Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Words I have heard often, repeated often, and have lived by for many years. So, it was while one day shooting that these words once again floated through my mind.
A little background: I have through my life abused my eyes more than I should looking at small parts and detailed lines while in a previous life acting as a mechanical draftsman; late night (dim light) studying as a professional college student; and reading way more than I should. These things and others (o.k., I’m getting older) have caused me to be in need of trifocal glasses, which allow me to see up close, mid-range, and distance. They work great and save me from severe headaches when I don’t wear them.
The downside is that they don’t really work that well for shooting, so I usually just wear some yellow tinted non-prescription shooting glasses that place everything slightly out of focus. Not a big deal, as I usually have no problem hitting the target.
This is an o.k. solution unless you are an anal retentive perfectionist (ARP). Then it just plain eats on you after a while.
So it was for me at the shooting range several weeks back; plugging .45 holes into a paper target. Front sight blurry, target blurry, everything blurry. I looked at my groupings and at 15 yards everything was within the 7 ring and under, which is O.K., unless of course you are one of those aforementioned ARP’s.
So, in disgust, I put my tri-focals back on in an attempt to improvise, adapt and overcome.
Using the distance portion of the glasses my front sights were blurry, but the target was sharp. Using the reading portion the target was blurry; the front sight blurry, but the rear sight was useable. So, tipping my head back so I could look through the mid lens, I could clearly see my front sight with the target being blurry. Sweet. Except that shooting while looking down my nose was not only uncomfortable, it was also downright unfashionable (not a very manly shooting stance).
But this little experiment did get me thinking. Surely, I thought, other people have experienced this exact same thing, probably reaching the same conclusion. What if I had a pair of glasses made with a mid-range lens for my dominant eye, and a distance lens for my non-dominant eye? That way I could keep both eyes open and still have a good clear view of my front sight.
Off to visit the eye doctor. I explained to him what I was trying to accomplish and after reviewing my recent eye exam he scratched out a prescription for me to try. The best part was that he didn’t even charge me for doing this.
I then visited a discount eyeglass shop, found some frames and ordered some glasses. These set me back $50 and some change (I didn’t order any anti glare coating or scratch resistant lenses – no frills with these).
The next opportunity I had I was back on the range punching .45 holes in paper again, only this time with my new “shooting” glasses. The difference was absolutely amazing. At 15 yards my groups were much tighter using the same bullets and same gun as before. Now all my shots were in the 9 ring or under and I was tearing a ragged hole into the paper. 30 shots later at the same target all in a diameter of 3”. Dang! I am anxious to try these out during the next IDPA shoot to see how they work shooting and moving.
So if you would like to improve your groups, and you have already worked on your grip and trigger squeeze, these types of glasses just might be a cheap and easy solution.
Sweet!!
