Vision, correction, and shooting

[Duelist]

I put my contacts in the wrong eyes yesterday morning - crossed myself up in the 2 hours too early I had to get up b/c timezones. After the second conference session (I'm at a professional development con), I went on the bathroom and switched. Very weird morning- clean contacts are supposed to fit right and I'm supposed to be able to see!

Started thinking about how well I'd be able to shoot like that. I know I don't want to try to drive that way!

Then, started wondering about shooting without correction. Some experimenting is in order.

[TGS]

Depends on your particular condition.

I shoot remarkably better without correction. I can't focus on my front sight very easily with contacts. It's a little bit better with glasses, but still quantifiable in performance tracking.

[LOKNLOD]

Depends on your particular condition.

Yes, if we're talking about comparing notes on vision correction, and how it impacts our shooting, it might be worth noting what you're working with.

[vcdgrips]

Is the goal to dial in a shooting Rx or are you concerned about what you can v.cannot see with and without your contacts in "the real world " v the range etc.?

[BillSWPA]

The possibility of having to shoot without correction is one of the main driving force behind a recent interest in laser sights. I can see a laser on target with or without glasses, although it appears a bit bigger without as distance increases. Obviously I would also need to be that much more careful about target identification and threat verification.

[sharps54]

The possibility of having to shoot without correction is one of the main driving force behind a recent interest in laser sights. I can see a laser on target with or without glasses, although it appears a bit bigger without as distance increases. Obviously I would also need to be that much more careful about target identification and threat verification.

In a related note this is why I've got XS Big Dot sights on my home defense rifle. Plenty accurate at the distances inside my 1,300 square foot home and I can see the dot fine without my glasses. For the same reason I've got Trijicon HDs on my Glock, the front sight is large enough for me to see it in case my glasses are knocked off.

[Duelist]

20/175 right, 20/225 left, astigmatism in both.

[Paul D]

20/175 right, 20/225 left, astigmatism in both.

Firstly, your vision is terrible but not as bad as mine uncorrected. Because of this I have been contemplating a different bedside gun. The only way I can correct my vision is contact lenses. Thus putting on some bedside glasses will make it better but not near as good as contacts. I'm not blind but I cannot use iron sights or make precision shots. I have playing around with outfitting my 870 SBS with an RDS, light and laser. I figure that I might not hit a 3x5 index card dead center within 20 yds (the longest length of open space in my house), but I will obliterate the general area.

[Duelist]

Is the goal to dial in a shooting Rx or are you concerned about what you can v.cannot see with and without your contacts in "the real world " v the range etc.?

A shooting Rx might be interesting, but the present concern, what my thoughts were as I changed my contacts back where they went, was, what if I had to try to protect myself right now with my discrete NPE carry pocket pistol? Can I see well enough to make it work? Guess I'm going to experiment on that when I get home from this convention.

[SecondsCount]

My eyes have an almost identical prescription. One has more astigmatism than the other but the doctor prescribed the same contacts for both.

Most of the time I do the monovision thing, a contact in my left eye and I leave the contact out of the right eye. With this method I can still drive, read, and the front sight is pretty clear while I get a decent target focus.

I spoke to Rob Leatham at SHOT a few years ago about the issue and he basically said that he has several prescriptions for shooting depending on what game he is playing...pistol, 3-gun, etc.