Wearing Corrective Eyeglasses While Using A Scoped Rifle

If your glasses assist your distant vision, as in spotting game, I'd adjust my scope to use the glasses. An added benefit is some eye protection against eye injury from blown primer, etc.

Single vision glasses are very compatible w/scopes. Bifocals or progressive lenses can be a bit problematic in that slightly different head position (spot weld) can result in your viewing the reticle through a different Rx and can affect your shooting.

Regards,
hps

For hunting the question should be when you get ready to shoot will you most likely have them on? You don't want something else to remember when you see that monster buck. If it is just a range toy then whatever works best. When hunting I switch to my shooting/safety glasses(prescription impact resistant) the same ones I use in competition.

My right eye is dominant. My vision is far from perfect. The right lens in my glasses causes the cross hairs of a scope to slant in all different directions. Without glasses I can focus scopes to provide a sharp clear image to infinity which is what I do (all of my scopes are capable of this sharp focus regardless of quality). When I go hunting I wear my old glasses which does not effect vision through a scope yet allows me to scan the area for game. YMMV

Roamin_Wade said:

I mostly need help seeing up close. My long distance is still decent.

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Presbyobia. At 47, you're about at the point where your arms aren't long enough to read anymore....

Most rifle scopes have a focus ring with about 8 diopters of adjustment in them. (+/- 4 either side of 0) If you are wearing progressive lenses or lined segment multifocals, you should adjust your focus ring for the distance portion of your glasses lenses, as this is what you are (should be, anyway) looking through when using the scope.

Roamin_Wade said:

I’m 47 and my eye sight is exiting stage left just like my father told me would happen. Should I adjust all my scopes to reaquire the sharp reticle with my eyes without glasses or is it better to shoot with my corrective lenses on? It’s not a simple question because wearing or not wearing glasses affects my view of the reticle, as well as downrange view through scope, and as well as how far I can see when spotting deer. What are your thoughts on this? Am I thinking too much on this?

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My bifocals complicate that question even more. I have adjusted my scopes' focus to be clear without my glasses, and have a croakie, or strap on my glasses when I hunt.

It depends. I've needed reading glasses for 20 years to see small print, or a computer screen. Basically anything closer than about 3'. But my distance vision at age 61 is still very good. HOWEVER, my right eye, the one that I use to look through a scope is slightly off. I'm borderline on needing glasses, but for now my brain is seeing the clear vision of my left eye as long as both eyes are open. But I have to focus my scopes for my right eye.

If you need corrective lenses to see at distance I'd wear glasses, contacts, or whatever and adjust the focus on the scope accordingly.

Your thinking to much. You should be able to figure this out. Try your own suggestions.
This coming from a guy who did wear glasses!

I have worn glasses nearly all of my life. If I remove my glasses everything shrinks in size (a lot) and things get a little blurry. I have bad eyesight.

Years ago my first experience with scopes was interesting and annoying. I tried setting the scope up for use without glasses as recommended by a friend. That did not work for me, especially since I would be hunting, not sitting at a bench.
I found that with my eyeglass prescription there was a sweet spot just up and to the left of the focal point of my right lens. It to me some time to get the scope where I needed it by trying different mounts, but I did get it to where I could clearly see the scope and fire accurately from different positions.

Then a year went by, I got new glasses because my eyes change, therefore the prescription changed a little. I got new glasses.
These glasses didn’t have that “sweet spot” where the others did. My rifle didn’t hit exactly where it was aimed after using the new glasses. There wasn’t a huge difference in impact points but there was a difference and I had to adjust the scope to meet the new prescription.

I am not telling you this to dissuade you from wearing your glasses. I am telling you this to be aware that your prescription will change over time. Be sure and verify your scope alignment after getting different glasses. This holds true even if your prescription does not change. Labs making glasses may not make lenses exactly the same each time.
An example of that would be i once had a pair of regular glasses made and a pair of sunglasses made at the same time. With iron fights my rifles were all just fine when wearing the sun glasses. They hit true to aim. With my regular glasses they all shot 2-3 inches left at 100 yards. There was a change in my perception due to the contours of the different lenses. With my scoped rifles the difference wasn’t as dramatic, maybe 1” off but there was a difference.

I recommend that if you will wear the glasses all of the time then sight your guns with them on. When you change glasses OR prescriptions I would verify sight zero.
If they are solely for reading or driving and you wouldn’t be wearing them hunting then I would sight your guns without them.

One more piece of advice. Tell your optometrist that you are a shooter. If he or she is a good optometrist and has a good relationship with the lab making your glasses they can request the lab pay particular attention to making your lenses properly and consistently.
If your optometrist balks, displays resistance, makes excuses, acts funny upon the mention of guns, does not respond positively or anything other than saying “We can do that” then get up and leave and find an optometrist that will work with you. Been there done that. I don’t care if they have been your family eye doctor for years. Go elsewhere.
I know these things from experience. Learn from my experience, please and good luck. It is not the end of the world.

There are benefits to wearing glasses.
When a cold breeze is slapping you in the face they help protect your eyes and you can see when others can’t.
You can get them tinted to suit your needs.
They do offer some eye protection in heavy brush and in general.
If you have really bad vision and your lenses magnify you can start campfires when the sun is out. Haha

Pat Riot said:

One more piece of advice. Tell your optometrist that you are a shooter. If he or she is a good optometrist and has a good relationship with the lab making your glasses they can request the lab pay particular attention to making your lenses properly and consistently.

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Great advice that I left out. That link in between the OD or MD and the lab is the optician. A good optician should be able to set the Optical Center (OC height) where you need it to get that "sweet spot" Pat Riot describes. (The OC is the actual sweetest spot, but putting it where he describes makes the glasses unusable for anything but shooting.)

Pat Riot said:

I recommend that if you will wear the glasses all of the time then sight your guns with them on. When you change glasses OR prescriptions I would verify sight zero.
If they are solely for reading or driving and you wouldn’t be wearing them hunting then I would sight your guns without them.

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Short and to the point. Excellent advice.

JeffG said:

My bifocals complicate that question even more. I have adjusted my scopes' focus to be clear without my glasses, and have a croakie, or strap on my glasses when I hunt.

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Same issue with progressives, but if your rifle fits properly, you can see through the upper (distance) portion of the lens each/every time. I'm currently fighting a new rifle and new progressives. The stock is a tad too long and scope as far to rear as it will go, making it impossible to get into the "sweet" spot. Different scope and offset rings en-route that should resolve the issue.

Having worn both bifocals and progressives, I believe the progressives are more difficult because there is no visible line to help w/alignment. I won't shoot w/o glasses and my distance vision is not quite as sharp w/o Rx glasses or I'd just use shooting glasses.

Regards,
hps

Roamin_Wade said:

I mostly need help seeing up close. My long distance is still decent.

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I have the same problem. From bitter experience I now assume my Rx glasses won't be handy when I need to take the shot, and thus adjust my scopes to my messed up naked eye focus. Easier than managing irons -- my avatar shows what I have to do these days to get open rifle sights into acceptable focus!

Concur with smart people above.

Really, it comes down to you. If the first thing you grab getting out of bed is your glasses, you probably want your scopes to be adjusted to corrected vision.
Now, if you are presently hunting without corrective lenses, then adjust scopes accordingly. Then, treat your glasses the same way you treat binos, etc

^^^
That sums it up nicely.
At my age the glasses have become a necessary PITA both close up and distance...

At 43, I'm starting to deal with this myself. For now, I set my scopes like I always have for use with the naked eye. I don't wear my prescription bifocals while shooting yet, but I'm going to have to try it before too long. I have pretty long arms, but sometimes not long enough.

I shoot with both eyes open. Peripheral vision comes in handy while hunting. This means I need my glasses on at all times for distance and that’s how I sight in.