Legally blind & shooting.

[LawofThirds]

I've got a close friend who is legally blind who I took shooting for the first time earlier today.

After figuring out that he was unable to see the front sight on a handgun but was able to make out the target as a dark area (used a shoot n see for maximum visibility on a white backdrop), I realized that 90% of the basic instruction for beginning shooting (align front sights, cover target etc) was useless.


So I instructed him in the basics of point shooting, focusing on proper grip and aligning the gun with his body using an isosceles stance. Starting at 10 feet and working out to 15 yards we were able to keep his groups on a 18"x18" shoot-n-see from 15 yards.

What methods or work arounds have you guys found out for yourself or friends or even heard about to conquer disabilities in your shooting experiences?

 

[ScratchnDent]

I don't have any good advice beyond what you're already doing, but I wanted to say how great it is that you're doing this!

I hope he enjoyed it and continues!

 

[Oyeboten]

Might also try say, an empty Soda Pop Can pinned to the Target Back, and, figure out a way to have it make a small noise, maybe few bits of gravel in it, and a string you could tugg on to make the Can make a sound...


If his hearing is good, he might be able to learn to hit that pretty well.

 

[LawofThirds]

He's not just extremely nearsighted, he's also got other vision issues which a corrective lens will not fix (and possibly accelerate the degeneration).

I thought about possibly mounting a scope on my Ruger 22/45 but then I realized that for him to be able to see through the scope he would need to hold it at an unsafe distance from his face.

 

[gun guy]

perhaps a custom scope with a prescription ground lens is possible. I am amazed at the pro gun attitude among the deaf community. Many deaf people are very interested in shooting sports and concealed carry. Reaching out to the disabled community with friendship and education is a real plus for the shooting community. It's odd i was just thinking about the blind, shooting just the other day. They play baseball afterall. I'm not sure how they could detect sonic targets with hearing protectors on. Perhaps something like Wolf ears or other audio enhanced hearing protectors might work. I have known blind scuba, and sky divers before.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Could some sort of holographic or "red dot" sight help? These are small enough these days that they can be practical on a carryable handgun.

 

[Radium]

well i guess he can see colors?


not sure how to put it. but like a 2 point irons that are in warning colors example orange. usually pistols got 3 points but just 1 point int he rear and one in the front might help sumwhat in aiming if he can aline the colors?

 

[mustang_steve]

lawofthirds, perhaps a modified scout style scope would be more up his alley.

The modification would be additional optics to work around his focus related visual problems...the advantage to a scout style scope would be being able to see without it being inches from the face.

Another thing to consider is high visibility targets. blaze orange on medium grey, etc...that will make things easier to see. Illuminated front sight may help as well (LED pumped fiber optic sight, you can cheaply and easily convert a rifle fiber optic sight like this using an SMD mount LED, a very simple circuit board, a rat shack prject box fitted with a rail mount and some ingenuity).

 

[LawofThirds]

I think the firearm that would be best suited to him shooting accurately would be a .22 rifle with a scope set up for his specific eye conditions. I brought one yesterday but we were unable to adjust the eye relief to where he could see the target because he needs the scope to be 1-2" from his eye and the cheap scope that I had on the gun was unable to meet those needs.

A fiber optic or other bright front sight might be a help, the best I had was traditional white dots (and the worst were a colt 1903's protosights).

 

[gym]

Try throwing a shooting light on a rail for him

 

[The Bushmaster]

Do you have a "natural pointer"? A gun that follows your pointin' finger? If he gets use to pointing his finger at what he can see the gun will do the rest. I have never missed the bullseye when pointing my finger at it.

 

[FLAvalanche]

I have a buddy who has macular degeneration. The one that can't be cured. He's been legally blind for years. He was also an up and coming competition shooter. I've been trying everything to get him on target but considering his competition shooting experience I'm battling his frustration more than his ability.

It's not easy.

 

[killchain]

That is unfortunate about his eyes, but cool that you're helping him out with shooting.

Maybe you could try getting a couple of steel targets? Nothing like hearing that "PING" when you hit.

Also, a good pistol light might help too. Maybe a laser, if he can see it?

 

[mustang_steve]

Just to clarify my led pumped fiber optic...what I meant was to supply a internal light source to it....here's the list of perts needed:

surface mount LED: http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/88
circuit (board not needed): this guide will help explain how to select the right resistor to avoid burning out that LED...the overall task is pretty easy, just requires some math (sliderule or calulator it out if you must): http://www.dansdata.com/caselight.htm

The rest of the parts would vary greatly depending what firearm it's used with as well as how pretty you'd like it to look. You'd need a battery holder, enclosure for the batteries and resistor, and some kind of mounting system.

 

[FLAvalanche]

If it's macular degeneration some sights just aren't going to work. With macular degeneration he gets cloudy spots in his vision kinda like cataracts. Now you have him trying to look around the spots and focus on sights at three different distances. It just doesn't work.

Then you try red dots, reflex and holographic sights and find out the dot is a blur.

It's tough...

Just keep working with him AT HIS PACE. If you push it with him it's just going to magnify his frustration.

 

[Sport45]

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