My young eyes aren't what they used to be?

[NYRebel13]

Here's the deal.  I am 30 yrs old, I've had glasses since I was in second grade, I wear contacts most of the time, but my open sights on my 30/30 is giving me fits.  I had a williams peep sight on it last year and was hitting 3 shots within a 4 inch circle at 50 yds.  I took the peep off (first mistake) because I was thinking of selling the barrel to fund another project.  Now that I put it back in I can't hit wear I want at all.  I tried the stock sight, I tried the peep top piece on the stock ramp (without the insert like a ghost ring site), still no good grouping.  I think it is the wide front sight that is throwing me off.  I am dead on with my sidekick open firesights at 50 yds.


I used to love the open sights on my old 22's, they had the gold bead style.  Anyone change the sights on theirs and what did you put on.  Keep in mind I am on a budget.  For now I have put on an extra 4x scope I had laying around.  I will try and sight that in next week.  My 30/30 was my shorter range woods gun.  If I am hunting more open areas I bring my .308 with a 3-9x40 scope.

[srussell]

i had that problem. i put peep sights on my rifles with a German silver blade on the front. works like a charm

[Rustyinfla]

    My eyes aren't what they used to be either. I just kind of gave in and put glass on everything. Another advantage and possibly the biggest advantage is the light gathering ability they have for low light conditions. That means you can see your target better about 15-20 minutes sooner and 15-20 minutes later in the day. The important thing to do there is to actually shop for the scope you are looking at and compare it to other scopes at the same time.

[gcrank1]

I wear glasses, and as I approach 60 my sight is fading noticeably lately, even with a new Rx.
For best accuracy it has been known and accepted for some time that you have to have focus at the the front sight and let the rear and the target fuzz some If your 'correction' isnt letting you do that its wrong for shooting iron sights. Not that a wide, black front blade isnt part of the problem for you on a field gun, but a lot of target shooters get small groups even with one. They are hard to properly define in a lot of field condition lighting. You might try a bit of bright nail polish on the tip of the blade to see if it helps tighten you up.
I like the old gold bead on a sporter but it has never been used by anyone I remember in any competitions other than 'hunter class'.. They are a pretty big blob and the 'glow' can throw you off a bit. The light will glow on the side of the bead it hits and make it appear larger there, so your POI 'moves' as the light moves. Sight in with an E sun and youre off for the W.
I tried the new glow-worm type last year on a test gun and was surprised that I shot a decent small group with it offhand at 50yd. I think that the color may actually make me focus to that front sight as I should be doing anyway. As a staunch traditionalist I just cant bring myself to put it on mine yet, but it did show me something.

[cwlongshot]

Have you talked to your eye doctor?

Many guys I shoot bullseye with have used a old set of frames and had the doctor make up a set of lenses that allow for a sharp focus on the front site of the firearm. You only pay for the lenses keep them in your gun box/bag.

Good luck,
CW

[OSOK]

I recently put a 1/16" ivory bead Marbles front sight on my BC because I couldn't see the globe front sight hunting during low light. It's a bunch easier to see. Of course, it's a dovetail, but you can find a workable sight for your rifle.

[rdlange]

I didn't discover Handis until after I was wearing glasses, so automatically went with scopes.  Now I'm trying to see what open sights might work for my older eyes.  Peeps always seem to help, and I used a glasses mounted adjustable aperture once that really helped, though difficult to wear while hunting.  We'll see... LOL

[bigvarmnt]

Part of aging   I can see almost perfectly anything past 3'-4'. I've bought two different pairs of glasses over $500.00 each in the last 2 years. This last pair of bifocals I can see the laptop and the tv 15' away but feel like I'm blind with doing any thing else. Next to impossible to work on anything mechanically anymore. I mostly use $6.00 readers and look over the top for anything over 3+ feet. Works the best. I have a pair on my loading bench that are one power higher but bother me for anything else. So GOOD LUCK, only solution I've come up with is stop getting older
As far as sights I think and may try a good peep sight, may work   All I have now are scoped. Last time I got glasses they told me about mechanics glasses I think they were called. More power bifocal on the top. I may try them next for working on stuff and they might work for shooting. I'd think they could put a small area in the top inside lens of your dominant eye and that would work for shooting. I'm gonna ask next time. Wanted to get prescription safety glasses sometime anyway.

[gcrank1]

The biggest problem Ive had is getting an optom. who understands sighting on a rifle; when we cheek one and look through the glasses the optical spot that needs correction is way on the inside toward the nose. Sight down one and use a grease pencil to mark the spot on your glasses when you are actually sighting. And not all cheek up the same, so that spot can 'move' around some. I had one that I was all the way over at the junction of lens and frame! If you get the correction is over that way I dont know if they can also have one for straight ahead looking, like when we shoot handgun, and the focal point needs to be out where the front sight is and onward to get that all important clear front sight. In spite of the TV ads, I dont seem to be getting glasses for anywhere close to the price they get me in the door with!
Its a snakepit gettin' old.........

[dwalk]

my preference lies with open/iron sights.


age has left me no choice but to go to optics when i feel i'm going to be shooting beyond 100 yards or so and the smaller the target/game the more i need the optics.


i truly like the sights (A2) on my M4 but like i said...target clarity and identification is more important when shooting longer ranges...for me anyway.

[demented]

 I put a red firesight on front, a Twilight aperature on back, this combination has given me a few more years shooting my old 94 with iron sights. 

[Slowhanddd]

When I started wearing bifocals about 20 years ago I had the same problems.Couldn't work on any thing at arms length.I had the eye doc put in my mid range vision in my bifocals.Problem went away and as a plus,I can see my front site just fine.Pistol or rifle.It works for me and I can see fine to read and focus up to about 12" from my face out to arms length.Might try it.It's been that way in every pair since.Dave

[NYRebel13]

It's not really that I can't see the sights, I guess I just don't like the sights.  I think I like the sight with the gold bead on top (kinda like a 10/22 front sight) more than the wide post that is on this.  How are the sight ramps measured?  I have an extra 10/22 front sight, if I was to get a different front ramp to put it on where do they measure it from?  Is it from where it sits on the barrel to the bottom of the dovetail or the topmost part of the sight?  And the same question for the bead insert form the 10/22.

[demented]

 The sight itself will be measured from the bottom of the dovetail to the top of the sight.