Perscription Glasses

[Two Bit Charlie]

Hello everyone.  I'm new to the sport of Buffalo Rifles.  I wear prescription glasses with no line bifocals.  I have a hard time with seeing the front sight inserts most of the time.  I've heard that the no line bifocals are bad for this.  And I've heard that you should get ones glasses set up to focus on the front sight.  I've also heard to get a spot low on your glasses to focus up close so you can see your sight adjustments.  I'm asking the board what I should do?

Two-Bit Charlie

[Stu Kettle]

I were a pair for all of my shooting that focuses at arms length & farther.  When I'm wearin those, I also wear a small magnifying glass on a chain around my neck for close up work.

[pony express]

I have a pair of glasses like what Stu has, focus at about arm's length. If I need to see close up, I can just take them off, and  get within about 6 inches of what I'm looking at. Works fine for target shooting, when the target contrasts the background. Unfortunately, I can't very well use them for hunting, I had a deer walk up and lay down in the dry leaves about 30 yards from me and I COUDN'T SEE IT! Changed to my regular glasses, could see it fine, but couldn't see the sights!

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[St. George]

Have a talk with your Optometrist - he'll prescribe what you need.

Scouts Out!

[Leverluver]

Had a similar problem but I'm already at trifocals.  My optomitrist was no help in saying "put a scope on it".  Obviously he had no experience with iron sights.  Against his recommendation (and no warranty), I had them make the right eye the trifocal (the mid range or arms length lense) and the left eye the normal long distance lense with both having the bifocal (close) at the bottom.  They do feel wierd when you first put them on but all the planets align when you throw up the rifle and everything can be seen from sights to target.  Not for everyone but worked for me.  Definitely not driving glasses but would work fine for hunting if you do all your spotting with your left eye.  Obviously, you have to be comfortable with shooting with both eyes open but I've always done that anyway, but some folks can't.  Again, not for everyone but worked for me.

[pony express]

Sounds like a solution, Leverluver, I thought about doing something like that, but thought it might cause headaches. But I have also heard, that's basically how they make "bifocal" contact lenses, one eye is for distance, the other a different prescription for reading.

[Two Bit Charlie]

Question about aperture sights.  Doesn't looking thru an aperture suppose to make everything clear?  I use an aperture on my glasses for bullseye pistol shooting.  It makes both the sights and the bull clear.  Now I know, that target is a lot closer than the ones we use in long distance shooting, but doesn't it work the same?

Two-Bit Charlie

[St. George]

An aperture sight will clarify your sight picture.

If you're a Bullseye shooter - then you should already know some older M1 and M14 shooters who use glasses.

Their glasses are specifically ground 'for' that shooting - they don't use them for anything else.

Talk to them.

Scouts Out!

[Seth Hawkins]

Have you looked here? Decot Sport Glasses

These people make the lenses, and from what I've seen they can make just about anything you need/want.  You can even get the bifocal at the top of the lens.  In this way the small bifocal will let you see the front sight clearly, and a small movement of the head will take the bifocal out of view and bring the normal Rx into view so that you can see the target.  The frame with the adjustable bridge will be perfect for rifle shooting as you can move the lens higher, put it in the middle for normal wear, and set it low for fishing.  Or whatever.  And you can get various shades of lenses.

They are a little pricey.  But they are safety lenses, too.  And if you do a lot of shooting they'll pay for themselves in no time.

[Pitspitr]

Against his recommendation (and no warranty), I had them make the right eye the trifocal (the mid range or arms length lense) and the left eye the normal long distance lense with both having the bifocal (close) at the bottom. 

I'm having a pair like this made. Fortunately for me my optometrist is ex-military (Colonel) and is also a shooter. When I started trying to describe what I wanted and why he said, "Oh, yeah! That's called mono-vision (I think that's what he called it) We'll fix you up!" When they get here I'll let you know what I think of them.

[Two Bit Charlie]

Well guys, I got a new pair of glasses, sort of!  I went to my glasses guy, I gave him an old pair of safety glasses I had laying around.  He made a new lens for my right eye.  He put the correction in the top left corner, from my view, of the right lens.  That is the area I look out when my head is down and looking down the barrel.  What a difference that makes!  I can see both the target and front sight insert clearly at the same time, and haven no problem seeing the sight adjustments. But with the old perscription in the left lens I have to keep my left eye shut to do things like run a patch down the barrel. Oh well I may get that changed at a latter time!

Two-Bit Charlie

[bear tooth billy]

Well Charlie, if you can see that good now I might have to hide a couple of them buffalos in the trees so you won't
exterminate the whole herd. Look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks and knocking down some buffs


                                                                  BTB

[Two Bit Charlie]

I said I can now see.  I didn't say I can hit anything!

Two-Bit

[Litl Red]

I know this is an old thread, but it looks like two points raised didn't get answered.

First off, the idea of having glasses that correct your dominant eye to the distance of your front sight and the other eye "normally" works great.   I've used glasses like that since the 80s.   There have been a fair number of shooting glasses made in that time that worked great.   But some had to be made more than once because not every eyeglasses maker understands what is going on.

Someone above mentioned "no line bifocal glass".   They heard it didn't work.  It isn't really a good idea.  Most has your prescription working 100% only down the middle of each lens.  The field of view from left to right really isn't going to focus sharply except down the center.  You'll be told when they're fitting your "finished" glasses the if you want to see something "good" to point your nose at it.   That's a tip off about what you're getting.   Screwed is what you're getting.  There are a couple of things those lenses are doing to you.  Avoid them.  Even if the lenses are centered to suit how you hold your head when shooting relative to your sights and the target there can be a parallax problem that is worse depending on how strong your prescription is.   It has always helped me to ask for "the kind of lenses I don't have to point my nose to see through".    Their answer gives you a clue how much they understand what you need.

The second detail was "aperature sights sharpen what you see through them".   Unfortunately, for lots of shooters their eyes don't see "far enough" that a receiver sight with an aperature helps them at all.   Heck, even tang sights aren't close enough for some.   Some of us see an aperature that is blurry around the OUTSIDE of the peep and down the staff.  Aperatures don't work unless you can see THEM.   Getting glasses that let you see a sharp front sight with your dominant eye with or without an aperature in between is what it's going to take.