Shooting After Cataract Surgery

[haymaker]

Last winter I had cataract surgery and new lenses put in my eyes. I can now see long distance without glasses but have progressive lenses in my glasses to see close and midrange distances. This has messed up my shooting. If I focus on the front sight the target is fuzzy, if I focus on the target my sights are fuzzy and out of focus.

Does anyone else have this issue and how do you deal with it?

 

[JFB]

I wear glasses, can't see far away.

I had a pair made with the right eye "weak" so I have rifle front sight in focus and distance with the left.

I intended to use at work when I had to read micrometer, but I never could (and took glasses off to read when no one was looking)

 

[Fox Mike]

The only 'clear' item should be the front sight. Something I have done, since I too wear progressive lenses, was to use an EAR protector rolled up and placed under the nose piece. It raises the lens just enough to get a clear sight picture.

 

[pisgah]

Your eyes can only focus on one distance at a time anyway, although when young the eyes can shift focus so fast that it seems you can focus on all distances at once. Bottom line -- only one thing at a time -- target, front sight or rear sight -- can be sharp. Proper sighting for young, old or post-surgery eyes is to keep the front sight sharp, rear sight and target fuzzy. Once you get used to it, it works very well. Peep sights can help.

In other words, you haven't lost your sighting ability -- you are just realizing how it's always actually been.

 

[pete44ru]

The only 'clear' item should be the front sight.

+1[/I] - A fuzzy target is OK...…..

.

 

[blackhawknj]

Charlie Askins recommended talking to your optometrist about your needs and having glasses ground to meet them. Years ago I knew an appliance repairman, he had bifocals with the close vision section on the top since he spent a lot of time looking up at work areas.

 

[Ka6otm]

And guess what? The front sight doesn't have to be sharp, you only have to be focused as well as you can on it and you'll shoot fine.

I've done it that way for years as have most of the members of my weekly shooting group.

 

[Slyk Willy]

I had the same combination of procedures. I ended up with reading glasses with progressive lenses. I wear them when I shoot, seems to work well.

 

[Fox Mike]

And guess what? The front sight doesn't have to be sharp, you only have to be focused as well as you can on it and you'll shoot fine.

I've done it that way for years as have most of the members of my weekly shooting group.

I don't make this stuff up. Read about it here: https://www.usacarry.com/proper-sight-alignment-keys-to-accuracy/
"The answer and key aiming technique for best accuracy… is to FRONT SIGHT ONLY focus, after your initial cursory Sight Alignment, if you do not use the Flash Sight Picture technique for close-up encounters."

 

[Pat-inCO]

Does anyone else have this issue and how do you deal with it?

Only 99% of the people shooting do.

There are some that are able to shift the focus of the eye quickly enough
that it seems you are able to focus on both the sights and target at the
same time, but it is not so. Just like the lens of a camera there is a range
of distance that is actually "in focus", so the eye is continually adjusting.

One possibility is to have a disk with a small hole in it mounted on your
shooting glasses. That small hole increases the apparent distance that
the eye tells you is in focus. Look in places like Champions Choice for
examples of commercially available devices.

Edit:
Here is an example of one that doesn't mount ON the lens, but rather
mounts on the frame in a flip down mode.
http://www.champchoice.com/store/main.aspx?p=ItemDetailOptions&item=390

 

[haymaker]

Since I was a little kid I was so near sighted I couldn't see past the end of my nose. I wore single lens glasses for 25 years then went to bifocals, then trifocals and the last 15 years I've had progressive lenses. I never had an issue focusing on both sights and target. Now, with my new implants I can drive without glasses and I wear progressive lenses for shorter distances.

I think a large part of my problem is getting used to being far sighted now and not near sighted. It's a big adjustment and shooting isn't the only thing affected. I think I'll try taking off my progressives and using reading glasses to focus on the front sight and see how that goes. I don't have trouble shooting rifles because the front sight is out there far enough to where it's in focus with the target. Maybe for handguns I need 2 foot extensions on my arms.