I have an astigmatism and recently bought my first pair of glasses. It had been seven years between eye exams and I suspect I have been dealing with it for years. The clear tip of the front sight post is something I have not seen in YEARS. I asked the doc about surgery and was told my eyes needed to be thirty times worse before I would be a candidate. I was told I needed the glasses for computer work and driving at night. There is a huge difference in the clarity of the things I read on my computer screen with my new glasses. I never knew how out of focus the details were for me.
I just traded one of my H1’s and some other loot towards a TR24G. I am hopeful this will help me. I wanted to see what has worked for some of the other older eyes out there. I also think I have been closing my left eye in an attempt to get a clear front sight picture on my aimpoint dot. I know I need to work on both eyes open shooting the way the red dot was designed to be used.
Thanks guys. I have thought about prescription glasses while shooting but I do not wear them so I don’t want to use them yet. It might be the easiest answer.
I did not know I had an issue. I brought my seven year old in for his first eye exam a few months ago. He laughed his but off because I could not read half o what he could.
The ACOG sounds like a popular choice. I hope the TR24G works for me. I have played with one at my local gun shop and liked what I saw. I put a pair of XS big dot sights on my Glock and they have worked well for about two hundred rounds.
I have astigmatisms in both eyes and even with glasses anything that has an electronic dot or electronic reticle doesn’t look like it should. I see halos, commets and sometimes what looks like a cluster of grapes. I have found the electronic dot of Insight’s MRDS to be the best of the bunch even though I own 4 Aimpoints. People will tell you to turn the intensity down but that does not work for me.
The absolute clearest reticle for me comes from anything Trijicon as they are non-electronic. The dots and chevrons are very clear and crisp in all light conditions. I currently have 2 ACOG’s, 2 dual illumination RMR’s, 1 Accupoint, and 1 RX30 reflex and all of them are very clear with my astigmatisms.
Grapes that is it. I could not articulate it that is what I see instead of a dot I see a bunch of little dots. Looks like I am moving in the right direction.
I have astigmatism that is not completely corrected, even when wearing my prescription Oakleys. Nonmagnified red dots are OK, but magnified red dots are a problem. I have done tests to figure out which dot out of the constellation of dots is the actual aimpoint (ha ha), but overall it’s a pain in the ass.
I use a TR24G on my LMT 308MWS, and it really works well. The post and triangle reticle is crystal clear, and I can adjust the diopter to work with or without my glasses. The 1x is basically a true 1x out past 10 feet or so and the ability to adjust the amount of light coming in through the fiberoptic allows you to have a very sharp lighted triangle in just about every lighting condition. And even if the lit triangle washes out, the post remains very visible. Plus, at 1x the eye box is quite large, so your cheekweld isn’t as critical as it might be with other variable optics.
The TR24G isn’t as fast or easy to use as a red dot up close or in odd shooting positions and it is much heavier and bigger, but it brings its own compelling set of advantages to the table. And with a 50yd zero, you can pretty much shoot from 0-300 yards using point of aim for combat accuracy (that’s for 5.56). Past that, you can dial your DOPE or use the base of the triangle for holdovers. I also dig the dials’ tool-less zero adjustments (once you dial your zero, you just lift up on the outside of the dial to disengage it and spin it to the number zero without moving your elevation or windage).
The TR isn’t perfect, of course, but it is very capable and useful at a very reasonable price point. I also LOVE not having to worry about battery life!
Just curious as to why my astigmatism is noticeable with an Aimpoint but not with an Eotech? Is it due to looking thru a primary glass to see the dot reflection on the second vs. looking directly at the receiving plant on the Eotech?
Used to have an Eotech – for me, my astigmatism made the center dot kind of a smeary blob instead of a well defined dot. The edges of the circle thing kind of ‘bloomed’ two, but the center dot smear is what I noticed/bothered me most.
The Eotech dot is 1 MOA IIRC, which makes any blooming less obvious. I still see it, but if a dot looks, let’s say, 50% larger, you’re going to notice that more in a 4 MOA dot than a 1 MOA. I notice the bloom less with the 2 MOA Aimpoint, for example.
I have severe astigmatism - in addition to 20/450 myopia/near-sightedness (keep in mind legal blindness is 20/200:) My glasses correct for the myopia (back to 20/20) AND the astigmatism. When I use a red dot - I see a nice, round dot. If I look without my glasses - it is blurred because of my nearsightedness - but it also turns into a large oval. I’m guessing that those who see an oval while wearing their glasses don’t quite have their astigmatism corrected properly. FWIW - it is MUCH harder to correct astigmatism with contacts - as they always have some ability to rotate on their axis, and that throws off the correction. Also - unlike myopia or hyperopia - astigmatism is caused by an abnormal curvature of either the cornea or the lens. With the more complex asigmatisms - it may not be possible to truly correct for the full condition.
To those who are suggesting prescription glasses with heavily curved lenses like Oakleys, are you correcting for just the astigmatism or an additional eye problem? I have an astigmatism in both eyes and am very near sighted. I was told that my prescription was beyond what could be ground on that style of lens. Has anyone else run into this?
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For an old man, I don’t wear glasses (but probably should) but I can read a newspaper OK, so I just don’t bother carrying glasses…
I know my astigmatism can’t be corrected. My eye doctor was finished flipping (and unflipping) all of those lenses in that contraption I was looking through to help me read the eye chart better when I whupped out my T-1 from my pocket. I told him I wanted to see if the “comma” would be a “dot” now. He said it wouldn’t be and he was right. Dadgummit!
But I still shoot pretty good with the T-1. The top left edge of the “comma” is where the bullet’s going. It takes a little getting used to it but I think it is worth it.
My glasses correct for more than just Astigmatisms. My lenses have three prescriptions (progressive lenses) in them. I have quite a few pair of glasses all with the same prescription but do not want to take the chance of messing up the lenses with flying brass so my shooting glasses are WileyX. When I got them they were the only company who would make Progressive lenses in a heavilly curved frame. I think Oakley now does Progressives in a heavilly curved lense.
Same boat. I can’t have my prescription done on anything very curved which is why I am looking at some of the styles by Smith Optics. They appear to be flatter than the Oakleys. I’ll retrieve my prescription from my doctor and see if Smith has styles that’ll work.
For now, I’m using Ray Ban aviator frames. Very retro (as the younger shooters at the local range like to remind me) but I can see my sights and the frame gives enough coverage to protect my eyes.
