Old eye's-Iron sights

[capt jack]

Well I finally have to admit it- At 62 , I just cant see the iron sights on my 30 cal. flintlock , in the early light while I'm squirrel hunting . I've missed 2 shots in the last 2 tries , and it's very frustrating .

I have seen the aperature sights that TOTW sells , the kind that mount in a dove tail , but have never used them , and was wondering if anyone has used them with any degree of success?

I have guns with wrist mounted peep sights , but I would like to keep this Flintlock as traditional as possible ,And I certanly don't want to use those glow in the dark sights , if I can aviod it.

For me , shooting in full light , is not a problem , but these old eye's just can't focus on that front sight any more in dim light . Thanks for any help Jerry

 

[oletymepreacher]

You and I are the same age with the same aiming problem. I have needed corrective lenses for over 50 years, and a few years ago when getting a new prescription, I told the doctor of this shooting problem. He wrote another prescription that focused on the front sight for the shooting eye. This works great. The other eye's prescription is normal for that eye. The first few times these glasses were worn was strange for a few minutes, then all was OK. If you want to read with these glasses, your arm isn't long enough, but then why would you be reading when there are squirrels to shoot?

 

[BrownBear]

That's sensible and straight forward.

If you want to play a little with your gun too, buy a replacement rear sight with a narrow notch and lay that on top of your barrel. It's going to sit higher than your original sight so you can see it. Try sliding it foreward a little at a time and sighting. The rear sight isn't going to clear up, but in my experience at some point the view of the front sight, as seen through the notch in the rear sight, is going to clear up. If you don't mind an extra dovetail on your barrel, you can install the new sight in that spot and go right back to shooting without the glasses.

 

[schmidt]

Hi Doc,
I had this problem with my Mauser, the original sigths are too slow for fast shots, so I soldered a washer on the rear and a brass pearl on the frontsight: Perfect for midrange shots up to 70m.

 

[roundball]

Another possible alternative...62 as well and fortunately don't yet have any perscription glasses, both eyes are the same, etc...but I've used those little drugstore reading glasses for a few years now.

A couple years ago I tried them in the garage and my sights got sharp again, so I bought a pair of the regular size 1.0 diopter drug store glasses to also get some eye protection at the same time...last year I started wearing them hunting as well.

 

[Rancocas]

Lasic surgery took care of the problem for me. I still need cheap, Dollar General store, 1x glasses for reading, but I have no trouble at all seeing my rifle sights.

 

[BrownBear]

I was wondering about that. But it's idle curiosity only. We have three friends now whose surgery went bad. Different outfits did their work, so it's not just one bad operator. In any case, the gal who had it done in both eyes at once is in real dire straights. She legally blind in both eyes now and getting worse. No reflection on the practice as far as I can tell, but knowing so many folks with problems is sure keeping me from sitting down to have it done, I'll tell you!!!! :shocked2:

 

[roundball]

"...knowing so many folks with problems is sure keeping me from sitting down to have it done..."

Exactly the same reason why I'm not having it done.

Plus, I always wonder when I see some of those surgery advertisements being done by a gray haired guy in a white lab coat WEARING CONVENTIONAL GLASSES!
:grin:

 

[Mountainman56]

I've gone to a wider blade for my front sight. Also I found I couldn't shoot my .45 Kentucky as well as my other rifes. Turns out the back sight on that one is about 4" further back. I'm sure moving it ahead would help but rather than cut another dovetail I'm going to give it to my son-in-law for Christmas after I re-finish it. It'll work for his young eyes.

I also bought one of those dovetail mount peeps from TOTW but haven't tried it yet. I'll let you know if it works out.

 

[longshot47]

"...knowing so many folks with problems is sure keeping me from sitting down to have it done..."

Another caution :shake:
There is a process called CK [radio keratonomy?]that is broadly promoted as a fix for those relying on drugstore reading glasses. Radio waves are used to reconfigure the profile or contour of the lens. In and out -same day, similar to lasic. Almost guaranteed to work; second try was done at discount. Does'nt hurt [the doctor] a bit. Little or no down time [3/5 days of liquified cocaine and icepacks applied directly].
Once vision and clarity was restored, some improvement was noted; which lasted about 90 days :cursing:
A LONGSHOTfor sure!

 

[roundball]

Yes, IMO there is just too much risk with any of those things...they can't just reverse them.
If I ever get to the point where I can no longer see even with glasses THEN I'd consider various surgeries because I'd have nothing to use.

In fact it almost seems a little comical to think that I've spent decades wearing safety glasses to protect my eyes, and then consider intentionally letting someone start shining a laser beam into them...a solution in search of a problem as far as I'm concerned