Vision problem solved

[MikeH]

I used to be a very active shooter, both hand gun and long gun; and felt I was a good marksman. I decided to get back into shooting after a 15 yr absence. After my first trip to the range I realized how seriously my skills had eroded.
I purchased a Savage MKII .22lr and went back to basics. Breathing, trigger discipline came back; but I was unable to properly line up the sights. If the front was in focus, the back was not, nor could I get a good view of the target. During those 15 years I had to start wearing glasses so I felt my eyesight had just deteriorated.
I bought a scope and it helped; however, I was nearly out of adjustment to get it zeroed. This was only at 25 yds. I was very frustrated.
The other day I read an article about cross eye dominance. I took the test and found I'm right eye dominant. Now, I'm a left handed shooter and always have been. Yesterday I went to the range and shot a rifle right handed for the first. Iron sight 2" groups at 25 yds and dime size groups with the scope. Nothing spectacular, but an encouraging start.
I must admit it feels very awkward; but with sufficient practice I should overcome that.
I wonder if eye dominance can change over time or if I always was right eye dominate, but ever so slightly that it did not noticeably effect my shooting.

 

[John2]

Put a patch over your right eye and force left dominance. Does your field of vision get snowy? Can you see the target? What does your eye doctor say? Chances are you are an old fart like me and its too late. With a pistol shooting left handed, it can be done by concentrating with your dominant right eye to obtain the proper sight picture. Its not that uncommon.

 

[Admin]

I've been shooting cross eyed with the pistol for some time now.

 

[Mike-Mike]

Put a patch over your right eye and force left dominance. Does your field of vision get snowy? Can you see the target? What does your eye doctor say? Chances are you are an old fart like me and its too late. With a pistol shooting left handed, it can be done by concentrating with your dominant right eye to obtain the proper sight picture. Its not that uncommon.

+1 on the patch. I just recently had to do this to a few of my students and it works like a charmah!

 

[MikeH]

Put a patch over your right eye and force left dominance. Does your field of vision get snowy? Can you see the target? What does your eye doctor say? Chances are you are an old fart like me and its too late. With a pistol shooting left handed, it can be done by concentrating with your dominant right eye to obtain the proper sight picture. Its not that uncommon.

I have no problem forcing left eye dominance. I just couldn't get on target with a rifle.
Old fart hit the nail on the head. Depending on what I focus on I can see okay. Rear sight focus, no front sight, snowy target. Front sight focus, no rear sight, target snowy. Target never in focus unless I look specifically at it.
Left hand pistol, left eye I compensate by altering sight picture seems to work ok. At 25 yds strong arm supported I can hit a basketball size target consistently. I haven't tried weak hand, right eye yet.
The rifle was giving me fits; but switching to right eye has helped immensely.
I'm due up for an eye examine shortly and will discuss this with the Dr.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

Put a patch over your right eye and force left dominance. Does your field of vision get snowy? Can you see the target? What does your eye doctor say? Chances are you are an old fart like me and its too late. With a pistol shooting left handed, it can be done by concentrating with your dominant right eye to obtain the proper sight picture. Its not that uncommon.

I have the advantage of not having to put a patch over my right eye. HAR HAR. Jack.

 

[MikeH]

There are advantages to everything!

 

[one-eyed Jack]

There are advantages to everything!

Another advantage is that I only have to clean one side of my eye glasses! Jack.

 

[highlander]

I'm right handed/left eye dominate and watch others shooting close one eye squinting etc.
I have never had to use a patch or close my right eye. don't know or how I just do.
BTW I've had 6 eye surgeries cataract removal at 5 yrs old detached retina left eye,retina tacked on right and a few years ago surgery to repair the damage from the first surgeries.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I've been shooting cross eyed with the pistol for some time now.

Me too. I just turn my head a bit. I can't do it with a rifle though.

 

[MikeH]

Me too. I just turn my head a bit. I can't do it with a rifle though.

I am glad to see I'm not alone. How do you shoot rifle? I'm pretty much resigned to switching hands;but extremely encouraged by my first attempt.

 

[Admin]

Me too. I just turn my head a bit. I can't do it with a rifle though.

Neither can I. I need to get an eye exam to see who my vision is in my right eye. The 600 yrd line is getting harder to see each year.

 

[Arioch]

I've been right handed but left eye dominant for most, if not all, of my life. It really screws up my archery, and it even effects things like fencing.

 

[John2]

There came a time for my rifle shooting, I changed to a ...scope! Even then I had problems. In the store I would remove my glasses to check it out. I'd buy it, bring it home, mount it on a rifle, take to range and...!!!! At the range I use corrective lens safety glasses. The scope would blur. It seems different scopes have different focal lengths. Some it doesn't matter if you are wearing glasses or not, it comes in clear. Others won't accomodate corrective lens unless you focus to your lens leaving it unusable by anyone else. Nevertheless, whenever I buy a scope or any optics, I leave my glasses on. I can still shoot iron sights for non-precision. I focus getting the target in alignment with the blurs of front and rear sights. Actually, everything is "center of blur"...

 

[center442]

Being an old goat myself I can sympathize with the vision problems. I am right-handed and right-eye dominant so I don't have the eye-dominance problem. My problem was focusing on handgun sights. I normally wear progressive lens glasses; what years ago would have been called tri-focals. They work okay for normal tasks but are a pain in the butt when trying to focus on the front sight of a handgun. The "middle" range of the progressive lens is rather narrow, and I found myself having to tilt my head in an odd way to keep my front sight in focus.

At my last eye exam I asked the optometrist to give me two scripts, one for the usual progressive lens and a second one with only two "zones," the mid-range ("arms-length") and the close ("reading"). I then took an old pair of glasses and had the optician replace the lenses with this second script. ("bifocals")

The whole top part of the new lens allows me to focus at arm's length, and the bottom portion allows me to see up close for reading, etc. These glasses are great for shooting, seeing a computer monitor, etc. When I drive to the range I do have to take along two pairs of glasses. I use my regular ones to drive, and then I switch over to the second pair for shooting. It's not a perfect solution, but it does help a lot.

I hope that I've explained this well enough for people to understand what I mean. If not, post back and I'll try to explain further.

 

[Ray-500]

Being an old goat myself I can sympathize with the vision problems. I am right-handed and right-eye dominant so I don't have the eye-dominance problem. My problem was focusing on handgun sights. I normally wear progressive lens glasses; what years ago would have been called tri-focals. They work okay for normal tasks but are a pain in the butt when trying to focus on the front sight of a handgun. The "middle" range of the progressive lens is rather narrow, and I found myself having to tilt my head in an odd way to keep my front sight in focus.

At my last eye exam I asked the optometrist to give me two scripts, one for the usual progressive lens and a second one with only two "zones," the mid-range ("arms-length") and the close ("reading"). I then took an old pair of glasses and had the optician replace the lenses with this second script. ("bifocals")

The whole top part of the new lens allows me to focus at arm's length, and the bottom portion allows me to see up close for reading, etc. These glasses are great for shooting, seeing a computer monitor, etc. When I drive to the range I do have to take along two pairs of glasses. I use my regular ones to drive, and then I switch over to the second pair for shooting. It's not a perfect solution, but it does help a lot.

I hope that I've explained this well enough for people to understand what I mean. If not, post back and I'll try to explain further.

I hear you and can only relate my own experiences. Tried the "trifocals" and they drove me nuts. Could not use them more than a week. Trying to drive with them was an invitation to disaster.

I'm nearsighted and have for many years relied on the standard bi-focals. On a daily basis, they work well. Have a set of "computer glasses" that work fine for about 2 1/2-3 ft.

Am finding that the aging eyes just cannot keep the sight picture on a rifle with standard sights. Pistol is not so bad if I paint them to what is good for my own eyes.

Am experimenting with red dot and so far have found good results. No final answer....still experimenting and trying.

 

[bob68]

my son has the same problem ....he is right handed but left eye dominate.....we discovered this when he was a kid learning to shoot. over the years he taught himself to shoot a rifle/shotgun left handed and has done well with it.