Contact Lenses and Sighting Question

[Jughead]

I wear trifocals at my age and find sighting difficult. I have heard of special glasses/prescriptions can help. But what about contact lenses with shooting eye lens a modified prescription to help with shooting? Anyone have experience? THANKS

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[us019255]

Can't help on contacts, but the money spent on special shooting eyeglasses is very well spent.

My optometrist recommended going "two steps more positive" (that is 0.5 diopters) than the distance lenses. This usually sharpens up the front sight enough. Getting rid of the bi or trifocal part also is necessary since it tends to be right where you look through the Garand sights.

I also found that getting relatively small lenses helps prevent fogging up on humid days.

Now that I am over 65, I am beginning to suspect that I may need to go another step stronger, but that will wait for experimentation following my next appointment. I intend to take a Garand to my next appointment so I can go outside and look through the sights. Luckily, in MT this will not cause a riot to see a rifle in town.

I see no reason why contacts would not work just the same. I also see little reason to do this since prudent folk wear eye protection on the range even if no glasses.

[GUTS]

I'm not as old as you bastards but I am 53 and very nearsighted. I have worn contacts since 1975 and I still have to use my glasses when I shoot. My contacts won't correct the astigmatism in my right eye enough to have a sharp image of anything but my glasses will.

[dbarn]

I'm 49 and have had Lasik. At this age they corrected my right eye for far away and the left for close up. The intention is to give you mono vision where the brain takes over and using both eyes it's as if you are seeing close up and far away involuntary or without thinking which eye is doing what. This work real well unless something separates your vision and you can't use both eyes, such as sighting down a rifle. I am right eye dominant and while I can see the target very well, I can't see my front sight. If I switch to the left hand and use my left eye, I can see my front sight but not the target. The solution has been to buy a pair of 1x reading glasses. This strength allows me to have a better focus of the front sight without distorting my view of the target and retaining my dominate right eye. Any more power and my view of the target is sacrificed. hth

[Roberto]

I just received my prescription shooting glasses (.75 diopter adjustment) after struggling with a somewhat fuzzy front sight.

My shooting capabilities have improved dramatically. I only wish I had obtained these glasses earlier. It makes little sense to spend significant funds on guns, ammunition and assorted shooting paraphernalia without the eyesight aids to be able to successfully employ them.

[Griff Murphey]

This is not a response about contacts, but regular glasses. I had an optometrist who is a high power shooter work with me and he really improved my front sight image. He actually had an M-1 for me to sight with in his office! Unfortunately he moved out-of-state to work with the VA so when my current glasses poop out, I will have to find someone else. I had some sunglasses made up for regular use and while wearing them on the highway noticed they were not as good for reading signs as my regular 20-20 glasses. It turned out they had missed the prescription just enough to make them even BETTER shooting glasses than the "real" shooting glasses, plus they work for the AR-15 and M-1 Carbine with shorter sighting radius. But they are only good for nice bright days of course.

It is worth going through the glasses you already have and experimenting with them. My experience is that most opthalmologists have no idea what you are talking about.

[Nate]

When I was an active shooter, I dragged my M1 into my doctors office and we spent some time with me sighting the rifle at a distant target while she tried various lenses until one worked best. That lens was only good for shooting and I used it until I gave up hi-power.