Help: Dr. Needs Advice On Sights

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Saw-Bones

Saw-Bones

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Hello THRers, this is my second post, but I’ve been a long time lurker on this site and I’ve been impressed with the experience and willingness of y’all to help other shooters.

So, I’ll change hats and be the patient who needs help choosing sights for handguns after cataract surgery. There are sooo many sights out there that I don’t know where to begin using my “new” eyes.

Pertinent Patient History: My eyesight went south at age 40 and for the last 20 years I used a mono-vision contact lens prescription… worked beautifully except for shooting clays and moving critters with a shotgun. I now have 20/20 for distance and I need 2X readers for up close. I can see the notch and post, but it’s fuzzy.

I am a solid B class IPSC competitor and have won several firsts.

My primary concern is for SD at ranges 0-15 yards without glasses, but I want reasonable accuracy out to 25 yards also without glasses.

I would appreciate any direction you can provide.

Thanks….. Doc
 
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My eyes started down that slippery slope a long time ago and now are a lot worse than yours. I wear bifocals.

I've found the only solution to be practice. Practice enough and your brain and eyes figure it out.

With your 20/20 distance and only 2X close up, you have fantastic eyes. Just practice without glasses, a lot, and your brain and eyes will accommodate the sight problem. Another help is the "accommodation" practice pilots used to use to beat the close-up tests as near vision degraded. Practice reading fairly close to your face until your eyes hurt and water a few times a day.
 
Progressive or prescription shooting glasses (heck, you need to wear eye protection anyways). ;)

I wore glasses for myopia (nearsightedness) since I was 9 years old and shot USPSA matches for years using iron sights. Seeing iron sights was not an issue as I climbed to 90+ percentile of local limited division ladder.

As I neared end of 40s (getting older sucks), I had to wear bifocals and it did not work out for computer screen reading at arms length and shooting pistols as I needed to see sharp front sight. I am on my third pair of progressive glasses and learned there are different qualities and levels of lenses available. I worked with my optometrist/ophthalmologist to ensure the glasses I am wearing was optimized for shooting.

With my third pair of progressive, iron sights are clear and so are targets at 25 yards which allow me to enjoy shooting again and I am looking forward to shooting USPSA matches again.

Talk to your doctor about your specific shooting needs and look at having tailored prescription shooting glasses made with your match pistol/sights.
 
Have you considered a laser sight at all? My dad's vision isn't the greatest w/o contacts or glasses, and he tends to have a little trouble with some guns front sights.

He swapped out his front sight for a fiber optic and added Crimson Trace laser grips for his self defense needs. Took a little practice to get used to the laser (and get it sighted in) but he shoots long shots quite well with both.

Just my $0.02
 
Point shooting:
Worst case scenario is self defense with no contacts or glasses. Try training for that at a suitable outside range. Then try indoors in darker conditions. Try point shooting with your contacts in first. Then try blind with lower light conditions. It took me a while to work up to it, but now I'm confident with my shooting without my contacts in. IFF is the only issue.

Sighted shooting:
If you can focus on the front sight ok, allow the target to blur. I prefer high contrast sight. Skinny F/O front. Wide notch plain black rear.

Useless night sights:
Dawson front .125" wide, single dot Warren Sevigny rear with the widest notch available. No 3 dot.
 
There's a clue in my handle here....

My eyes crashed about 10 years ago.
I'm legally blind and went below 20/400
some time back.

I still go to the range - indoor with overhead
trolley out to 25 yards I normally shoot
my handguns at 4-7 yds and a good day try
10 yards. I shoot at BG targets - 27" x 33"
with aa BG in a doo rag with a meacing pose
in Red/Black and usually get a good pattern
center of mass and head shots

Sights

CZ 75 B black
Colt Commander Blued w/Raised & small wite dots
S&W 1911 - Stainless with black Novak low mount 3 dot
SA RO Compact ,Park'd slide Novak rear Optical front / yellow

I see the sights best on the S&W because of the contrast
of stainless and the black sights The 3 Dots don't show up

The RO COmpact Optic in Yellow is just observable So I'm
thinking let's get the slide harchromed/silver of some coating

oh, and the S&W Revovvlers both matte Stainless with the
blued Patridge/front ramp and the W&E rear are like the S&W
1911, and I started with a S&W revo a long time ago.

I talk about this with my VA Socioll Worker and Eye Doc.

My philosophy with the gun range is Don't ask Don't Tell
and I'll know when to hang em up.

Randall
 
I wear glasses (distance and computer), contacts and with my 20/20 contacts, I wear reading glasses. My reading glasses are +2.0-2.5.

I shoot in a friendly competitive local BE league. When I do, I either wear my "computer" glasses, or if contacts, I wear 1.0 or 1.5 readers.

Sometimes I DO use my distance glasses to shoot. I can barely make out the sights, but have a perfect image of the target.

My sights: plain black, notched rear, with fiber optic front.

The advantage to this is I can really just focus on the front. And since it is out further (I am shooting a 1911), it is a little more in focus.

Other options:

You CAN get larger FO front sights.

XS sights makes an oversized front sight set.

Another option is a ghost like rear ring and front sight. I think there are at least two or three makers for these.

Finally, many shooters are beginning to use mini red dot sights on hand guns. There are a few of these, most fit the rear dove tail.

Hope this helps
Best
J
 
Forgot to add, Lebers Syndrome, the result is a central 'white' blind spot
and the further you try to focus out there the bigger the blind spot . so
I focus on the web of my strong hand to keep the blind spot small.
Periphally I try to get the recovery from recoil in a consistent place
and run the target in and out checking patterns.

I did pick up a SIg 3.3 1911 a while back and it had the front night
sight and I could see it. So, perhaps one of the 1911s will get sent
to Novak for a front triticum night sight.

Did you know 'see' has the most diffferent definitions in Websters?

R-
 
Read your main post again.

If one sight set for competition, close in SD and 25 yards without reading glasses, I would recommend a plain black blade rear and FO front.
 
This is my self defence solution for night sights and for no longer being able to focus on the front sight:

attachment.php


Its a Trijicon RMR "dual illumination" tritium/fiber optic sight -- no batteries. It put five rounds into 2" at 25 yards off sandbags during the "final" sight in with my carry ammo.

Bummer that the sight and mount cost a good bit more than the gun, but its the best solution I've found.

You look "through" the dot and focus your vision on the target -- which is why once I got used to "red dot" (this one is amber) optics, the expense is worth it, because I don't care who you are, its damn hard to focus on the front sight instead of the threat if the bullets might be flying both ways!
 
with macular degeneration issues , no amount of practice helped.
a burris fast fire lets me get a 1'' group at 15 yards, a 3'' group at 40 yards.
best shooting i've ever done
 
Back when I first started having problems with cataracts, my Opthamalogist suggested putting a lens set for distance on my left (weak eye) and one that's set for the front sight on my right (strong eye.) The cataract was in the left eye and that worked perfectly.

That cataract was fixed later, and now I have a small cataract in my right eye, but this time it's not in the middle of the field of vision.

I'm still using the same approach: left eye glasses lense (which is pretty good with a implanted lens without help) set for best distance vision, and right eye still set for the front sight. If you can see the front sight, it doesn't matter if you can't see the target clearly (but can see it generally). Last time out, with newer glasses, I shot the best I've shot in quite a while.
 
I am in the same boat as the OP. Without glasses the target is a big blur and I cannot find the front sight at all. For years, I have worked on point shooting with a 1911, and I can rely on it at short distances. Not so much for much beyond seven yards.

The best solution I have found for shooting without glasses is a red dot sight (RDS), specifically the UltraDot for bullseye and the Trijicon RMR series for SD guns. The dot makes sighting a single focal plane event, which reduces eye strain and increases targeting speed. The RMR is small enough for carry purposes and works well with and without corrective lenses. The negative is that very few pistols are factory equipped for the RMR, so the cost of getting a gun modified to attach the RMR needs to be considered.

I am aware of three manufacturers with factory support for the RMR: FN USA, Glock, and S&W. FN has no market penetration so accessories are a hassle. I am not too enthused about what I have seen from the Glock MOS guns, but I expect that Glock's second try will be better. For now, the aftermarket guys are doing a better job with RDS mounting. The S&W stuff looks promising, but I have not tried it yet.
 
Trijicon hds or Hackathorns. Very bright and perfect for those ranges.
 
I, too, agree with Wally. My EDC is a G17 that I sent to One Source Tactical to have milled for an RMR. I have the auto adjust battery model RM01. I think it is important to have backup iron sights with this setup. Also, as an added bonus, this setup is great for one handed manipulations.
 
You did leave out one pertinent piece of info.- Are you 20/20 corrected or uncorrected for distance? I'm assuming since you're post cataract, it's uncorrected.

If uncorrected, you could just simply have a set of intermediate lenses made, for your arms length instead of the usual 21" or so for computer work. This would put the front post clear, and you'd see the target fuzzy, like rest of us do. You could also probably go back to a single contact, as you used before.

If corrected, you're in a bit of a pickle; you could go with split focus lenses, but some folks do have accomodation problems with them. With your single-contact set up use before, you probably could do it.

With any of these solutions, I'd prefer XS sights.

I also like wally's solution. :)
 
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I am also near sighted, have been ever since high school and now I am glad. Whenever I need to do close-in fine motor skill work, I can do it without glasses! I don't need 6 foot long arms.

My official prescription is and has always been -2.50 but recently my eyes have not been able to focus as close as I want with my contact lenses. So for the past two years I have asked my eye doctor to prescribe -2.00 contact lenses and -2.50/0 bifocals. The weaker contact lenses are adequate for everyday use and lets me still focus in closely without the need for reading glasses. I can even shoot with sunglasses out to 50 yards with open sight guns. Trap and skeet work fine with the contact lenses, but I would rather use the bifocals I can naturally point the shotgun with the ramp and don't need to focus on the bead.

In camera terms, it helps to understand "hyperfocal distance". You can use the same principle here. You need to find the lens power that will see the front sight clearly and still get reasonable clarity at 25-50 yards.

To me, I can focus in on just about anything unaided in bright sunlight, it's dim light that makes it more challenging so make sure you can get the right correction in all lighting conditions.

Hope that helps.

Edit, I forgot. I actually downgraded to -1.75 this year and my near field vision is even better while my far field vision is still adequate.
 
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A family emergency prevented me from responding sooner and I apologize.

WOW! THRers to the rescue! Thank you, thank you and thank you!

You guys are going to keep me busy running down all your suggestions and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

moxie: I’m no stranger to practice and it will solve most problems, but I’m looking for a little fine tuning and different sights are in the big picture - no pun intended!

bds: If I wear 1.5x lenses I see front and rear sights perfectly and the target is reasonably clear out to 25 yards. I don’t need glasses unless I have to see up close and I would expect a SD situation to arise most times other than when I’m reading or at the computer, so I need different sights to take up the slack.

Point shooting is my preference in SD out to 7-10 yards when speed is extremely important. After 10 yards I need sights, so the right sights are still important because I can’t count on my only shots being within 10 yards. Thanks for you link to your point shooting drill. I’m looking forward to trying it.

CNobbe: I just got a Crimson Trace laser for my S&W 640. My plan is to carry it as a backup for night use. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want it as my primary sighting because it’s not how I like to handle handgun. Old habits die hard I guess.

Zerodefect: With my current blade and notch sights the front sight is too blurred to be of any sighting use and for me it’s like point shooting which is okay until I have to go past 10 yards.

BlindJustice: Randall - Damn… that’s what I mean when I say persistence! Pardner, I’m doing my best not to go gently into that good night either… that’s what my post is all about. Thanks for chiming in.

Captain33036: I read about the XS sights and I ordered the standard dot set for my Glock 27. I spoke with the XS company and they told me that the standard front sight can be swapped out for the big dot without changing the rear. More on your mention about the red dot sights next.

wally: Funny thing, my go-to AR out to 100 yards is the one with a red dot sight, but I never considered it on a handgun because of the size of it on my rifle and no experience with the miniature ones. Captain33036 also suggested the red dot sights. Thanks to you posting the picture and the Captain’s suggestion I’m going to try one out. I like the setup on the S&W M&P C.O.R.E. where you can co-witness the open sights and some of the red dot sights. There’s one in my future.

Artofgolf: Those Advantage Tactical Sights look great! The video didn’t show if they had the glowing inserts for the rear as well. I have no idea how fast they would be compared to the XS sights. It just seems it would be faster to “dot the i” by dropping the ball into the bowl of the XS Sights than balancing the triangle on the pyramid of the Advantage sights.

While looking on your link I found the Snake Eyes Night Sights that have a ghost ring rear sight with two tritium dots and a tritium front sight. I love ghost ring sights, so these might be an option too. Whew, there goes my SS check!

susieqz: 1” at 15 yards and 3” at 40 yards! I never shot that good when my eyes were 100%. I’ll be checking out the Burris Fast Fire. Thanks.

Walt Sherrill: I had overall success with the monovision prescription you suggested. Shotgunning at moving targets became a problem when my non-master eye took over seeing when I shot with both eyes open. I was able to solve the problem by starting with both eyes open and closing the non-master eye just before pulling the trigger. I was not able to solve that problem by closing the non-master eye when I recently started landing tail wheel airplanes.

farscott: I am going to try the miniature red dot sights. I would like to be able to co-witness the red dot sight with the open sights in case of a red dot failure. That might be difficult to accomplish on most of my SD handguns.

srawl: I’ve seen the Trijicons and I’ll be looking into the Hackathorns right after I get off this site or rather these sights.

glocknurse: Thanks for the heads-up about One Source Tactical for the having the slides milled.

entropy: Not to be confusing… uncorrected is correct. I ordered the XS sights and I’m going to try the red dot sights.

rsrocket1: The hyper-focal principle was the basis for my monovision prescription for my master eye. I don’t want to wear glasses or contacts when I do SD shooting.


I’m overwhelmed with info, almost TMI, but it is super stuff! You have been a great help… thank you very much….. Doc
 
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I'd go with the XS Sights. Their express sights meant for close-up SD ranges, but which you can still take slow aimed shots out to 25 yards. They'd be a lower profile solution for your situation. Since you ordered the Big Dot front, you may as well get their rear ones.

Picture from their website:
SI-0002S-5%20Springfield%20XDs%20247%20BDT%20-%201.jpg
 
Welcome aboard, Doc. My vision didn't go downhill, because it never got uphill. 20/40 OS, 20/400 OD since ... well, it was discovered when I was in first grade a half century ago. It's been glasses or contacts ever since. I can't really add anything to the excellent advice already rendered here, so I'll just wish you success in your quest. :)

Regards,
Derry
 
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