Old eyes.

[Flinty Scot]

Years ago I was shown a system that was noting but a round stick on circle that was put on you eye glass lens. Was told that not ever one has what is call binocular vison. System worked Today trap and skeet shooter can buy safety glass that have an adjustable dot.

A simple, stick on disk describes the EyePal I use.
I've researched the adjustable iris (dot) like you mention but it was way to expensive. My serious competition days are in the past.

 

[Blitz]

To encourage those so disgusted so much with eye problems they are considering to quit shooting , try a peep sight and be able to see the target and both sights like you could when you were very young.............oldwood

I agree and to change the focus a bit. Why is it that NMLRA , some states and many mountain man and rendezvous organizations are so dead set against the use of peep sights or glass with no magnification , the Turks were using peeps in the 1500s most people past mid fortys are begining to experience some vision problems .
I would suppose that some of the resistance is , well we can`t find references or much of anything about other sights being used although crude magnified fernglass was becoming available in the 1820s.
I would think that there was not a lot of use for/ of other sighting devices because of lack of communication and the fact that shooters mainly did not live long enough for poor/ failing eyesight to become a major problem. Today shooters are living quite longer. Why not keep us in the sport since we seem to hear so much about declining numbers of enthusiastists ?


Buzz

 

[oldwood]

Well Buzz , when I started competition back in the early 1970's , most of the shooters were young , and most clubs were affiliated w/ the NMLRA. Times in Central Pa. were hard back then , (high unemployment , etc.) and the NMLRA offered all kinds of free assistance , like Insurance help , targets , and an organization that would help clubs full of guys who knew next to nothing about black powder sports. So...most shoots adopted NMLRA shoot rules 'cause there just no other universal rules to run anything. Open sights only was rather brash, but that's how it was governed............oldwood

 

[Musketeer]

The rules probably worked well 50 years ago when the muzzleloading renaissance of the '60s and '70s was in full swing and most of those getting into it were younger people, but I agree with Buzz that those young'uns from back then are pretty long in the tooth today and it seems traditional muzzleloading these days is for the most part an older person's game, so I don't see any issue with making a few exceptions for our failing old eyes. In 1979 I could see the markings on a butterfly's wings from 100 paces, but I was only 9 years old then. Now at 50 I can barely see a butterfly at 100 paces, even with my glasses.

 

[Blitz]

To encourage those so disgusted so much with eye problems they are considering to quit shooting , try a peep sight and be able to see the target and both sights like you could when you were very young.............oldwood

Thanks for the reply, ssonds like the 70s was a good time for smokepole enthusiasts.In those days I was already at the time most of begin to require a bit of vision clarity but didn`t fully realize the effect yet and like many did not give it much thought.
Takes me back to the days when I was a kid and mother telling us kids (be carefull you donot realise how precious your eyesight is) , also I I did not realise how terrific my eyesight was untill it began to wane. I actually ftrst noticied that accurately judging distances was becoming harder,and in my line of work it was very important.
Buzz

 

[Col. Batguano]

Yeah older eyes aren't as good. I buy most of my meat at the supermarket as a result. But at least being older, and working, I can afford it now.

 

[oldwood]

Yea guys , still remember when I finally had to listen to the folks around me telling me I had a problem. As usual , working late in a radiology dept. , 'bout 9o PM @ night took to swearing a blue streak about how my junk oscilloscope wouldn't focus properly. A guy working on some other problem walked in the room and said , the scope was focused just fine for him. Well , though I could see crows flying at 0ne mile distant , when fatigue set in , up close all looked fuzzy. Eye Dr. confirmed , glasses fixed the problem , but the really good news , man could I see to shoot iron sights. Dead deer ,gut piles , 10-X's , life was good again. ........oldwood

 

[gemmer]

I have used the Merit. Upside: they fit on your glasses and NMLRA rules do not class them as 'peeps. Downside: Very tricky to place on glasses where you need it to be for consistent hold and sighting. I have tried homemade versions also. Basically do not like.

Try this.

 

[gemmer]

My eye problem was the retina which only surgery can (maybe) fix. I had the surgery back in the summer and it's still healing. There's been a small amount of improvement and possibly a bit more to come. Lenses and apertures unfortunately can't help.

I used the Merit for years, but in the last 3 years or so, with less effectiveness. I had distance glasses made to suit my weak right shooting eye which worked fine for a while. In the meantime my cataract condition grew worse and now I'm a candidate for surgery next month. My Dr. is aware if my shooting problem and we've worked out the most favorable approach. We'll see. No pun intended. Well, maybe just a little.

 

[nhmoose]

I just moved my rear sight 8 inches down toward the muzzle of the barrel. See it ok now.

Just a thought.

 

[nhmoose]

I just moved my rear sight 8 inches down toward the muzzle of the barrel. See it ok now.

Just a thought.

I filled the old dovetail with a piece of brass.

 

[berkscoflinter]

Oldwood, My 77 year old eyes have both had cataract surgery and the resulting new lenses. I've also "enjoyed" detached retinas, and now the onset of glaucoma with a stent in my left eye (my shooting eye) to reduce pressure. My shooting has not improved of late, so I decided to purchase the "peep" sight sold by TOTW to install on my 24 gauge fowler, a lefty kit purchased from Brad Emig.

My instillation went quite well with the peep situated just ahead of the open frizzen. Well, my first trip to the range with a friend spotting didn't go as planned.
I expected tighter groups than I was able to produce with just the heart front sight installed by Brad. I was shooting from 50 yards at the NMLRA's 50 yard pistol target which is quite large.

Shooting six shots from a bench rest, I missed the 4' x 8' back stop with the first three shots, and the target completely with the next 3 shots!!! The only positive I can report is the shots lined up pretty well vertically above the bull's eye. Those final three shots were taken when seeing only the very top silver nub of the front sight in the very bottom of the peep. Since I epoxied the peep in the filed groove, I'm sort of at a loss searching for the next move, other than filing a slight groove in the top arch of the peep to bring a grouping onto the bull's eye area.

Certainly not my best "gunsmithing" decision and result of the past 25 years! Berks

 

[Crawfish]

if it is epoxied in, heating it with a heat gun should loosen epoxy, the mess can be cleaned up with alcohol. Get it pretty hot and be patient-it should be fairly easy to remove the peep!

i epoxy motor mount in on my model airplanes I build, it’s worked for me before.

 

[oldwood]

Berks........The good news is , it's all fixable , all is good.......I take it the front sight is soldered in place? If so , the sight can be replaced w/one having more definition , and w/thicker , higher blade , so sight-in is possible. The peep sight just needs to be located closer to the eye , perhaps about an inch or so back on the tang from the barrel's breach. There is a "Johnson " peep sight from Muzzleloader Builder Supply , that mounts w/two small screws to the top flat of the barrel , and the sight disc is where it should be , closer to the eye. The Johnson sight uses all of the standard available screw in apertures for other peep sights. I'm about to install this sight on a new build for a fellow w/fuzzy sight distortion syndrome. (newly defined eye problem in old shooters) . Since the Johnson peep is a solid old time looking casting ,it doesn't look out of place on a m/l rifle. I can't wait to sight this new .58 long rifle for the guy. Oh yea , the Johnson peep sells for 'bout $20 plus the disc , choice of 2 @ 'bout $10 bucks ea.....................hope this helps............oldwood