Yep.... I'm getting older and my eyes are letting me know it. Bummer.
I am not ready, mostly from just being stubborn, to go the way of the red dot for anything but rifles. Once I hit 40 my vision at distance started to go. At first it only bothered me driving at night in Vegas with all the neon haze. Now I am starting to notice it in broad daylight as without scripts I find myself needing to be much closer to the street signs before being able to clearly read them (thank you Garmin!). I have a slight astigmatism is my dominant eye (I'm right eye dominant, left handed but shoot right handed). Another thing I am starting to notice is a change in eye speed and the ability to focus from near to far a quickly as I could 4-5 years ago. Maybe this is just a head game but I don't seem to be getting the quality of visual input from the sights as quickly as I used to. I can still see my sights relatively clearly but I am noticing that certain types of sights don't work as well for me as they used to. At the same time I am starting to shoot my handguns quite a bit more after a few year hiatus due to work commitments. I didn't totally abandon my pistol shooting but it didn't get the time and attention it got in 2004-5. Hence, the old adage of my brain wants to run like a 20 year old but my body is letting me know that I'm no longer 20. Here are some observations I have made while practicing various drills/standards and trying to get back in the groove:
- I am going to ditch my all black and black rear/FO front sights on my comp gun. There is not enough contrast between the front and rear sights for me to pick them as quickly as I would like. Variable lighting conditions make these even more of a challenge to use. Heck, I shot better with the stock plastic Glock sights the other day doing plate rack drills from 10 to 25 yards. Lighting variances wreak havoc on old guy eyes. I shot at both indoor and outdoor ranges just to get tuned up on how variable lighting conditions would effect the clarity of my sight picture and overall visual acuity. Indoor range lighting conditions can do funky things and play mind games with you if you are not careful. I shot targets indoors at various distances and played with the lighting in the bay to get the best sight picture possible but in the end it was a lesson in how lighting effects sight picture and ultimately POI. Obviously, I won't be given this luxury in a home defense or CCW environment. I shot some scenarios in an indoor PRISim simulator and in this environment night sights ruled. I NEVER zero any of my handguns at an indoor range. If I have to I will verify the zero outdoors.
- I shoot 3 dots sights better than any other combination. What have I tried? I have a literal box of sights that I have accumulated over the years. All are for Glock 17/34 models. These consist of old school Trijicon standard 3 dots, Meprolight 3 dots (I thinned the front down to .125), Warren Tactical 2 and 3 dots, Heinie Straight 8's, XS big dots, Ameriglo Defoor's, Sevigny competition (all black and black rear with FO front), and stock Glock sights. Each has there positive and negatives but I shot the most consistently with 3 dot set ups. A thinner front sight is nice when doing a walk back drill out to 100 yards but I think a .125 (relative to rear sight notch) will do me just fine and be sufficient for just about everything. I did not notice a difference in my group size with a thinner (.115 Sevigny) at 25 yards. I shot groups as tight or tighter with the stock Glock .165 using the same gun and ammo combo.
- I shoot my G17 better than my G34. That can't be... right?! I ran the same drills with both guns with the same sight set up and ammo combo. I have a lot miles on the G17 but I have been shooting the G34 almost exclusively for the past two years. However, I picked up the G17 and it was like getting reacquainted with an old friend. I like the balance better and it seems to be a bit quicker out of the holster and on target. The G17 is slightly snappier in recoil but I only noticed it shooting slow fire groups. Both guns are set up with the old 3.5lb (or whatever they call it now) factory connector and a polish job, factory extended mag release with a slight file job to smooth out the edges and help reload with my short ass thumbs. Other than that and the sights the guns are stock. I didn't really see a big difference in accuracy when shooting both 1" dots at 5 yards or 5 round groups at 25 yards. I managed to consistently ring a 12" plate at 100 yards with both and did not see any measurable difference between the two at this distance. Both guns were set up with Sevigny Comps with a FO front and then changed to Trijicon 3 dots.
- While I have a bunch of sights, I'm not really super jazzed by any of them. Each had their pro's and cons and I am looking forward to trying some new stuff. On the the horizon will be Trijicon HD's (not sure which color I want to try yet although I know the orange is popular I might try the yellow unless someone can tell me why one is better than the other), Ameriglos with a Hack front and a standard with rear notch and subdued 2 dot rear. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of wide rear notches.
Thanks for reading my vomit and any input, personal experience, observation, or test that you have conducted that you think might offer some insight as I get back into the swing is always welcome.
-EB
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Originally Posted by SeriousStudent
