sight, handgunsI notice that as my near eyesight changes, focusing on traditional iron sights is becoming harder. I’d appreciate some recommendations for sighting systems that specifically address this issue in older shooters. This is really a problem with handguns and I’m not that keen on laser sights (like Crimson Trace). Am I limited to using scopes and red dot sights? The latter systems tend to have a higher profile than I like on a pistol.
Red dot sights work great for those with aging eyes. The dot is on the same focal plane as the target, so farsightedness is not a problem. My personal carry gun is a Glock that's had it's slide milled for a Trijicon RMR by TSD Combat Systems. I could not be happier with it.
Are you so far gone that big fat target-style sights don’t work ? (..asks a fellow shooter who turned 45 this year and is living the same thing!)
If you don’t actually like non-iron sights you might consider fixing the problem at your end rather than on your gun. What about getting single-focus glasses or contact lenses with a prescription biased to your shooting needs? I wear contacts only when I shoot iron sighted target rifle, my right lens is half a diopter less than what I need for perfect distance vision so that it is easier for me to see my front sight clearly. Admittedly mine is an easier problem than a pistol shooter faces because I only need to focus on a front sight that is about a metre in front of my eye plus the target image at infinity, whereas a pistol shooter has to see both a front sight and a rear sight and at a closer distance to boot.
I need reading glasses which are +2.5 diopter. If I use these for shooting my handguns, I can see my sights fine but looking down range the target is all blurred. I solved this by wearing +1.0 diopter glasses. This is just enough to keep the sights infocus and I can still view the target clearly.
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