While I can still see...

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Danny Creasy

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open sights, I shoot several open and aperture sight local rimfire matches on a monthly basis.

I made this YouTube video a while back showing my CZ rimfire open sight benchrest technique:



Here is the USBR target we were using at that time, I shot this one in 2017:

KbmxBX8.jpg

Later that year, I could tell by the feedback from RFC that several shooters were struggling with simply seeing the tiny USBR bulls, even at 50 feet, and others had ranges that prohibited shooting at less than 25 yards. In 2018, I changed the target to this one and increased the firing distance to 25 yards. It is easier to shoot all tens, but no one has shot all Xs yet:

hrkavIZ.jpg

As of late, I have noticed increased difficulty with certain sights especially at the darker indoor range at which I work. Some older friends have come up with some eye glasses tips and tricks that sound useful. I may have to take the next step as I plod deeper into my 60s.
 
Try using a double globle apperture sight set instead of front posts. Your eye wants to naturally center circles and having a round target centered in the front peep while looking through the rear peep will give better and more consistent results than attempting to center a front post on the exact dot on the paper. The center bullseye could be as small as a pinhead and would not matter so long as you can see the bold outer rings. If you need help focusing, there are optical inserts available for the rear peep as well.
 
I feel your pain brother!

When I purchased a converted M98 Wehrmannsgewehr early in 2018, I was briefly tempted to install an aperture sight because of the difficulty I had seeing either the old Lange Visier notch and barleycorn front sight. I decided the gun was too historic to alter, even with the repaired duffle-cut on the forend. I soon found that the old match rules for Wehrsport shooting prohibited anything but issue sights, but even at the beginning of the 20th century they permitted the use of 'schießbrille' -- the kind of shooting glasses I'm shown wearing in my avatar.

It took awhile (and considerable $, despite the favorable exchange rate) to order a set from Germany, get a lens made to my Rx and mounted in the holder. There are sources for these glasses in the USA and Canada as well. I added an adjustable iris behind the lens. When I finally had this set up and properly adjusted, I found that with the iris stopped down I could just focus on both sights and still make out the target in indoor range lighting conditions. Outdoors, this is a snap now.

I'm clearly not as good behind the trigger as you are, but the fact that I can still shoot a rifle with these sights is a testament to my newly-adopted optical crutch.

5Shot22YardWehrmann.jpg WehrmannsGewehr02.jpg
 
try using a blinder over your no shooting eye, this lets you shoot more comfortably with both eyes open.

Note: this is something I am given to understand, which is not the same as knowing for sure. Part is basic optics, but since I haven't actually tested the physiology part, the following is strictly FWIW from me. Perhaps someone else can provide definitive confirmation.

The physiology part: when you close one eye, the iris of the remaining eye can open slightly in response to gather more light.

The optics part: the smaller your eye's iris, the deeper your range or depth of focus is.

Especially in lower lighting environments, the use of a blinder rather than closing the non-aiming eye may enhance your ability to resolve both sights.

After decades of reflexively closing one eye (I'm right handed but left-eye dominant) I'm still getting used to doing this.
 
Note: this is something I am given to understand, which is not the same as knowing for sure. Part is basic optics, but since I haven't actually tested the physiology part, the following is strictly FWIW from me. Perhaps someone else can provide definitive confirmation:

When you close one eye, the iris of the remaining eye can open slightly in response to gather more light. The smaller your eye's iris, the deeper your range or depth of focus is.

Especially in lower lighting environments, the use of a blinder rather than closing the non-aiming eye may enhance your ability to resolve both sights.

After decades of reflexively closing one eye (I'm right handed but left-eye dominant) I'm still getting used to doing this.
ya i cant explain it, do believe you're right tho. i used a blinder when i as young to help me learn to close my left eye. after a few months i could do it with out the blinder, but found that i was more relaxed with both eyes open. i even used it when i as in jrotc rifle team and did very well.

i am right handed and right eye dom, but have shot about half my life left handed, this is because my dad. most times we were shooting it was just easier to shoot lefty. my air rifle coach said i had no dominant eye.
 
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My Rimfire Benchrest rifle: Rem 40X with Hart barrel, 2 ounce trigger, 42x (boosted) Weaver scope.

The photo is me, after shooting two consecutive, perfect 250s and a 249...my best-ever day at IR 50-50 Unlimited!!! It was a Maine record for a while.

A few of us started the program at Augusta, Maine's, Capitol City R&P and after running it for about 10 years, I decided it was time to step down and step out of the program at the end of the season. It's a tough game and I'd done everything I wanted to do with it. It's the most demanding game I've tried and finding/buying the "right" ammo make and batch is about the most difficult/expensive part of the game. After feuding with Eley dealers over LOT availability, I went to RWS R-50 and it shot well in my rifle.

Shot at 50 yards, the 10 ring is 1/4" and the "X" is a DOT. (I don't have the X-count right here, but it was around 14-17 for the three targets.) The top three targets were Sighters, but we could also shoot outside the target boxes and I did so outside the right margins on these targets.
 
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Continuation: Rimfire benchrest is a game that is highly dependent on having great ammo for each particular rifle, doping wind and mirage on each shot, and getting the draw on a good bench location for a consistent wind/mirage condition. Testing ammo lots is almost a full-time job, unless you find a great lot for your rifles and can afford to buy a case or more of it. Yes, the rifle is important, but once the rifle is "tuned" with the barrel tuner for a particular ammo lot, that's a constant.

I was a used-rifle competitor, using home-made wind flags, yet was somewhat competitive, but never got into the multi-gun competitions, which get's scary expensive, with each rifle costing thousands.
 
try using a blinder over your no shooting eye, this lets you shoot more comfortably with both eyes open.
I've used an aperture clip-on when shooting handgun bullseye matches and it worked well. It really sharpens the sights. However, at a multi-event shooting match between two clubs that I was asked to shoot in, they needed someone to shoot iron sights miltary-style with open rear sight. The only thing that could be done to the rifle is to add a higher front sight, so the battle sights could be zeroed at 100 yards.

I didn't have my blinder, so I made one out of a black target poster by punching a small hole in one, then attaching it to my eyeglasses. It made a big difference, allowing me to win the match! We shot for score, but I grouped about 1 1/4" at 100 yards with a Swede, using the guy's paper-patched lead-bullet loads!!! You might try that and see how much better you can shoot. (The size of the hole may have been about 1/16 inch.)
 
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