BilliamB.
Member
I'm 71. My shooting glasses these days were my reading glasses 25 years ago. I knew time was not being good to me when,years ago, I bought a Steyr rapid-fire Olympic PCP pistol and needed to have it milled for a red dot.
Eventually realized I'm dealing with floaters,
Unfortunately, there's no fix for floaters that I'm aware of-and I ask my optometrist each time I visit. My eyes are flooded with floaters and I've just learned to grin and bear and ignore-same as I do with my acute tinnitus.
I have thought about an offset scope mount for rifle as I have MD (slowly developing, thank God) and a cataract on my dominant eye. Handgun should be pretty easy but offset mount is all I can think of short of learning to shoot left handed. Cataract can be removed when ready, but not MD. @ 82 YOA hoping eyesight will last long enough to avoid crossing that bridge.
Regards,
hps
5. Try developing the skill of using only your front sight. Even at 25 yards, handguns can be operated very effectively by using just the front sight. Even snub nose, j-frame revolvers can be operated very effectively at distance with only the front sight !
I've had cataracts in both eyes replaced and this year, had laser treatment to clear the film behind the lens in my left eye. I see better than ever, though use trifocals for reading and computer use. Night vision is really good since the laser treatment and new prescription lenses.Im the same age as you, and Ive been noticing things are degrading at a rate quicker than I like. Ive worked and played outside my whole life, and from what the eye doc said, that can cause problems, especially as you get older. Just in the past couple of years, I seem to be getting a lot more, and larger floaters than I used to have, which are getting annoying, as at times they randomly and completely fuzz out any sight picture I might have with no notice. Its almost like recoil drives it while shooting too.
My last eye exam also indicated cataracts coming on. Not sure how thats going to go, or how fast.
I notice with my handguns, that getting a clear, sharp, traditional sight picture is becoming more and more difficult, especially with sights with a fatter front sight, like the Glock night sights, that have smaller gaps in the rear notch. I tried a set of Warren sights, that had a thinner front sight, and that was better, but they were all black, and only really worked well, in bright light, and for slow, more deliberate, bullseye type "lolly pop" sight picture, Anything with a dark background, and I lose the sight picture altogether.
Rifles, peeps are still the best bet, and more so now, the smaller apertures. Im OK with my AR's and the large ring at closer distances, but at mid to longer distances, I need that smaller ring to get a clear front sight. Its fuzzy with the large ring. It really is amazing how it sharpens up with the smaller ring too.
Awhile back, I discovered red dots are your friend. I much prefer them on most of my rifles.
Just wait another 19 years; it gets better!
Went through that as competitive rifle shooter. Switched to aperture front and rear sights and a +.1 or .15 lens in rear sight to focus on front sight. Had to give up a tad on front sight and targets (100-600 yds) were pretty fuzzy but kept 'em in the black with that combo. Front sight is more important than target clarity. Pistol more of a problem but as has been stated, you can choose drugstore readers to focus at front sight distance and look across the store to reach a compromise on target/front sight clarity, remembering mis-alignment of sights causes more poi error than does sight picture.
Someone mentioned progressive glasses and they do help with pistol as you can choose the correct power compromise at any given range with a tilt of the chin. Downside is that long shooting strings will give you a crick in your neck, but we gotta work with what we got.
Here is the extreme I went to to shoot the old Garand. Where there's a will, there's a way.
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Regards,
hps