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I'm getting to that age were my eyes are having a hard time seeing and lining up the sights on my pistols. I wear reading glasses for well ,reading but not much help when shooting. Any other shooters with the same problem and did you find a sight that is easier to pick up ? Thank you

I�m making a couple of assumptions. If I�m wrong � my comments may not be relevant.

1. You�re concerned with using a handgun for defensive purpose � not competition.
2. You�re suffering from presbyopia.

If you�re NOT wearing corrective lenses all the time yet, you�ll have to decide for yourself about practicing or training with a crutch you may not have when you need it.

I ain't never been one to fool myself, so I just accept the reality that even with corrective lenses, my days of precision shooting are over without using a special pair of glasses that allows for a hard focus on the front sight. Since wearing these �shooting� glasses isn�t practical for everyday use, I just have to make do with irons that allow for a lot of daylight with regards to equal height � equal light.

Since all I can see is blurry alignment, I shoot plain black sights better than any other variety. Heck, I can�t even utilize a self-luminous front sight ..... the Big Dot XS Express being the only exception.

I modified an original (.140) Heinie Straight 8 with a round file by opening the rear to a whopping .190 �. works really good to about 25 yards or so. On another pistol I�m using an unmodified Heinie with a .156 rear, and that�s really the best compromise.

Gettin� old and blind ain�t for sissies ..... hope you find something that works.

I am thinking about a pair of trifocals so that I can see the front sight. I wore them a while back for machining. Upper lens for distance, middle for just beyond my arms reach like the face of the digital readout on the mill, and lower lens for reading prints and micrometers.

Any thoughts on how that might work for shooting?

Trifocals work well if you like them and they work for you. I'd take a few "samples" to your EyeDoc so you can get a good correction on front sight distance.

Eye doctor will be the VA and taking samples is not a good idea. However, my 1911 and my wife with a tape measure will get the job done.

Roger that .......

1Longbow,

http://www.gunblast.com/MeritOptical.htm

This is most emphatically NOT A GIMMICK to draw in fools and part them from their hard earned money.

I've owned one for at least 15-20 years and would buy another without hesitation if I lost mine.

CRYSTAL CLEAR RAZOR SHARP SIGHTS AS WELL AS YOUR TARGET

PM me if you would like to.


Denny.

I just turned 60 and have the same condition � good old presbyopia. I�m assuming you still have decent far vision? There are a few viable options.

Fiber optic sights or three dot sights for use without glasses. They don�t restore the precision of sharp eyes and a good patridge sight picture. Without glasses the three dots or fiber optic dots appear as blobs but you can still line the three little blobs up in a row pretty well and hit decently. I have three dot sights on my defensive pistols and they work fine for hitting center of mass of larger targets.

Red dot or reflex sights. I�ve used the Burris Fastfire II and it works well for hitting stuff. Again, not really precise but you can line up the dot on your target and hit well out to a surprising distance. The big advantage is that you don�t need to wear your glasses for these either. The main weakness of these sights is the bulk (they�re light at two ounces but still not as trim as open sights) and the dot subtends 4 MOA so it covers up the target at distance. I think the Fastfire III has a slightly smaller dot.

If you have progressives or bifocals or whatever, the Merit adjustable iris will let you use your open sights with the same precision you used to have. They stick to the lens and have an adjustable iris which acts like the f-stop on a camera to greatly increase depth of field. The sights come back into sharp focus and since you�re looking through the �far vision� part of your glasses you can see the target clearly as well.

Bullseye target shooters have used this for years. Drawbacks are that you obviously have to wear it, but it sticks to your glasses pretty well with the little suction cup. It swings up out of the way when not in use. I use this extensively when load testing, bullseye shooting or when I want to really get precise with my aiming.

Fountain of Youth � drink to restore 20/15 eyesight. Still looking for this one.


I have progressive lenses and usually if I�m just plinking I lean my head back to look at the sights clearly through the near vision part and line them up with the middle of the blurry target and still hit what I�m aiming at well enough.