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Thread: Front sight focus, quick eye fatigue

  1. #1
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    Front sight focus, quick eye fatigue

    So, I need some help. I've been dealing with eye issues while shooting for a few years now, and always thought I could train out of it, work beyond it. I always thought I just wasn't at the level I should be and that is why I was having such a hard time. I struggle with staying focused and locked onto the front sight. I start off alright, then fairly quickly my vision blurs out, or wants to focus on the rear sight. This is magnified significantly while shooting with both eyes open, with iron sights. If I close one eye, it's much easier for me to stay focused. I know that's not ideal for combat training, and I should make an effort to always keep both eyes open. I make good, accurate hits on targets I am shooting at, even with the trouble focusing.

    I do have mild astigmatism (self diagnosed), which flares up when I shoot with my Aimpoint pro, and a little bit with my T1 (not as bad), I never see a smooth dot, and safety glasses turn the dots into a comet. I am not knowledgeable enough to say for a fact that the two issues are 100% related.

    I have went to Trijicon HD's on most of my handguns, but on my P30L I have the Heinie solid black rear, with the HK luminescent front. The issue effects me on all of these sights, even though the HD's have bright Orange or Yellow fronts. I'm almost to the point where I am thinking of RMR'ing everything and going from there. So does anyone have any tips or suggestions here? I am going to plan a trip to the eye doctor here in the near future, but in the mean time I was hoping someone could shed some light. Thanks!
    98% Sarcastic. 100% Overthinking things and making up reasons for buying a new firearm.

  2. #2
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    I'd start with your eye doctor - begin with finding out if they will work with you.

    I grew up and into adulthood as a pure marksman - it was a little over a decade ago before I even began to emphasize both eyes open in my personal shooting. As a result I had many of the problems you are talking about.

    Focusing on the rear sight is more than likely a you thing, not an eye thing. With your current vision are you able to get a sharp, clear front sight when you focus on the front sight? If not you may be focusing on the object you can see the clearest.

    Not saying your are doing this, but, a lot of time folks try to line the dots up rather than focusing on the front sight, not understanding the dots are for visual reference in low light.

    One thing you might try is taping a small piece of regular Scoth tape on your shooting glasses over the center of your non-dominant eye. This helped me a lot and eventually I got to the point where my eys weren't 'fighting' with each other.

    If you were shooting a rifle I'd tell you to leave the front cover down on your red dot. This is something that I do on occasion to check myself and make sure I have both eyes open. If you have an RMR pistol you might try that.

  3. #3
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    I put on of those 'flip-up' / 'flip-down' blinders on my eyeglass frames over my non-dominant eye. Helps tremendously! I got mine from Champion's Choice.

    Tested the results - of NOT using it - the other week when I attended a muzzleloading rifle shoot where that wouldn't be allowed (safety glasses - yes; blinders - ahhhhhh no). Started out strong and noticed it 'required more work' at the end of the shoot, than at the beginning ... just couldn't maintain a sharp focus on the front sight. Had to drop my aim and start ofer, which disrupted my rhythm more than anything else, since this wasn't a timed shoot but an accuracy one.

    Ended up tied for 2nd place, but would have cleaned the course if I had shot up to my par as I had started out!

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    Quote Originally Posted by 26 Inf View Post
    I'd start with your eye doctor - begin with finding out if they will work with you.

    I grew up and into adulthood as a pure marksman - it was a little over a decade ago before I even began to emphasize both eyes open in my personal shooting. As a result I had many of the problems you are talking about.

    Focusing on the rear sight is more than likely a you thing, not an eye thing. With your current vision are you able to get a sharp, clear front sight when you focus on the front sight? If not you may be focusing on the object you can see the clearest.

    Not saying your are doing this, but, a lot of time folks try to line the dots up rather than focusing on the front sight, not understanding the dots are for visual reference in low light.

    One thing you might try is taping a small piece of regular Scoth tape on your shooting glasses over the center of your non-dominant eye. This helped me a lot and eventually I got to the point where my eys weren't 'fighting' with each other.

    If you were shooting a rifle I'd tell you to leave the front cover down on your red dot. This is something that I do on occasion to check myself and make sure I have both eyes open. If you have an RMR pistol you might try that.
    All fantastic suggestions. I plan on seeing an eye Doctor in the near future just to see if I need anything corrected. I also plan on incorporating some front sight focus at home training to try and get more comfortable.
    98% Sarcastic. 100% Overthinking things and making up reasons for buying a new firearm.

  5. #5
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    How old are you, and do you wear normally wear glasses?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hmac View Post
    How old are you, and do you wear normally wear glasses?
    I'm 29, and I have never worn any glasses or corrective lenses.
    98% Sarcastic. 100% Overthinking things and making up reasons for buying a new firearm.

  7. #7
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    Little early for presbyopia, but it might be a factor in conjunction with astigmatism, or it might be a case of hyperopia (far-sightedness), exacerbating a little as you age.

    Training is good, but you can't train your way out of physiology, so your eye appointment is a critical component in moving forward.

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    The older you get, the worse it gets. A standard three dot sight system is almost unusable for me. I often train without corrective lenses and have to shoot slightly out of the notch to enhance focus on the front sight of a handgun. I find a bar over dot or dot over dot sight set up more usable.

    I recently installed Ameriglo I-Dot sights (Orange front sight) on a Glock. The rear tritium vial does not have a painted outline and you can see a small shiny dot in daylight. Lining up the blurry front dot over the blurry rear dot makes it easier to line up the sights left to right.

    I have an Aimpoint ML2 I purchased around 1998. It has a red 4 MOA dot and it looks like a comet. I just center the comet on target and work with the sight picture I have. When shooting at 100 yards and farther I turn down the intensity as much as I can get away with and it helps diminish the comet tail somewhat. If you quarter a silhouette target you can still get decent hits at 200 meters with a carbine.
    Last edited by T2C; 03-14-17 at 15:06.
    Train 2 Win

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    Sorry to hear of your troubles. Also welcome to the party!!

    Astigmatism will screw with you pretty bad depending on the severity. I have mild astigmatism and went uncorrected for a long time. Had similar eye fatigue issues. This was exasperated by wearing ANYTHING that was polarized. Would start out ok, then after a bit of time my eyes would get so tired I couldn't focus clearly on squat. Bye bye high dollar Oakley polarized lenses .

    Once corrected things got better for a few years till the ole vision took another dump. Now I'm at the point where transitions from far to near are time consuming. This was my primary driver for the RMR. Everything on the same focal plane.

    See your doctor as soon as you can. Tell them what you're trying to do. They need to understand your goals and expectations to do their job. Pussy foot around and you'll be frustrated. If they act goofy about guns and such find another doc. Around here I can't throw a fat cat in any direction without hitting an eye doctors office. So it's not like they are hard to find.

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    I feel your pain.

    I have 3 Hi Powers that have become safe queens since I can't enjoy shooting them as much as I used too. One which is the most high end one I have with a BarSto barrel and full accuracy job, now sports Big Dots so I can use it at all. Hi Power slides are too narrow to mount an RMR on it.

    My Pistols are slowly but surely getting mounted with RMR or Leupolds. By the way at close distance I just use the sight as a TV screen to sight on center mass and it works for me at limited distance of 7 meters and in.

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