun, you will get 3 times the targets for the same price as the adhesives)

I bet if you tell your Optometrist that you are a "target shooter" and having issues, they may be able to prescribe various lens colors with your prescription.

Thanks for the tip, I bought some of the adhesive ones at Academy and can't wait to try them, and I thought about bringing binoculars for the 25 yard? I saw a man who had a fancy setup but it is not in my budget.

This is the greatest forum,
I put some red tape on the front sight and I feel it takes away some of the blur and confusion trying to focus,
they say I can't get my youth back so I am just doing the best I can
I am overdue to have my eyes checked so I will gather as much information as I can before I see someone.
I wish the range was open tomorrow.

[quote="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?