Shooting With Bad Eyesight

Robin Taylor from Front sight magazine forwarded this email from "Bill" to me and asked me to answer regarding shooting and poor eyesight since my eyesight isn't t o good but I still manage to stay competitive:

"I am getting up in years (64) and a type 2 diabetic. I do not shoot pistols competitively but hunting and recreation. I have a nearsightedness problem which is corrected with 1.50 diopter lenses. I can see the sights very well with this lens but now the target is blurry."


Bill,

Being the same age as you, I know what you are dealing with when trying to shoot with aged eyes! My eyesight is significantly worse than yours, but I still manage to compete in pistol competition and be competitive.

There are several things to consider in seeking the best solution for your situation. If you are shooting with conventional sights, not having a really sharp view of the target is not too important. Hitting the center of a fuzzy target works just as well as if it wasn't fuzzy! The hard part is training yourself to ignore the fuzziness and pay attention only to the front sight, even if the rear sight is a bit fuzzy too. It can be tough since after taking a shot or two you naturally want to focus on the target to see how you are doing. Using reading glasses, if needed, to see the sights, can be a good solution.

Some shooters have had some success with having a special pair of glasses made where one eye can see the sights and one can see the target. Your brain manages to combine the input from both eyes and make it work. I've experimented with that, but it wasn't too successful. If my vision wasn't so bad perhaps that would have worked for me.

Another solution is to change to a different type of sight, such as the red dot sight. With red dot sights you keep both eyes open and your eyes focused on the target. The red dot that appears in the sight may be a bit fuzzy, but if you put the fuzzy red dot on the target you'll do just fine. This restricts your ability to carry a pistol concealed because of the additional size of the sight, but for recreational shooting this may be the solution for you. For longer range shooting the use of a scope combined with intermediate reading glasses works well for me.

Hopefully one of these suggestions will help you keep them all in the ten ring, or into the beer can, whatever the target may be!

...... Mr. C.