Old eyes going bad

[cynthialee]

Once it gets twilight I can't see for squat. I have put red nail polish on my front sight to help when it is cloudy or getting close to dusk.

Every year I get my prescription updated and new glasses to stay on top of things. Starting to understand why the old grizzled veterans in the cowboy shows always used a shotgun. Thought it was a little tropey and over played but it is real. Old eyes just don't shoot as sharp as they used to, such a gun is in order for the old gaffer riding shotgun on the stage coach.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Fiber optics have been on my hunting flintlock since I bought it. There. I said it. Glad I'm not the only one! An ethical kill is my top priority when I hunt... would hate to injure an animal due to pride.

If I did any re-enactments, I'd need another gun for a lot of reasons, sites being just one of them.

 

[FishDFly]

Who cares what is on yours, it's yours.

 

[Kno-ie]

This is what I use.

 

[Hawk78]

Read the following article on adjustable irises. I have the Merit and I stick it on my 1x readers and have no problems.

https://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/07/diopter-devices-aid-old-eyes/
https://www.eabco.com/merit_apertures.html
https://www.creedmoorsports.com/product/gehmann-clip-on-iris-for-ordinary-glasses/-Gehmann

very intriguing to me. I am only 43 but have noticed a rapid decline in my scores as well. Thanks for the three links. Will open and read them.

 

[Hawk78]

This is what I use.

That is an awesome setup.

 

[Hawk78]

I have been refining a design for folding tang peep and expect to be making it available here very soon. Its adjustable for windage and elevation and mounts with the tang screw. Sourcing of materials has delayed release.

View attachment 119686 View attachment 119687 View attachment 119688

Impressive work

 

[Carney Pace]

Take your rifle to a smart optometrist with the old style eye lens tester , the one that has the lenses that are placed in a holder. Outdoors where you can sight on a spot 100/125 yards distance. When the sights are clear then have a pair of glasses made for that prescription.
81, still shooting flintlock and iron sights.

 

[morehops52]

One of the big problems (for anyone) with iron sights is that in order to have the very best (or often just usable) image, your eye has to simultaneously pull three different objects into view at three different distances: rear sight, front sight, and target. This isn't possible. Even if your eyes aren't "degraded" in one way or another (by age, injury, eye disease, ...) it's just not possible. The best you can ever get is a kind of approximation of that.

This is the major problem that a scope solves: it gives you one thing to focus on, and your eyes can do that. But if you don't want to go to a scope for whatever reasons you have, there may be an alternative.

Consider a "tube sight": basically a tube without glass/magnification and a reticle or other sight in it. You can think of it as a really long peep sight. Used in the 1800s, and I believe that Redfield, Unertl, and Freeland used to make them more recently. You can still find them referred to on several forums and at times for sale on Ebay. Or you could have a machinist make one and get some Unertl (or other) rings to mount it. Here's a thread (pretty old now) that mentions them: Al Freeland Tube Sight.

Another alternative that might work for you is a rear aperture/peep sight (like a Lyman) with a front fiber optic sight. The peep sight reduces or largely eliminates the problem with 3 different sighting distances, and the fiber optic sight makes the front sight distinctly visible -- which is often the biggest part of the problem for aging eyes. I'm working on a project now to craft a fiber optic front sight modification for one of my own BP rifles.

Just some thoughts.

Doubleset, I would be interested to see what you come up with for that front sight.

 

[morehops52]

If you need near and far correction then a lined bifocal or a progressive lens is in order if you only want to wear one pair of glasses. There are inherant pluses and minuses to both. I've been wearing progressives for 30 years in ever increasing strengths. The down side from a shooting/hunting perspective is that y ou do need to point your nose at what you want to see. I can see peripherally but not clearly. Also, when walking the woods if I'm on uneven ground or heavy brush I need to contantly have to look up and down to find my way. That can be a little PIA. The plus is that no matter what distance I'm trying to see from about 18 " to infinity is in my lens.
A lined bifocal will give you more clear area to view but you only get reading and distance and lose intermediate distance. The amount depends on your RX. You also get an "image jump" as your eye crosses the bifocal line.

 

[doubleset]

My primary issue with the progressives is that I care a LOT about optical clarity and clarity of image. This is one thing that the progressives compromise on in order to provide a "one lens works for everything". A lot of people are happy with the compromise that the progressives provide. But to me, it would be constantly irritating. So I'm just speaking for myself here. Some people have a lot of difficulty getting accustomed to the "image jump". After about a day with my first bifocals, I was never bother by this. But I know people who can't tolerate it. It's an individual choice.

 

[smoothshooter]

I have a .50 Pedersoli Frontier rifle. I don't do a lot of shooting other than deer hunting. My problem is that it's getting very difficult to focus on the sights. A few years back I put fiber optic sights on and it just about killed me to do it to that rifle! That helped a lot, but now it's getting hard with even those sights. Now I'm actually considering a <gasp> scope so I can continue deer hunting and be reasonably sure of a clean kill. Does anyone know of a decent replica of an old scope that might work on that rifle and not look horrible? Or am I realistically looking at something from the folks at Leupold? Any gotchca's to doing that?

The other thing that I'm wondering about is is every year the gun club I belong to has a Youth Day and Ladies Day weekend. I always bring my ML out both days and the kids shoot one or two rounds Saturday and the ladies shoot the same Sunday. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but is there such a thing as scope mounts that are at least somewhat easy to take off for those two days? It just doesn't seem right to be demoing a ML with a modern scope.

My son is a Ophthalmologist he gave me a little test when he was still in school. Where he poked a small hole in a piece of paper and said look through that. If you can see better you need glasses, well i could. Long story short even after i got glasses and i can see really good now. A peep sight matched with a fiber optic front sight gives me a good sight picture as well as my target. I do suffer some under low light.The only thing that can help me there is a good scope with good glass.

My first set were Progressives i told him and the office. They should be against the law. FishDFly is spot on i had to point my nose at anything i wanted to see. Worthless IMO for shooting or hunting but that's just me.

I have had progressive lenses for about 7 years and wouldn’t have anything else.
The transition area is particularly useful since if I need to I can move my head slightly and find a sweet spot with perfect focus.
Do not hesitate to have the transitions lenses optimized for shooting. This is done by having the top edge of the lower part of the lenses moved up close to a half inch higher than normal. You only need to have the top 1/4” of the lens for distance stuff such as driving. In other words the distance part of your lenses only needs to be about 1/4” wide from top to bottom.
Very few people understand this.

 

[smoothshooter]

If you need near and far correction then a lined bifocal or a progressive lens is in order if you only want to wear one pair of glasses. There are inherant pluses and minuses to both. I've been wearing progressives for 30 years in ever increasing strengths. The down side from a shooting/hunting perspective is that y ou do need to point your nose at what you want to see. I can see peripherally but not clearly. Also, when walking the woods if I'm on uneven ground or heavy brush I need to contantly have to look up and down to find my way. That can be a little PIA. The plus is that no matter what distance I'm trying to see from about 18 " to infinity is in my lens.
A lined bifocal will give you more clear area to view but you only get reading and distance and lose intermediate distance. The amount depends on your RX. You also get an "image jump" as your eye crosses the bifocal line.

The distance part at the top of your lenses are too wide from top to bottom. See my post below.

 

[pwbsmokey]

Take your rifle to a smart optometrist with the old style eye lens tester , the one that has the lenses that are placed in a holder. Outdoors where you can sight on a spot 100/125 yards distance. When the sights are clear then have a pair of glasses made for that prescription.
81, still shooting flintlock and iron sights.

They are called, trial lenses. They are very useful

 

[Colonial Boy]

There's several choices that @Bruce H has. The choices all hinge on personal cost. At 73 Medicare will pay for the simple cataract replacement. But means that you will still need reading glasses. The next step at modest cost will address astigmatism. You get clearer vision but reading glasses will be needed. There is a much more expensive multifocal replacement lens that will take care of the cataracts, correct for astigmatism and provide for multifocal vision and reading glasses will not be required. Several members of my gun club have the simple replacement and shoot very well with their reading glasses. I did the vanity thing and sprung for the expensive replacement.

I’m 87 and still shooting well with open sights but do best with an aperture.
Had the ‘vanity thing’ but the cost was covered by our Veterans’ Affairs Department and I now have 20/20 vision in the right eye, and sometimes shoot without glasses just to show off.

The link above to the Al Freeland sight is worth looking at and I’ve found that a tube.sight works for me in good light, although I think that I made mine with a to small in diameter tube.

 

[rt2bowhunter]

I have had progressive lenses for about 7 years and wouldn’t have anything else.
The transition area is particularly useful since if I need to I can move my head slightly and find a sweet spot with perfect focus.
Do not hesitate to have the transitions lenses optimized for shooting. This is done by having the top edge of the lower part of the lenses moved up close to a half inch higher than normal. You only need to have the top 1/4” of the lens for distance stuff such as driving. In other words the distance part of your lenses only needs to be about 1/4” wide from top to bottom.
Very few people understand this.

What i have is working great for me. But thanks all the same.

 

[deerstalkert]

those guns i have that i still shoot as well as i did when in even my 60's all have peep sights with a globe sight in front.
those that don't wear peeps, usually don't get used.

 

[Africa58double]

Please elaborate and show more photos on this.
I will go this direction eventually…. On my T/c Flintlock, peep on percussion … With a detachable scope (Low light hunting) on my Double that has a peep and express sights.

This is what I use.

 

[FishDFly]

Take your rifle to a smart optometrist with the old style eye lens tester , the one that has the lenses that are placed in a holder. Outdoors where you can sight on a spot 100/125 yards distance. When the sights are clear then have a pair of glasses made for that prescription.
81, still shooting flintlock and iron sights.

I always ask for the last appointment of the day and smuggle my pistol in with me.

 

[appalichian hunter]

First, drift the rear sight out of it's slot. Cradle the rifle so it is stable. Move the rear sight forward a couple of inches and look thru the sights to see if they are clear. If not, move the rear sight forward another inch and see if they are clear. Continue until they are clear. If that works, cut another new slot.

Follow Old Hawkeye's recommendation. My scores were terrible and my eye's would water, went to the eye doctor. He said I had major cataracts, each eye. Had them removed with new far off lenses and my scores jumped up. Only glasses I need know are for close up and reading.

I have a old percussion rifle that has two false blocks in dove tails where the rear sight was moved forward just for that reason.