Prescription Shooting Glasses

Save your money!

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Lasik and forget it.

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They won't touch me due to an autoimmune issue.

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I don’t know what shooting glasses will cost but sunglasses are $250 for each lens.

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Sunglasses from Costco were $270... and they wouldn't even let me get polarized lenses. I used insurance for the sunglasses and paid for the regular glasses. Just regular glasses were $160 and that was with FREE frames. I was told to expect to pay more at other retailers. You go on these online sites and they have reasonable prices, then I put in my prescription and the cost goes up $100-$200... It sucks you can't just try them out.

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Does anyone have experience with prescription shooting glasses? I recently got a prescription for near sightedness and to fix my astigmatism. Its a relatively weak prescription but boy does it make a difference. -.75, 1 (astigmatism) 80, add .75 and 1, .25, 63, add .75. I can see up close fine but when they correct for the astigmatism I can't see fine through the glasses up close so they add the .75 for correction. These lenses are EXPENSIVE so I am not concerned about frame cost all that much, basically if I am spending big money on the lenses anyway I want good frames.

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I looked into them, it IS a pain in the arse.

Without boasting, I will say I've shot pistols long enough that I'm a damn good shot (if I do say so myself ). I also am nearsighted and have mild astigmatism, most of my life I wore contacts. Went to glasses exclusively around 40.

Approaching 50, my eyes started changing, to where I couldn't see my front sight sharply with glasses, couldn't see the target sharply without them. Started having to cheat, shooting longer slides, or pushing my arms a bit further than natural, or peaking past the lenses.
Pissed me off- I had finally gotten to where I wanted to be, and suddenly (about the period of a year) I couldn't see the damn sight!

I also had trouble with reading and computer screens, finally caved in to get progressives. Better, but still not the same. As I type this, my glasses are off, the screen is sharp, a front sight would be too. If I shoot, my now-prescriptions make me lean my head back, to see the sight, and then lean forward to see the target.

I've seen people say "get an optometrist to set the lenses up at the right distance", but that still doesn't help with the difference between front sight and target. You will still need to move your head to change the line of sight, and apply the correct part of the lens.

I've conceded to shooting in a more natural posture, head a bit down so I get distance correction, and accept that I see the front sight as a blur. I put the blur over the target.

One issue about progressive lenses (lineless bifocals), that nobody seems to address= it takes at least a week of steady wear. more like a month, for your brain to adjust. Until then, the world looks weird, almost 3-D... driving was terrifying during the adjustment period. Researching this, I learned that you absolutely do not want to switch back and forth between different prescriptions (go back to the old one), or you will not adjust.

I do this for a living...

What are you trying to shoot specifically?

A few pointers for shooting glasses you want the narrowest bridge you can get so it won't interfere with the angle of your head and eye when the gun/bow is shouldered. You want a larger lens to you don't catch the edge. Bifocals or progressives are more than doable but take work.

Pistols? Rifles with iron sights? A scoped rifle?

Iron sights and pistols are the most challenging to get someone shooting them well over 40. I typically have patients bing their firearm into the office and we work with it and them to get the sights and target clearly. Occasionally we need to bring them out to a range and work with them. There are people that will and can help you, however you won't find them at Costco.

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I also had trouble with reading and computer screens, finally caved in to get progressives. Better, but still not the same.

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I don't have any useful suggestions for the OP, but I'll make a suggestion for you, Scoob. I had similar problems when I had to start reading from a desktop computer screen many hours/day using usual progressives. I had no problem using my laptop at home, sitting in my lap. I found out this is a common problem. Desktop computer screens are farther away than the usual focal point for readers or the lower part of bifocals/progressives. They're usually also higher off the ground. It was causing a lot of neck pain for me as I found myself holding my head at an awkward angle. The near vision component of regular progressives and reading glasses are set up to focus at about 12" while computer screens are usually at arms length. I ended up w/ a pair of "computer" progressive lens glasses (also referred to as "work" progressive lens). That took care of the problem. From what I read, this is a common problem as the eye ages. Once the neckache resolved, I was eventually able to resume my usual progressives. IIRC, the optometrist was able to write a prescription for the "computer" progressives using the regular progressive prescription. I think that's the case, but I may be wrong. Your optometrist/ophthalmologist should know the details. Good luck.

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I do this for a living...

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Great

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What are you trying to shoot specifically?

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I really like open sights and lower powered optics withing 100 yards or so. If I had a place to open up I would probably be more into high powered optics. I find my go to combo right now is a Ruger PC carbine with a prism sight and Glock 17 MOS. I have other guns I like (I love AK's) but that combo is cheap and fun to shoot. The Glock might be my least favorite pistol but matching mags with the Carbine make it a must have for me.

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There are people that will and can help you, however you won't find them at Costco.

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Oh, I know that. The doctor at Costco is cool but knows nothing about shooting. We have enhanced coverage at Costco and get a free exam and get more money towards a pair of glasses if we use them over other places. I know I am coming out of pocket for shooting glasses and I will pay what I need to pay. Hopefully I get a pair of progressive transitions that I can wear whenever. I honestly would feel fine shooting in the glasses I ordered but they aren't "rated" and don't look like shooting glasses. Polycarbonate is strong rated or not.