Right eye no longer focuses well... How do I adapt sighting & optics?

[Rmplstlskn]

Well at 44 I have resigned myself to the fact that my RIGHT eye no longer focuses properly on things like front sights and optic reticles. Eye docs say welcome to middle age... No solution I know of yet, researching different glasses lens possibilities...

My LEFT eye still focuses great, even though I do have strong corrective lenses, so keep that in mind for a solution.

Anyways, I find that I cannot get a good sight picture on the front sight of my handguns nor can I see clealry the red triangle in my TA11-D ACOG nor my various scopes. They are all fuzzy... which means my accuracy sucks, which takes a lot of the fun away.

I can still do well with my Aimpoint red dot though, so I am still good to go on my primary AR.

Besides learning to shoot as a lefty, is there any other way to use optics using the LEFT EYE but shoot as a RIGHTY? I have tried tilting the rifle sideways but that is a tough hold to keep under stress... Maybe a mount that tilts the scope to the left by 45* to allow good cheek weld but use my left eye?

Otherwise, I will be selling all my optics and go with just red-dots, no magnification...

As for handguns, I am trying to get used to shifting my hold farther to the left of center and training myself to make my LEFT eye the dominant eye. Needless to say, it is not natural and I find it much slower as I have to always be thinking, "Use your LEFT eye, use your left eye..."

Any advice?

Rmpl

[oldtexan]

I'm 55 and have been experiencing the same thing for several years now. I can't see black sights well enough to use them at all under they are in shadow and are backlit with a bright light. Under most lighting conditions, I can still see a tritium front sight with a white ring, but it's fuzzy. I've found that I can get sufficient accuracy even though the front sight is fuzzy. I'm not a bullseye shooter; I just train for defensive shooting.

I've also have added lasers to almost all my handguns. The lasers allow me to see where the gun is pointing in all but the brightest lighting conditions.

[Jdrimm]

Well at 44 I have resigned myself to the fact that my RIGHT eye no longer focuses properly on things like front sights and optic reticles. Eye docs say welcome to middle age... No solution I know of yet, researching different glasses lens possibilities...

My LEFT eye still focuses great, even though I do have strong corrective lenses, so keep that in mind for a solution.

I am in the same boat, at 36. Please let us know if you find a solution, I am watching this with great interest. Meantime, I'm learning to shoot lefty.

[Rmplstlskn]

Well I am both sad and happy to see I'm not alone in this...

I have another appt. next week to see if I can get a prescription for the right eye that gets me a clear sight picture even if my distance vision in that eye is blurry. Maybe it can be made into a type of bifocal lens where the bifocal is up near the top of the lens rather than the usual location in the lower part of the lens. Then I would just tilt my head forward when sighting... I hope that works, otherwise I have seen no answers...

Rmpl

I am in the same boat, at 36. Please let us know if you find a solution, I am watching this with great interest. Meantime, I'm learning to shoot lefty.

[JHC]

I'm 52 and I solved this with my contacts. Always been highly near sighted but now with age related problem focusing on the front sight when wearing full correction contacts - I get one full correction contact and one about 75-85% of full correction.

It works pretty sweet. Bino vision is still 20/20. But with the 75% contact, I can get a sharp front sight.

Optics just a little trickier. My TA 33 is quite forgiving of either lense but a conventional (2nd focal plane) recticle is blurry if my weaker contact is in my right eye. So I swap the contacts to full correction in my right (dominant) eye and I've got a sharp recticle and magnified view. Sounds like a hassle but I'm pretty quick with the flip.

Again, for some reason, the ACOG seems more forgiving of either lens.

[uwe1]

I am in the same boat, at 36. Please let us know if you find a solution, I am watching this with great interest. Meantime, I'm learning to shoot lefty.

You shouldn't have this problem at 36 yet. Have you gone to your optometrist lately? You might have a uncorrected distance prescription. Are you farsighted? Astigmatic?

[uwe1]

Well I am both sad and happy to see I'm not alone in this...

I have another appt. next week to see if I can get a prescription for the right eye that gets me a clear sight picture even if my distance vision in that eye is blurry. Maybe it can be made into a type of bifocal lens where the bifocal is up near the top of the lens rather than the usual location in the lower part of the lens. Then I would just tilt my head forward when sighting... I hope that works, otherwise I have seen no answers...

Rmpl

Can you imagine walking around or driving with that set up? You would end up taking those off and switch to another correction after you got done shooting and would be training differently than you generally move about.

Is there a distance correction in your right eye? Do you have an astigmatism? Even if it is insignificant and doesn't help you see better at distance (+0.25 to +0.75 diopters) this makes a big difference in your ability to focus on your front sight. You have to get the basic distance correction fixed.

If you are able to, start wearing contact lenses. Usually the best solution with contacts is to under-correct the dominant eye (your right) by 0.50 to 0.75 diopters. I would recommend you bring your pistol slide to help yourself out with the true distance you need things focused at. This would make your right eye slighly blurred at distance, but you would keep the left eye full corrected and with both eyes you should be 20/20. You could do the same with glasses. Have the doctor trial different lenses on you to achieve the best compromise.

[74Highboy]

This URL may help you find a soloution to your problem.

http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongarts.html

[uwe1]

This URL may help you find a soloution to your problem.

http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongarts.html

Dr. Wong's site is very informative and the information is valuable (a lot of very good visual psychophysics on how the eye works), but much of his solutions to shooting concentrates on bullseye shooting and target shooting. If you intend to do this type of shooting, then a lot of the tricks and solutions he offers has a lot of merit. I'm not sure how different occluders, pinholes, and other contraptions would really benefit the tactical shooter. He does however mention the same solution which is to under-correct the dominant eye by one half to three quarters of a diopter in order to get the correctly focused front sight picture for shooting iron sights.

[Rmplstlskn]

I had a good long exam at the eye doc yesterday and my condition in the right eye is called Presbyopia...

Here is a definition:
We can define presbyopia as the optical condition in which, due to the anatomical changes produced by aging, the accommodation power decreases. Presbyopia is a physiological condition, not a pathological one.

Basically, my eye muscles are no longer able to properly stretch and adjust to accomodate sharp detail at various distances. It is just part of age and we all get it, some, like me, just more severe than others.

My eye has changed dramatically since last year which is why the sighting problems. I have a new prescription I am going to try out... Instead of giving me sharp distance vision it will give me better close vision (<20") which will help with iron sights and scope reticles.... I HOPE!!!!

It sucks, but it is better than cancer or someother disease... Middle age... mmmpphhh!

Rmpl