I wear bifocal glasses and have a lot of difficulty seeing my front sight let alone getting a clear sight picture. Actually shooting with any form of accuracy is nearly impossible while wearing them. Has anyone switched to an RDS optical sight? Thinking there may be less optical noise for my eyes?

Just how bad is your near/far vision? Mine are bad enough to need glasses, but not so bad I NEED glasses. That is to say: Without my glasses I can see up close well enough for anything other than reading small print, the sights don't fuzz-out on me too badly most days, and I can see well enough at distance to make out the details of a target at 7 yards to 25 feet. So I switch to regular shooting glasses.

I have a hard time with mine, pistol or rifle.
Doable but it's a PITA bobbing all the place trying to get a good sight picture.

I have a single vision set for shooting.
They don't work for reading but I can see at arms length and beyond well enough.

Talk to the eye Doc and explain what you need, they should be able to hook you up.

Like powermad, I had a dedicated set of shooting glasses made up. I took a mock handgun to the eye docter so we got the prescription right.

I've thought about having a pair of glasses made that basically reverse the way my progressives work. currently, if i look through the top of the lense I am using the distance part of the lens which doesn't give a very clear picture of the sights. I can straighten my head a little to view through the lower part of the lense which gives me a clearer view but not the stance I prefer. One of these days I may work on a new set of shooting glasses but right now it's not a real priority.

My eyes are like ensigmatics but I went all in on the RDS & haven't looked back. I thought about dedicated glasses just for shooting, which will work fine on the range but I wouldn't be wearing them around town when I might need to use my ccw. The RDS will work if you are wearing glasses or not. There is no blur either way. Even with an astigmatism, the dot may be slightly distorted but easily usable.

I wear bi-focals. We have semi-annual qualifications with our duty firearms. I like to train like I shoot. So, in my case, I'll focus on the target first, then align my sights, look at target, focus on front sight, and squeeze away. It only takes a split-second to do all of this with training.
My scores usually range between 245-250 out of 250. I'd considered getting Rx shooting glasses, but that's not realistic.
Train with your normal glasses and train some more! Eventually, you'll be able to adjust!!

I have tri focals. Middle section used for computer screen and pistol sights.

About the best compromise for me. The pistol sight is a little further away than the screen when my arms are extended but it’s on the “edge” of the focal range and sharp enough to work. Target is real fuzzy but at upto 30 yds works fine.

quote:

Originally posted by Delta-3:
My eyes are like ensigmatics but I went all in on the RDS & haven't looked back. I thought about dedicated glasses just for shooting, which will work fine on the range but I wouldn't be wearing them around town when I might need to use my ccw. The RDS will work if you are wearing glasses or not. There is no blur either way. Even with an astigmatism, the dot may be slightly distorted but easily usable.

Delta 3 has the same situation that I have.
I switched to a rds and my group size at speed was cut in half. I no longer have a problem seeing the front sight and the targets at the same time.

I wear progressives that seem to work reasonably well for shooting. Certainly better than my old fashioned lined bifocals did.

Maybe Para can offer some good advice for us myopes.

These solved my bifocal-shooting-iron-sights problems:
Elvex RX 500 safety glasses. https://www.safetyglassesusa.c...full-lens-magnifier/
Unlike regular bifocals...the magnified portion on these is in the middle of the lens. No more raising your chin to see your sights.
Great value for $10.
Hope this helps.

I wear bifocals and also have a pair of single vision glasses. I use the single vision at the computer and shooting which are made for arms length use. Can see the sights ok but target is fuzzy. Four of my hand guns are fitted with red dots which work great with my bifocals.

I wear trifocals but when I shoot I put on a pair of OTC readers which are the same ones I use for PC work. This arrangement words well for me.

Using one of your old frames, have your eye doc figure out an Rx that allows your dominant eye to focus on your front sight. This will require you to take your unloaded gun to your next eye exam.

I wear progressives and have a rather bad astigmatism. I had been using shooting glasses with a Rx insert - right eye focal length at the front sight and left eye at infinity (right eye dominant).

I just got a pair of shooting glasses, ground with a progressive Rx from here...

https://huntershdgold.com/

Not only are they my regular prescription - no having to acclimate to them when switching from my everyday glasses to my shooting glasses - but they also use a type of transitioning lens which goes from light amber to dark brown, dependent on ambient light. Good indoors and out.

Used them for the first time yesterday at an indoor IDPA match and they are fantastic! The clarity and definition are wonderful. Plus this was a great company to deal with.

Usual disclaimers about no connection to this company other than being a more than satisfied customer.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

I also wear progressive glasses

I had two single of vision glasses made with the point of sharp focus 3 inches in front of my finger tip. The second set is tinted for outdoor ranges

This has worked well for the past few years

I wear progressives and look at the top of my lens. Works fine for me fortunately.

I normally don't post on threads regarding eyesight issues. Too complicated and too individualized.

Just a few of general comments. My frame of reference is strictly defensive shooting, not competition:

1) Solutions depend on whether the gun is used for normal closer range defensive distances (3-10 yards) OR longer distance precision shooting.

2) The two front sight issues are usually sharpness/focus and amount of light on sides of post.

3) Sharpness is not that important. For SD, a fuzzy sight picture is still adequate. I'm not talking about front/rear sights merging into one blob with no differentiation.

4) Light on both sides of the front sight is important. You can't really align the front/rear sights unless there is some light to center the front blade.

Personally, at age 77 with crappy eyes, I like black/black sights with a lot of light on the side. I'm nearsighted, bi-focals, have a heavy prescription, glaucoma and have had cataract surgery in the right eye. Still able to shoot very well at defensive distances.

About 35 years ago when I had eyes and a full head of hair, I hunted woodchucks with revolvers (.357 Mag and .41 Mag). Routinely made 50 yard hits. Them days are gone forever though.

Had two Offices in the past with this problem.

They purchased laser sights. Using the top of there eye glass lens they would look trough the fixed sights and then see the red laser dot just above the front sight looking at the Target.

This helped them a lot .
One had a Laser max sight and the other had a
.crimsontrace laser sights.

They both complained that the upper lens they could see the target but not the sights.
When they used the bifocal lens they could see the sights and not the target.

With the laser dot on the target itself you only need the upper lens to see the sights red dot and the target.

quote:

They both complained that the upper lens they could see the target but not the sights.
When they used the bifocal lens they could see the sights and not the target.

With the laser dot on the target itself you only need the upper lens to see the sights red dot and the target.

This would work great if my employer would allow red dot sights. When using an optical sight on my own guns, it's almost like cheating!