no longer see ft sight and target

[hortonstn]

ok I had lasek on my eyes 12 years ago
things were great now it seams that the ft sight and target are fuzzy
this is at 60 yards with a rear v and a ft post at bench rest
any solutions other than an eye doc
 this is on a 44 inch barrel rear sight is 8 inches from breech
any thoughts I know I'm 63 and don't have my young eyes
but I love to shoot
paul

[J Henry]

  Might have to go back for a touch up !!!

[EC121]

Might try one of those orifices that clip on your glasses.  Before you buy try punching a hole in a piece of tape with a finishing nail head to make a round hole.  Then stick it on your glasses and sight the gun to see if it clears things up.

[Mike Brooks]

Might check for a cataract at your age.

I discovered scopes. No more problems.  Of course I had to change the type of guns I shoot a little.

[bob in the woods]

Is it because you are looking at the rear sight , that the front is blurred ?  If you simply concentrate on the front, is that OK ?   Reason I ask, is that I've had to go to either a large square cut out on the rear sight, or else a very shallow V  [ Daryl has posted photos of these before ]   My front sight is 3/16ths wide.  Works for me and I'm 62 and 3/4s  

[Don Steele]

Paul,
In all likelihood what you're experiencing is simply the "old eyes syndrome".
I'm a bit over 65, and have been dealing with it for some time.  As this is a Longrifle forum I'll limit my response to what I do in order to keep shooting iron sighted muzzleloaders. Here's what has worked for me:
1. My shooting glasses were made for me by Decot (www.decot.com). Their Hy-Wyd frames have removeable lenses. When I began experiencing this issue I contacted them. They made a special "strong side" lense that allows me to better see the sights on my rifle, or handgun. The "weak side" lense was left alone. When shooting, keep both eyes open...the brain will figure it out. Works well enough that I have killed Deer at 100 yds with my iron-sighted "Hawken".
2. I sometimes use a Merritt Eye Disc. Mine has a suction cup which secures it to my "strong side" lense. A bit cumbersome...but it works very well.
3. Recently, a friend with a good hole punch cut some holes into a strip of electrical tape. Cut out a piece, and attach it to my strong side lense. Functions like the Merritt, but less cumbersome. You have to experiment a bit to get the location just right for shooting offhand. Once placed, it seems to be rifle specific. The placement that works very well for shooting my SMR offhand is worthless when shooting my benchgun.
To get the best results from the "piece of tape", I've also found that you need a clean hole..a small punch works best. Optimum size of the hole depends upon your vision and the amount of light available when you're shooting.
4. I have installed the Lyman "muzzleloader" (57SML) target sights on my bench rifle. With proper choice of insert in the front sight, and good light I can maintain "one-ragged-hole" groups from a rest @ 50 yds. with no problem.

Hang in there Pard...It's not the end of the world. There's a lot of ways you can slightly modify your game and stay on the line shooting for some time to come..!!

[SCLoyalist]

any solutions other than an eye doc

An eye doc isn't necessarily a bad solution; you ought to be getting eyes checked every year or two anyway.   Tell him the distances from your eye to rear sight, front sight and target, and see if he can give you a prescription for a set of shooting glasses.

My vision shifted from pretty nearsighted to pretty farsighted as I rolled over the 60 year mark towards 65+.  As it changed,  I went through a set of auxiliary clip-on lenses from an optometrist shop, to shooting with no corrective lenses at all, to using "computer" glasses ( basically 0.75    diopter reading glasses).   Also, a lot of old guns have a series of filled in rear sight dovetails where the rear sight had to be moved forward as the owner's eyes aged.  If you can bring the front sight into focus,  moving the rear sight forward might work for you.   

It may take a few months of experimenting with cheap reading glasses or duct-taping sights onto your barrel to see how your eyes like the new sight picture, but I expect you'll find something that works.   Good luck, SCL

[One Eye]

As we age, our eyes tend to need more lubrication. Drops several times a day have helped me a great deal.
I have bad floaters and early cataracts, both the result of four years of chemotherapy.
On a good, bright day I can shoot globe and aperture sights pretty well, but in low light things get tough.
I use a silver front sight on my Hawken, with a flat filed on the face, and I outlined the rear sight notch with some gold leaf paint.
It helped, but in hunting conditions, 75-80 yards is it for me.
A vitrectomy will fix the floaters and cataract surgery the blurred vision.
Getting old sucks, but it sure beats the alternative
One Eye

[Hungry Horse]

 I've been through all of this, and sympathise completely. First off you have about as good of a chance of seeing both sights, and the target clearly, as you do seducing a Victoria's Secret model. So the next best thing is seeing your sights clearly, and having the target a little fuzzy. So first off you need to get rid of the barn door in the Grand Canyon Patridge style sights if you have them. You virtually never see these on antique rifles, because they require your eyes to measure the amount of light on each side of the blade, which your eyes can no longer do. If you have a real understanding optometrist  like mine, he will let you bring in your Longrifle so he can really get it right.
  A gradual V rear sight, culminating in a round bottomed notch, with the center of the sight thinned to reduce glare, and or shadows, is the trick. The front sight should be a bead, or barley corn, that is a different color, but not reflective like brass, or silver. Make sure the rear sight is in the optimum spot, to get the clearest sight picture. Now let the gradual V draw your eye, and consentrate the focus, so you can put the bead in the notch, and put it all on the fuzzy bull, and squeeze the trigger. For me this is about as good as it gets.
  Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

As Bob indicated, I see these fairly well, better than the V notch and blades on my other rifles. Other guys have tried them and found the wide shallow V works quite well.  Contrary to some writings, it is not a Dangerous game, close range sight only.  You can actually shoot some good groups with it - Taylor can attest to that.

[Daryl]

I have 3 pair of eye glasses coming in the mail from Ontario.  Computer glasses at .25 diopter, .25 diopter reading glasses and .50 reading glasses. I think these may help me to 'see' the sights a bit better, affording me the opportunity to shoot as well as my Taylor.