Shooting open sights

[riflejunkie]

the problem with open sights is that as we get older our eyes don't work quite as well as they used to.  As much as we may have enjoyed using open sights in our youth our older eyes aren't able to give us a good sight picture.  This little thing can give you some help.  Ronbeaux has a more elaborate version on his Knobloch shooting glass frames and he posted a picture of it in the springer target section.
http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=29645

[ac12basis]

You may also need special glasses...I do.
With my normal glasses, I cannot focus on the front sight.
I had to get a special pair made, so I can focus on the front sight, and still see the target (target is slightly blurred).

[airgunandy]

I can see the front sight OK, it's the rear sight and target I have trouble with.
The rear sight on the breach of a springer is OK, but receiver type rear sights are just blurs.

Wonder if one of those glasses  gizmos would help?

[ronbeaux]

I had problems for years once I got a little older. Couldn't see the target, the front sight, and the rear sight all together and all clear. Then the Doc said you need tri-focals. JUST TRY SHOOTING WITH TRI-FOCALS!!! So I gave it up. Then I got that lazer surgery and I was back to 20-20. EXCEPT, now I can't focus on the front sight unless I put on reading glasses and then everything else is fuzzy, but only if I hold the pistol up close. At arms length I'm OK. My recommendation is to go to your eye Doc and tell him what you are doing and let him make you some glasses. The Knobloch aperatures will help a little but are mostly for letting you zone out by hiding external light sources. And if you add the other eye peice over your non dominate eye with a piece of slightly clear plastic it will ensure you can keep both eyes open and MAKE your shooting eye do all the work.

If you can get glasses made that will enable you to see the front sight and the target clear it doesn't matter if the rear sight is a little blurry.

[riflejunkie]

My eye doctor rigged up a stick the approximate length of my rifle with a clip on the end and set the wall screen to be like 100 yds and I got dialed in to a terrific compromise that let me see my front sight and my target.  An aperture will improve your depth or distance clarity and the combination is a real enhancement to your open sight shooting.  If we had some industrious person who made ghost ring replacements for the notched rear similar to what Eric Brooks does for the CZ 452 it would be super and more people would put their scopes away at least on someo of their rifles.  http://cz452.com/

[ac12basis]

Ron
You CANNOT focus on all three (rear sight, front sight and target) at the same time.  They are on 3 different focal planes that are too far apart, especially as you get older and the eye ages.  The general rule is to focus on the front sight and let everything else be blurred.  You only need the rear sight and target to be clear enough to reference off of.

BTW, I wear TRI-focals and I still have to use my shooting glasses to shoot AP, so I can focus on the front sight w/o crinking my neck.
My eye doc was great.  I brought my AP into her office, and we did the measurements to the front sight and a target at 10m from me.  Turned out to be exactly as Warren Potter (Pilkingtons) stated in his article
     http://www.pilkguns.com/c16.shtml

[ronbeaux]

You be right! I just broke out the pistol and looked and I don't really 'see' anything clear but the target. It just seems to line up and I pull the trigger. I guess my definition of clear is what I see.