Sights for old eyes?

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valnar

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So I've turned 50 and for the last few years I've been having more problems with my iron sights. Presbyopia has kicked in. I can either wear my cheater glasses and focus on the sights, or take them off and focus on the target, but the sights are blurry. In either case, my accuracy is definitely not as good as my younger years.

So I need help in selecting something that can help for my Picatinny rail enabled guns. For those with the same problem, what works best for you? Red dots? Traditional scopes? Holographic? Is there something that allows us to focus on the sight dot and target at the same time? I certainly would hate to give up my shooting hobby for this.

I did buy a laser for one of my pistols, but I don't want to do that for all of them.
 
I had my shooting glasses made with the dominate eye set for the distance to the front sight and the non-dominate eye set for distance...for use with open sights

You brain puts the two images together, like it does with an obscured red dot, and you get a crystal clear front sight and target...took a little while to get used to seeing them both clearly.

When using a red dot or holographic sight, I use glasses set for my distance vision
 
Do your research as they are getting better every day and cost is coming down but in my opinion, a RMR is the way to go. At our range, I am seeing more and more of these put to use and everyone who has one loves them.
 
Would the Holosun HS510C be a good choice? I don't have a way to test most of these.
 
I find RMRs to work very well for my older eyes. The dot may be slightly distorted depending on your ocular conditions. The biggest issue at first was finding the dot quickly, a tubular reflex sight has less of an issue here because peering through the tube gives you immediate dot access. This issue doesn’t hapoen when mounted on a rifle because your head is automatically oriented to the RMR.
 
For those with the same problem, what works best for you? Red dots? Traditional scopes? Holographic? Is there something that allows us to focus on the sight dot and target at the same time? I certainly would hate to give up my shooting hobby for this.

The correct answer to the question is, I believe, is "it depends".

It depends on the kind of firearm you intend to use it on and the actual kind of shooting you will be doing.

With traditional iron sights and possibly red dots you will need to make a choice, the target in sharp focus or the front sight (or dot) in sharp focus. The human eye cannot have both at the same time, even with perfect 20/20 vision. My vote goes for having the front sight (irons) or the dot in focus.

As far as dots go, I use them for action pistol and rimfire rifle shooting (competitions). I have tried a bunch to aid with my less than perfect eyesight. My experience has been that anything less than about $200.00 (for a Vortex or Burris) is a compromise. Someone will chime in that they get awesome results with a $40.00 Amazon dot or a slightly more expensive Bushnell model to which I say good for them. You are asking what works for me not anyone else. Just being truthful.
 
OK thanks everyone. I'll experiment at my LGS and see what I can find.
 
I had my shooting glasses made with the dominate eye set for the distance to the front sight and the non-dominate eye set for distance...for use with open sights

You brain puts the two images together, like it does with an obscured red dot, and you get a crystal clear front sight and target...took a little while to get used to seeing them both clearly.

So I just had my annual visit with my eye doctor last week and that is exactly what she suggested. In fact, there are some LEOs in the area who are doing that very thing.
 
So I've turned 50 and for the last few years I've been having more problems with my iron sights. Presbyopia has kicked in. I can either wear my cheater glasses and focus on the sights, or take them off and focus on the target, but the sights are blurry. In either case, my accuracy is definitely not as good as my younger years.

So I need help in selecting something that can help for my Picatinny rail enabled guns. For those with the same problem, what works best for you? Red dots? Traditional scopes? Holographic? Is there something that allows us to focus on the sight dot and target at the same time? I certainly would hate to give up my shooting hobby for this.

So, in addition to what 9mmepiphany said, and to which I just replied, the other recommendation from my eye doctor was to have bifocals made with the bifocal portion in the upper part of the lens. This will give you your clear distance vision and a clear focus on the front sight. I think I will be dong this in the near future. I met guy at the range who had a pair of such glasses and he liked it.

Either way, you need to spend money on glasses even if you don't shoot, might as well have them made for shooting.
 
A lot depends on what you intend to shoot, and under which rules. For the precision disciplines that require iron sights, the solution has always been to set up the shooting glasses to focus on the front sight. Sights must be sharp, the target can be hazy. If red dots are allowed, those are preferable...and the new generation of mini red dots are excellent if you don't cheap out on the dot or its mount. The Trijicon RMR is reported to be the best of the bunch.
 
I really like my Burris fastfire 3!

I have bifocals and they don't really help me. I am either looking through the near distance part of the glasses and can see the sights or I am looking through the far portion of the glasses and can see the target. I can't really see both at once.

I have been converting all my iron sight guns to red dots. So far I like the fast fire 3 the best.... But I haven't tried one of the really expensive red dots... The ff3 has been plenty good enough.
 
I really like my Burris fastfire 3!

I have bifocals and they don't really help me. I am either looking through the near distance part of the glasses and can see the sights or I am looking through the far portion of the glasses and can see the target. I can't really see both at once.

I have been converting all my iron sight guns to red dots. So far I like the fast fire 3 the best.... But I haven't tried one of the really expensive red dots... The ff3 has been plenty good enough.
So I didn't have experience with red dots before but after visiting my LGS I get it now. This is exactly what I need (one focal plane, which is the target). My first need is my CZ Carbine since the irons are closer to my eyes than any pistol, but I could definitely use a couple of these for some pistols too. After seeing the size of those Shield RMSc sights, even my carry gun will get one now.

'So glad to be older during this time of great innovation! Now I just need to $ave.
 
I use 2.50 reading glasses for reading but are too strong to see the target a distance away
I found by getting reading glasses in 1.75 power I see the front sight just fine and the target is a bit blurred
The trick that I learned was to focus primarily on the front sight only and use the rear sight and target only as guides the main focus is the front sight and everything else a blur this improved my groups 100%
 
Scopes and some red dots help for me. If you can, try out a couple of red dot sights and see which ones work for you.

Another thing that really works well are oversized open sights painted with bright automotive paint. I normally go bright white on the back sights and bright red on the front. I use a rear gap/aperture of about 1/4".
 
How about glasses for old eyes? My last two pairs of glasses have been occupational trifocals. Bifocal lens on the bottom with distance in the middle and and trifocal lenses on the top. Works for me.
 
I feel your pain. I recently installed a Sig Sauer Romeo 5 red dot on my AR-5. Wonderful little set up.

I also installed a set of Tru Glo TFX fiber optic / tritium night sights in my Glock.

Now, what to do with my revolvers....
 
If you have uncorrected astigmatism, you may have trouble with a reflex red dot sight, whether it is the RMR type or tube type. Astigmatism can cause a varying degree of distortion of the dot or even cause multiple dots to be visible. Try looking through some red dot sights to see if this will be a problem for you.

Primatic optics with etched reticles are typically a bit bigger than most RDS but seem to cause less trouble for people with astigmatism. As do holographic sights. But true holographic sights are not very common. They are made by EOTech and Vortex only, although some other makers may label their reflex sights "holographic". Red dots use an LED emitter to bounce the dot image off of the angled front lens of the optic. The lens is a critical and necessary part of the sight. Holographic sights use a laser diode to emit light that is bounced off a series of mirrors and diffractors to collimate the beam and project it out in front of the optic. They work even if the front lens is missing. They also have the advantage of allowing a smaller dot size (down to 1 MOA) and the dot is not magnified if you use a magnifier in conjuction with the holographic.

For refex sights the dot is magnified by a magnifier. A 2 MOA red dot sight remains a 2 MOA dot, because the target image is magnified proportionally with the dot. But the dot looks bigger and the magnifier makes irregularities in the dot more noticeable. With a holographic sight and a 1 MOA dot, the dot does not get bigger with a magnifier. So with a 3X magnifier, the dot now effectively becomes a .333 MOA dot with regard to the target, which is nice. But holographic sights are considerably larger than compact red dots, have a much shorter battery life, and are expensive ($400+).

Pretty much all rifle scopes will have an adjustable diopter that will allow you to add or subtract 2 diopters or more of spherical correction. That should help you focus the reticle even if your optical correction is not perfect. And with a riflescope, red dot sight, or prism optic you do not have to worry about aligning a front sight post or blade with a rear sight notch or peep. That itself is a big advantage over open sights. When shooting with a 1X prism scope or red dot sight, I keep both eyes open and focus on the target.

Most red dot sights offer no magnification although there are exceptions. Most can be used in conjuction with an additional magnifier placed behind the RDS on a swing mount that allows the magnifier to be swung to the side. Of course, that adds additional complexity, weight, and expense, but is a reasonable option for those who want the rapid target acquisition and the ability to shoot with both eyes open that an unmagnified red dot offers, with the ability to provide magnification to shoot out to 100 yards and beyond for those of us who need it. There are also low variable power optics (LVPO rifle scopes) that have a true 1X low power which allows them to be used for short distance shooting with both eyes open, but provide magnification typically up to 4-8X for longer range work.

Personally, I prefer "micro" sized red dot sights for ranges up to around 100 yards, but I have also used relatively low power fixed magnification rifle scopes (3X), and red dot sights in conjunction with a 3X magnifier. I have had very good luck with the SIG Rome 5 and now have three of them. I have a Burris 3X magnifier that I like pretty well. I have also had good luck with a Vortex unmagnified 1X Spitfire prism scope with illuminated etched reticle. I am just starting to work with a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6X24 LVPO. If and when I am inclined to shell out the big bucks, I will likely spring for an EOTech Holographic.
 
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