Shooting glasses

[RobinC]

Franklyn
Eye dominance is often a problem with beginers and can cause strange effects if your not aware of it, but its one of the first things we check with new shooters before they shoot.

My problem is anno domini and normal deteriation in eyesight after having shot for years with perfect vision. Getting the correct prescription for rifle is a compromise, you need the foresight to be seen as sharp as it can be whilst still being able to see the target well enough to hold a good sight picture. Different experts have slightly differeing opinions as to the best focal length, the last guy I've been to, Stephen Hing at Shefford, has 30 years experience of dealing with shooters and he has got mine perfect. He sets the focal length to 2 mts which gets the foresight sharp and then the rear diopter adjusts the vision ballance for the target. I can very highly recommend Stephen Hing.

Getting beaten by my shooting wife is something I've had 40 years of experience of to get used to!! I'm really very proud of her achievements. She was GB national team 30 years ago with smallbore and air, she got through to the Queens Prize final with fullbore rifle in 1979 and all whilst being quite short sighted. She has now come out of shooting retirement at bus pass as a retirement pastime and following a double cataract operation now has perfect vision and is back shooting to top level. She has won two trophies this year that she last won 30 years ago!
Good shooting,
Robin

[BooMarley]

Wow, Robin that is some achievement from your good lady, congrats to her. I think that story bodes well for us people who would like to get their other halves into shooting and I reckon my wife would give it a try after reading that.

I came across this thread after searching for prescription shooting/safety glasses here and I am now quite confused as to which direction to take. I am both short sighted and I need glasses for closeup work too, basically without them I'm useless. So I figured I'd better wait till Friday this week when I get my guns to be able to judge which direction to take. I also have the added problem that my left eye is my dominant eye so I believe that's what is referred to as cross dominant as I am right handed. Any advice on this would be hugely appreciated too please.

Boo.

[Rutty]

I also have the added problem that my left eye is my dominant eye so I believe that's what is referred to as cross dominant as I am right handed. Any advice on this would be hugely appreciated too please.

The advice normally given is to shoot from the dominant eye side and I always suggest that you should at least give this a try. Research does indicate that shooters who do not use the dominant eye do not achieve their full potential. Now, this may be important if you are aiming for the highest levels, but possibly less so if you are a contented recreational shooter. If you cannot get on with shooting from the left shoulder then for rifle at least there are the options of crossover rearsight prisms or offset sight rails. For pistol however you really have to decide on right hand/eye or left hand/eye. "Cross aiming" , eye to hand, in pistol brings with it a whole raft of problems that require quite large compromises to resolve and I haven't seen anyone who has ever really managed it satisfactorily.

Rutty

[BooMarley]

Hi Rutty,

Firstly thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question so thoroughly, I really appreciate that.

I'm quite taken aback at the disadvantages that obviously come with this issue of cross dominance now. I don't think I'll be taking things too serious but then again I'm quite hard on myself and I always aim to achieve the best I can for my own satisfaction. I will at least try some left shoulder shooting as you suggest Rutty, it couldn't hurt to give it a whirl for a while and if that feels too awkward then those other options will most certainly be looked into further. I never knew stuff like that existed and it amazes me how much technology has gone into shooting and making it a viable option for all comers.

I first came across the cross dominance issue when playing darts and I have yet to correct my throw to compensate for it. Throwing a dart with the left hand is totally out of the window for me and quite literally for the dart too But the shooting could be another story because of those sight aids and I'm so pleased that if there is an issue for me then it can be overcome.

Thanks again Rutty, you've been so helpful.

Boo.