sight question

[moonshot]

I know this has been covered to death, but I need some advise.

My eyesight is not what it once was, and I currently wear bifocals. I've noticed that I pick up the front sight faster, and overall pick up a faster sight picture, when shooting my Kahr than when shooting my Glock.

Both guns have standard stock sights.

The closest aftermarket sight I've seen to the stock Kahr "dot over bar" setup is with the XS Sight Big Dot or Standard Dot. However most of my more experienced friends have advised against the XS system as being less accurate than "traditional" 3-dot sights.

Is there another quality brand of aftermarket sight which is similar to the Kahr setup I might try? Warrens, Heinie, 10-8, trijicons - none of them offer the dot over bar, or is there another factor at work here, and it's not the specific sight at all?

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

[Toyoland66]

Based on your description the new CAP sight from Ameriglo could work for you. This just came out in their 2012 product catalog and I don't see it on their website yet

http://www.handguncombatives.com./blog/files/d46ea27e9f482f33f9bc3da159d667ea-1.html

http://pistol-training.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Ameriglo-Both-Sights-Small.jpg

[CAVDOC]

as you may already know when pistol shooting your primary focus must be on the front sight -I alway tell people to "read" the front sight- when shooting a pair of glasses designed to make your front sight sharp is what you need to be wearing,period- if the rear sight is slightly fuzzy and the target very blurred- that is EXACTLY what you want- put that sharp front sight in the middle of the blurry target and you will get center hits

[LDM]

moonshot, I am in the same boat (presbyopia) and it has played hell with my shooting.
I have XS Big Dots on three of my pistols. The key to using these sights is to align the dot to the vertical strip, "dotting the i". If you try to align blade to notch, it will not work well at all. They work well for me at close and mid-range (particularly considering eyesight). I do not consider them optimal to precision shooting at distance, say 25 yards; the dot is too big.
The one thing I did this past year that was a large benefit to me was going to monovision with a multi-focal contact lens. If you are not familiar with monovision, discuss it with your eye doctor. I had tried it before and had difficulty adapting. It takes about a month. But this time the multi-focal contact lens really made a big differences for me. And to point, it has helped my shooting.
Good luck.

[moonshot]

Thanks for the replies.

I have no interest in glasses unique to shooting. I need sights that will work with my everyday glasses.

Don't know much about Ameriglo sights. They're not exactly like the dot over bar of the Kahr, but they are close. Hopefully, I can see them on someone's gun.

Don't know what monovision is in relation to my bifocals. I'll have to look into that (pun intended). As for the Big Dot blocking the target at ranges beyond 25 yards - what about the standard dot? It's smaller, so less chance of it covering the target. That's actually what I wasthinking of getting - the XS standard dot.

[LDM]

Monovision is where one eye is corrected for clear vision at near distance (e.g. reading, pistol sight) and the other eye is corrected for distance. Your brain learns to automatically select whichever eye is appropriate.
As I said, it takes about a month to adjust.. or more precisely, for your brain to become "programmed" to automatically pick which eye to use. Frankly I struggled with this at first. I had once tried a contact lens that simply corrected the eye to near distance, and I did not succeed in adapting. The Multi Focal contact lens, which have a couple of different focal points, made the transition better for me and I succeeded in the transition. sidebar- If you have trouble with seasickness, the transition is harder to accomplish.
As to Big Dot vs the smaller dot, hard call. Before I went the monovision route, I'd say Big Dot. Now, I could probably use the smaller dot.
Mind you, it is not impossible to use the Big Dot at distance. There's a YouTube of a guy hitting a steel plate at 100 yards with a Big Dot... that most assuredly is NOT me. I do think the Big Dot makes it harder and slower at ranges greater than 15 yards. But inside of 15 yards, and particularly at 7-10 yards I find it easier to get on target.
My principal interest is personal defense/concealed carry, so needs beyond 15 yards are certainly possible, but perhaps not as probable.
In my mind, I am trading off capability at 20-25 yards for enhanced ability at 15 yards and under, given my vision limitations.
As they say... your mileage may vary, and we each have to find our own salvation.
Good luck.

[ricksterr]

Have you ever considered getting a red dot for the pistol?
I've seen someone mount a deltapoint on their kahr, but I feel like you could even do it with a Trijicon RMR and their nice 8MOA dots.

[Spurholder]

Have you ever considered getting a red dot for the pistol?
I've seen someone mount a deltapoint on their kahr, but I feel like you could even do it with a Trijicon RMR and their nice 8MOA dots.

On a Kahr? Post up a pic, dude. This I must see!