Contemplating a Switch

[Joespapa]

Just got done shooting a match yesterday and am thinking my Blackhawk's sure are getting heavy( I just started getting my social security lol ) but I can't see the sights on anything else. Any knowledge on light .38 caliber pistols appropriate for main match guns (I shoot Duelist btw). Guess I'm just getting puny in my senior years . Would need BIG rear sights.

[rdstrain49]

I suffer from the same condition.  Can't help with heavy gun issue, but regarding the sights, have you thought of having shooting glasses made with your normal distance Rx in the non shooting lens and depending on your build, about a 39" focal point in the shooting lens.  I know it sounds a bit weird, but it sure works for me.  I can see the sights like I was 20 yrs old again.  Might be worth checking out.

[Mean Bob Mean]

Just got done shooting a match yesterday and am thinking my Blackhawk's sure are getting heavy( I just started getting my social security lol ) but I can't see the sights on anything else. Any knowledge on light .38 caliber pistols appropriate for main match guns (I shoot Duelist btw). Guess I'm just getting puny in my senior years . Would need BIG rear sights.

Can't a smith widen the rear sights on any pistol?  

Hard to beat 1851 conversions for ease of pointing and handling.  The only time I miss a target with a conversion revolver is if I aim too much.  If you point them like a forefinger, you never miss.  

Try a friend's pistols out, someone has to have something that would suit you.  Best of luck mate,

Mean Bob

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[1961MJS]

I suffer from the same condition.  Can't help with heavy gun issue, but regarding the sights, have you thought of having shooting glasses made with your normal distance Rx in the non shooting lens and depending on your build, about a 39" focal point in the shooting lens.  I know it sounds a bit weird, but it sure works for me.  I can see the sights like I was 20 yrs old again.  Might be worth checking out.

Hi

This is a really good idea.  I screwed it up the FIRST time I tried it by focusing on the back sight.  The 39 inch focal point sounds about right.  I had my son measure from eyeball to front sight on my 24 inch Rossi, and on my 1911 at 34 inches.  Two inches for the seven inch barrel, and another 2 inches for the cylinder.

I haven't looked, but I'd bet that 38 special chambered 4-5 inch open tops would be a nice light setup.

Later

[rdstrain49]

Getting your brain to adjust to two very different lens Rx can be a bit of a problem for some.  But if it works for you it is really neat.  If you can find an Eye Doc who shoots you are half way there.  Good luck.

[Bugscuffle]

Getting your brain to adjust to two very different lens Rx can be a bit of a problem for some.  But if it works for you it is really neat.  If you can find an Eye Doc who shoots you are half way there.  Good luck.

What do you mean. I and many more like me do it every day through bifocals.

[rdstrain49]

I'm not good at explanations but let me try.  Imagine having bifocals and looking through the top of the left side and the bottom of the right side at the same time.  It looks weird at first but your brain quickly adapts and pretty soon it looks normal.  The bigger the difference between right and left, the longer it takes to adjust.  BTW as far as I know this works for near sighted, don't know about far sighted folks.  From what I understand this somewhat odd set up is a common practice for folks that use contact lens, at least that's what my eye Doc says.

[Octagonal Barrel]

I suffer from the same condition.  Can't help with heavy gun issue, but regarding the sights, have you thought of having shooting glasses made with your normal distance Rx in the non shooting lens and depending on your build, about a 39" focal point in the shooting lens.  I know it sounds a bit weird, but it sure works for me.  I can see the sights like I was 20 yrs old again.  Might be worth checking out.

I take it you mean the right and left lenses are made to focus at different distances?  I personally know when my eyes change so that right/left lenses don't focus equally at the same distance, I experience significant eye strain.  I suspect this may be a personal matter.  I do have an eye disability, so who knows, maybe that makes the eye strain issue different for me.  But I personally couldn't make that set up work.

I've also tried bifocals with the tops focusing at distance, and the lowers focusing around 3ft or so.  That works fine for the revolvers, but I'm finding it doesn't work for the rifle.  I seem to hold my head too low, and see the rifle sights through the tops.

I've heard of some people having the bifocals reversed for shooting - lower section focusing at distance, and uppers focusing to see the sights.  I'm intrigued.  Seems like I could learn to hold my head lower and look through the tops for revolver shooting, and the rifle sights would be easy to see when I drop my head to nestle against the stock.  Anyone actually use this set-up?  Do you like it?

Also, I've seen what looks like a stick-on diopter that goes on the dominant eye lens for shooting.  Almost looks like a rear peep sight stuck to the glasses with a suction cup.  Anyone use that?

But I guess I'm straying from the original topic, which was guns for bad eyesight, not glasses for shooting.  I love Mean Bob Mean's suggestion about open top conversions and pointability, since I've been looking for excuses to get a pair of them.

[rdstrain49]

While I've not shot the open top conversion, I can attest to the unrivaled point-ability of the '51 Navy.

[1961MJS]

Getting your brain to adjust to two very different lens Rx can be a bit of a problem for some.  But if it works for you it is really neat.  If you can find an Eye Doc who shoots you are half way there.  Good luck.

Hi

I coached my eye doctor's kid in Pistol.  That's also how I met my mechanic.

Later

[Red Cent]

First buy you a pair of Ruger 3 screws. They have an aluminum grip frame and an aluminum ejector body. Second, assuming both eyes are about even in sight, go to the Dollar Store and buy a pair of glasses that you can see the hairs on your knuckles, arm extended, and objects about 21 yards away are just a tad fuzzy. Probably no more than 1X over your regular glasses at the top of the lens. This will make you pick up the sites and simply place them on the fuzzy target.
Has worked for me a number of years. And, yes, when I get back to the cart, I change into another pair of glasses.

[1961MJS]

First buy you a pair of Ruger 3 screws. They have an aluminum grip frame and an aluminum ejector body. Second, assuming both eyes are about even in sight, go to the Dollar Store and buy a pair of glasses that you can see the hairs on your knuckles, arm extended, and objects about 21 yards away are just a tad fuzzy. Probably no more than 1X over your regular glasses at the top of the lens. This will make you pick up the sites and simply place them on the fuzzy target.
Has worked for me a number of years. And, yes, when I get back to the cart, I change into another pair of glasses.

Just wait until you get OLD Red!   

A retired FBI agent I shoot with has a pair of glasses to see the target with, a pair to see the sights with, and a third pair to see the gun up close to adjust the wights.  Three sets of glasses around his neck at the range.  I wonder which pair he drive home wearing?

Still shoots as well or better than me at 80 too.

Later

[Red Cent]

He has me by almost 8 years.

[Johnny McCrae]

First buy you a pair of Ruger 3 screws. They have an aluminum grip frame and an aluminum ejector body. Second, assuming both eyes are about even in sight, go to the Dollar Store and buy a pair of glasses that you can see the hairs on your knuckles, arm extended, and objects about 21 yards away are just a tad fuzzy. Probably no more than 1X over your regular glasses at the top of the lens. This will make you pick up the sites and simply place them on the fuzzy target.
Has worked for me a number of years. And, yes, when I get back to the cart, I change into another pair of glasses.

What Red describes sounds like what my Eye doctor did for me several years ago. I shoot with my left eye closed. He made me a set of glasses where the right eye distance prescription was 1/2 my bi-focal prescription. The left eye distance was my normal distance prescription and these glasses had a low profile bi-focal prescription so I could read etc. This worked pretty good for several years. Towards the end of last season I started to have real problems seeing my sights. I had Cataract surgery last month on both eyes and now drive, watch TV, shoot and almost read without prescription glasses. The improvement in my vision is almost unbelievable. I just received my new prescription and it will interesting to see what happens when I shoot at steel again. I will turn 74 in June.

By the way, I usually shoot a pair of Taylor's Smoke Wagons in .45 S&W Schofield or .38 Special. The rear sights are opened up to .140" and I've painted the front sights gold. I'm not a good Pistol shot and this seemed to help a bit until my eyes got really bad.

Sorry if I got off topic on this.

[Mean Bob Mean]

What Red describes sounds like what my Eye doctor did for me several years ago. I shoot with my left eye closed. Sorry if I got off topic on this.

Sounds like you are left eye dominant.  If you grew up shooting with one eye it is hard to change, I did it by bringing my pistols over more under the left eye but for rifles?  That left eye closes down often.  The answer for me is having a dot placed in the glasses that distracts the left eye so the right takes over.  Then you can keep both eyes open when shooting.