Any advice for shooting with bifocals?

[Greg_TX]

So I joined the bifocal club a few months ago, and one thing I'm having problems with is focusing on the front sight of my pistol without losing all focus on the target. If I shift my focus to the target then the front sight is a mess. I've tried tilting my head one way or another to look through the best spot of the lens but it's still annoying. Any ideas?

 

[usmcpmi]

Greg, Welcome to the "Club" Go to Walgreens and get a pair of old man reading glasses, that put things in perfect focus at arms length. That way you can see the front sight. Don't worry about the target being out of focus, it is supposed to be! Concentrate on the sight alignment and the front sight tip. You will be good to go. MG

 

[Texas42]

I'm 24, and I can't even see the middle of the target.

My vision isn't great, but I focus on the front sight and aim in the middle of the blurr.

Seems to work pretty well.

 

[navyguy]

You might talk to your eye doctor. There may be a middle of the road prescription that will help that. Similar to the ones they now make for computer work.

 

[Lobo_79]

So I joined the bifocal club a few months ago, and one thing I'm having problems with is focusing on the front sight of my pistol without losing all focus on the target. If I shift my focus to the target then the front sight is a mess. I've tried tilting my head one way or another to look through the best spot of the lens but it's still annoying. Any ideas?

Keeping the sights in focus, particularly your front sight, is very important. It's okay if the target is out of focus ~ within limits of coarse. I have the same problem and so I added Red Dot sights to my longer range target pistols. I use the Burris FastFire II on my Beretta and a Nikon Variable Dot sight on my S&W M627. My carry guns still have conventional iron sights.

Red Dot sights may not be for everybody but they helped me a lot. I can now have a focused dot and a sharp target when using the distance portion of my bifocals.

A friend has taken a different approach. He says it works for him. He had a special pair of glasses made. One lens contained his distance prescription and the other his close up. By shooting with both eyes open he gets both sharply focused sights and a clear target. I've not tried that, but hey, it might work.

 

[Texas1911]

A friend has taken a different approach. He says it works for him. He had a special pair of glasses made. One lens contained his distance prescription and the other his close up. By shooting with both eyes open he gets both sharply focused sights and a clear target. I've not tried that, but hey, it might work.

I don't see how that'd work. It's physically impossible to have a clear target and clear sights. The eyes don't work that way. Even if you could get the eyes to work independently, you'd have no depth perception.

 

[rodbender]

I don't see how that'd work. It's physically impossible to have a clear target and clear sights. The eyes don't work that way. Even if you could get the eyes to work independently, you'd have no depth perception.

Wouldn't it be the same as having lasik for bifocals? My buddy says one eye was done for close up and the other for distance and he sees very well, close and distance at the same time.

 

[bvillars]

that is how they did my contacts

 

[Texas1911]

Wouldn't it be the same as having lasik for bifocals? My buddy says one eye was done for close up and the other for distance and he sees very well, close and distance at the same time.

You might have improved vision, but I don't think it's possible to have the eyes focus on two independent planes.

 

[Maxpower]

I have seen these recommended on shooting usa - you stick one on at the top portion of your shooting glasses and it magnifies your sight view. the come in various strengths. at drugstores, wally world ~$11

OPTX 20/20 Stick-On BifocalsOther products by OPTX 20/20

Price:$7.00 - $35.00 Sale:$24.99 on Stick On Reading Lenses Power: +1.25, Stick On Reading Lenses Power: +1.50, Stick On Reading Lenses Power: +2.75, Stick On Reading Lenses Power: +3.00

 

[baboon]

Hang up shooting them pistol old man! You should send them to me before you shoot something you shouldn't.

I had the same trouble 10 years ago. I started out with no line bifocals for vanity reasons. You might just need to pick your head up a little more to see through the short range lense.

 

[Greg_TX]

Hang up shooting them pistol old man! You should send them to me before you shoot something you shouldn't.

I had the same trouble 10 years ago. I started out with no line bifocals for vanity reasons. You might just need to pick your head up a little more to see through the short range lense.

Well, I haven't had to pay to fix the target lines at Shiloh yet, so maybe there's hope. Thanks for the suggestions y'all! I have the graduated lenses, so there's no definite line between close and distance focus. I guess I just need to pay more attention to which part of the lenses I'm using when sighting.

Getting old sucks, and I'm only 44.

 

[glock9]

It get's even worse when you graduate from bifocals to progressive lenses. Your target acquisition time is spent bobbing your head up and down until you find the sweet spot in the lens where the front sight is in focus.

When ever I get a new pair of glasses I have a single focus lens made for my shooting eye that is cut for my mid range focus point which is where my front sight will be.

I have the optometrist install that single focus lens in my old glasses which then become my shooting glasses.

Really forces you to focus on the front sight

Glock9

 

[Wedge]

I saw something about this on a shooting show. They tape a circle to there glass and look through the small hole in the center. Dont ask me how it works but its supposed to eliminate this problem . It make the front site and target become clear. Damn its been about a year that I saw the show I cant remember all the details but you may want to look it up on line mayby. There use to be a shooting show on cable on Sundays cant remember the name of it but it was sponsered by NRA.

 

[wrtanker]

When the Dr said that I needed bifocals or reading glasses over my contacts I opted for monovision. That's what they call having one eye corrected for distant visoin and one for near vision. My shooting eye is the near eye (so I can focus on the front sight) and the other is my far eye. The human brain is pretty incredible, it can take the image from whichever eye it needs depending on what you focus on. When I'm shooting I close my distant eye just a bit (not completely) so my near eye has the dominant image. It works great!

 

[Greg_TX]

Funny thing I just remembered - I take my glasses off when I play pool, partly because of the focus thing, but mainly because the top of the frame gets in my line of sight. I don't think I can make that work with 15+ yd. targets and open sights, though.

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

This is one of those problems that Bullseye shooters have been dealing with especially when using iron sights (like me) instead of a red dot.

I have two sets of shooting glasses; one with yellow lenses for outdoors and one set with clear lenses for indoors. Both have my trifocal lens in the top so I can focus on the front sight and my bifocal lens in the bottom for when I have to make sight adjustments or check something on the pistol close up.

This iris disc will also allow you to concentrate on the front sight with your regular glasses and is something I've used in the past. They just clip on.
[URL]http://www.champchoice.com/prod-GEHMANN_IRIS___DISC_FOR_REGULAR_GLASSES-1088.aspx[/URL]

And the previous posters are correct; you can only focus on one thing at a time, so in pistol shooting, it's the front sight. The rear sight and target will always be slightly out of focus.

 

[DCortez]

You need to join the Austin shooting team, lol.