As I get older my vision at distance is beginning to get a bit blurry. Luckily I can still see my sights fairly clearly. I went out yesterday to zero the irons on my rifle at 50 yards. What a frustrating disaster. I could not shoot a consistent enough group (for my liking) to get the precise zero I was hoping for.
Most of my problem is not from a lack of marksmanship skills but rather the inability to put the sights on the same part of target visually. Even with a good natural point of aim I was unable to shoot tighter than a 3" or so 3 shot group. Now when using the Aimpoint I can huck 'em in there like there’s no tomorrow. I shoot great with the dot but my ability to shoot to my personal marksmanship standard with irons is getting tough.
Any tips that might help a guy with aging eyes?
What do guys with vision issues do when they deploy?
My vision was 20/10 until i was 50. It is 20/20 now- but i can’t focus like i used to…
This is a fact of life. It isn’t fun, but that is why we seek advice.
What do guys with vision issues do when they deploy?
In the Big Army, use the issued Aimpoint. In the Big Marine Corps, use the issued RCO.
If you can’t see well with irons, don’t use them. Drive on with the optic.
This won’t make you feel any better, but i’d rather cank irons then grow old gracefully!
I’m relatively old, but my eyes are pretty bad and I wear vision corrective devices (glasses or contacts). Even then, I can’t see a 6" black circle plus focus on the front sight post through the rear aperture clearly. When I settle down enough to shoot a 4" group at 100 yds while taking an eternity, I’m usually very proud of that achievement. With a dot sight (Aimpoint), I can shoot the same group in way less time. When the sun goes down, dot sights usually “shine” above all iron sights anyway. A few night shooting classes really proved why warriors that go into harms way use Aimpoints and Eotechs.
Like you said, it’s not the lack of marksmanship. I’m sure when your eyes were much younger you could shoot little groups with iron sights.
I keep hearing some old timers saying that those who uses dot sights can’t shoot, so at the last Vickers carbine class I used a slick iron sighted 16" carbine to shoot the 50 yds portion of the marksmanship test. Lo and behold, I won the shootoff against 13 other shooters, some with 20" rifles, some iron sighted and some optics. Those were pretty damn good shooters. One is a diehard iron sighted proponent. On the second day when we shot 100 yds, I went to my Aimpointed gun and didn’t do badly against younger shooters with better eyesights. My point was, you can get by with old eyes and iron sights at shorter range, but at night and/or longer ranges, there’s no question that optics will make your shooting and hitting much easier.
The Army has/had a zero target that has a black rectangle with a square notch cut out at 6 o’clock superimposed on a grid. The idea is to put the lower edge of the aiming rectangle along the tip of the front sight blade. You can supposedly see the cut-out to facilitate centering the rectangle.
I cut a 4 in. high X 9.5 in. wide piece of black construction paper and then removed a 1 1/2 in. square from the bottom center. IIRC, the front sight post subtends 19 in at 100 yds. (could be meters; getting old affects more than eyes. ) Half of 19 in. is 9.5 in. since 50 yds. is half of 100 yds. This is then glue sticked to an 8.5 X 11 piece of white paper (great contrast.)
Center the tip of the front sight post vertically and horizontally in the rear sight aperture (sight alignment) and hold the tip of the front sight post along the lower edge of the aiming rectangle (sight picture). POI should be the mid point of the line between the left and right corners of the cut out. The vertical sides of the front sight post should align with the vertical sides of the aiming rectangle.
Shoot a group at 50 yards. Adjust for windage. Shoot another group and adjust for elevation. Repeat as necessary until sights are properly aligned.
This target, and its relation to the front sight, is visible to aging eyes; the technique really works.
Now cut two circles, each an inch wide with 4 inch and 8 inch diameters. Place them concentrically on another sheet of white paper at 50 yards. Install your newly purchased Aimpoint/LaRue RDS. While keeping proper sight alignment, adjust the elevation and windage knobs so that the red dot is now centered on the tip of the front sight post.
Flip down your BUIS and hold the red dot in the center of the concentric circles. (The human eye/brain combo loves concentric circles.) Shoot a group. Adjust for windage. Shoot another group and adjust for elevation. Repeat as necessary until RDS properly aligned.
Most of my shooting for the last several years has been IDPA and steel pistol. Yesterday I tried some 100 yard groups with my AR and it reminded me my eyes aren’t 20 years old anymore.
I’ve heard of some yellow glass shooters who get corrective prescriptions for their focus tailored for iron sight radius. They have it adjusted for perfect focus about 24-48" or so, and that allows them to keep a good focus on the front sight while not having the target completely wash out. You’d need to check with your eye doc for that.
Conventional bifocals have the focus established much closer and the far vision focus much farther away.
Some eyeglass mfg’s build an upside down bifocal, which is more appropriate for rifle shooters who look through the top of their lenses rather than the bottom. (Decot HyWides)
Then there are rear sight hoods and screw in diopters to get a good front sight focus. (Bob Jones)
Lastly, some guys just go to a wider blade and aperture as they get older. They need the extra light.
Just some thoughts to ponder if you are committeed to using the irons.
I had a 21 year old friend with me at the range yesterday and his groups were awesome. However, his cheekweld, position, etc. while shooting needs only be slightly different than mine for it to effect my poa/poi. Besides, I’m not ready to give in to those young whipper snappers just yet. I can still rock with a pistol.
The irons with all of the high tech sites are for the most part just backup these days. If you and someone elses poa are the same it should be pretty close between the two of you.
I feel your pain brother. 54 here. Like some of the others here, I maintained 20/10 into my early 40’s. Then had to buy reading glasses (Drug store stuff), I refuse to visit an eye doctor so far.
NOW, my long distance vision is slipping. I keep blinking my eyes, rubbing them and shaking my head, especially when Im shooting. I was using a pair of 7x35’s for reviewing my groups and struggle to see the target holes at 50 yards. 100? forget about it. I can see the paper. I was shopping for a spotting scope this weekend.
I guess we will figure this out as we read each others posts about longer, brighter scopes!!
You’re lucky, uncorrected I have worse than 20/400, (corrected to 20/20 via soft contacts). Lasik is an option for me but since the Acuvue Oasis contacts are so comfortable I’ve elected not to do that just yet (Murphy is a son-of-a-bitch and someone taking a knife to my eyes sounds like Murphy would be getting an invite).
I love Aimpoints, they’re very fast and efficient. Until I started using Aimpoints 3yrs ago I preferred EOTechs. I think EOTechs have a purpose but I prefer the Aimpoints, they just hold up better and with a minimum of 10 times the battery life they can’t be beat. I do shoot EOTechs a few 100ths of a second faster, it’s just natural because I’m seeing more red faster on the target.
clean off all oil,get some bright [yellowish] /green jighead paint and paint your front sight …get the 8’’ shoot and see and cut in half at 50yds and zero !i hope this will help
) Half of 19 in. is 9.5 in. since 50 yds. is half of 100 yds. This is then glue sticked to an 8.5 X 11 piece of white paper (great contrast.)