old guy question...progressive lenses?

[big bear]

Just back from the eye doc today. She suggested I get progressive lenses for my new specs. She didn't think they would be a problem for shooting, but she only shoots shotguns. I now use one pair of "distance glasses" for driving, shooting, hunting. For my office I use some" faux" bifocals...upper part of glasses have my correction, lower part where a bifocal would be is just clear glass.Anyone have experience with progressive lenses hunting and shooting? I use all kinds of sights...scopes, receiver, open iron sights and shoot long guns and handguns. Not much into shotguns...why waste safe space I might need for another levergun!

[LeverBar]

Give up now, Big Bear! Send me those Levers before my eyes get to your stage--three months, a year?

(I am a bit behind you in the fading sight realm, so I have no experience to help you.)

Thanks for bringing this up. Inquiring minds want to know too.

I'll be seeing the eye doc soon, so I might be stepping into the same situation you are in.

[KirkD]

I've been shooting for a couple years with progressive lenses. It's hard to find the 'sweet spot' when shooting with iron sights. Today, I picked up a pair of fixed focal length glasses. The 'sweet spot' is much larger with these. I'm looking forward to trying them out at the range.

[66GTO]

I wear progressives all the time, except when I shoot. I find that single vision lenses allow me to focus on the sights better than the progressives. If I try use the progressives I get a stiff neck from trying to find a sweet spot in the lenses.

[Charles]

I have been wearing progressives for ten years. They work just fine for pistol shooting where I can move my head to find the right spot. However, they don't work so well for rifle shooting where you can't or shouldn't be moving your head off the stock.

[cfplinker]

I've had progressives for about 20 years now and wouldn't even think about using regular trifocals. They work great for me for normal everyday activities--but you were asking about shooting. I have no problems with using them with scopes, red dots, or aperture sights anywhere from 10 to 200 yards. I have gradually equipped all of my rifles with scopes or Williams or Lyman peep sights, and the One Ragged Hole on the 22s.

The last time I got the eyes examined the Dr. gave me a prescription for 30 inches in addition to my progressive prescription. That is about the distance to the front sight on my pistols and I get a pair of reading glasses to use so I can focus on the front sight. I have enough depth of field to see a 50' target with them. For 25 and 50 yards I drilled a 5/64 hole in a piece of thin metal and tape that to the reading glasses to give more depth of field at those distances.

Getting older isn't for wimps and it sure beats the alternative.

[Bob A]

I have been wearing progressive lenses for years, but only recently I've found that I can't shoot with open sights. I can see a target at 50 yards just fine, but when I look down the barrel at the front sight, the target completely disappears. Its very distressing, I have been shooting my father's old winchester single shot 22 for years. It is still the most accurate gun I own and the trigger is perfect after 70+ years of use. I will not tap the rifle for a scope, so I put it away for a future grand child.
It didn't occur to me that I might try single vision glasses.

Bob A

[big bear]

So far your responses agree with my assumption! Remember...it's better to be over the hill than under the hill

[El Chivo]

Shooting requires you to see two objects at different distances which are at the same point in your horizon.

Progressive lenses work by having near objects low in the horizon and far objects high in the horizon. If you move the near object up (the front sight) it will become blurry.

If I were you I'd get single vision lenses for distance. The sights will then be blurry, but the target will be sharp. If you select a front sight that you look through rather than at, its sharpness won't matter. Sort of a "double peep" situation. A small aperture will help sharpen things up a bit.

If you are wearing your progressives, they'll act like single vision distance when you shoot, but you'll have near power there for things like loading and checking your safety.

I use Lyman Globes and just got some thin inserts from Brownell's, they are the greatest. Your target is sharp with a faint crosshair over it.

[Sixgun]

Been wearing progressive bi-focals (they look like normal glasses, not that stupid lower thingy) for about ten years. I hit whatever I am shooing at----tang sights no problem at all but open sights leave a little to be desired. But...the old brain learns to compensate and even though things are a bit blurred, 'ya still hit as long as you do everything else right.--------------------Sixgun