Shooting with Progressive lenses

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Hello everyone,

20 years of scratching powder horns has caught up with me and I need bifocles so I got progressive lenses.  All is well but I noticed today in my shop that when I lay my head over to aim it lines up with the portion of me lens I cannot see out of. 

Has anyone else run into this? Suggestions?

Cory Joe

[Gtrubicon]

For me, shooting with progressive lenses is a no go. I spoke with my optometrist about this and he recommended contacts for shooting. This has all been in the last 6 months for me. I shoot just as good if not better wearing contacts. I’m really not all that nutty about the progressive lenses. The contacts for me are not perfect. It depends on my allergies, I live in the middle of a forest full of pine, oak, madrone, cedar and fir trees. Lots of pollen in the air which greatly affect my eyes. For me shooting with progressive lenses was a joke, contacts have made it better.

[Jakob]

Mine are ok, but I'm not always using them. For trap/skeet, I don't need them. For iron sights, it seems to depend on the day.
I have a regular pair of shooting glasses in my rangebox.

[Roger B]

My solution has always been single vision shooting glasses. Most folks have some old frames that will work for shooting & single (distance prescription) lenses are pretty cheap. Take your old glasses to a bench & get into a solid shooting position. Then have a helper run any small rod over the front & rear sights & mark the place where it contacts the lense. That is where you want the focal point of the lense, which is generally  in the upper part of the lense near the nose piece. Then take the old glasses to your optometrist & argue with them until they make the lense the way you want them. You obviously only wear these while you are actually shooting, otherwise you will discombobulate yourself & fall on your face. I just close my shooting eye while I'm loading etc. If you are the rare bird who shoots with both eyes open you can tape over your "off" eye & everything works fine. Sounds complicated, but it isn't after you get the optometrist to buy into the process.  This way you get eye protection that you can't get with contacts.

Another way to approach the problem is with Olympic shooting glasses. You can usually find a set of Olympic frames on Ebay. I won't get into those, but I have a pair that I use for nonprimitive black powder shoots. With the Olympic frames you get the added effect of psyching out the competition by saying "We are Borg" when you go to the shooting line. You only need one small lense for the Olympic frames which are really cheap & you almost always get a " blinder" when you buy them used. You can also get adjustable apertures that fit over the shooting lense. They work well & add to the "Borg effect". They may may not be legal at all shoots, but I've never had them challenged at a match under "NMLRA rules". 
Roger B.

[alacran]

 Corey Joe, you will need to experiment with single vision shooting glasses, you may even need to move your rear sight. Jakob you are a good shooter. Protect your eyes with quality shooting glasses like Decot. They do not need to be prescription. GT Rubicon contacts do not protect your eyes.
Roger I've seen you shoot, that is why you have never been challenged LOL.

[flembo]

I had trouble shooting with progressive lenses for years even with scoped unmentionables. I developed Cataracts over the years and and have recently had Cataract surgery. I chose the multifocal lens over the mono lens and have been very happy and my shooting has improved. I know this doesn't really apply to your case but shooting with progressive lenses was a problem for me.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

I appreciate the information everyone.  I do have sunglasses that are single lens.  So I will try those next time I am at the shop and that should make the difference.

Cory Joe

[Roger B]

Hey! I win stuff. In junior class. With supervision.
Roger B.

[Gtrubicon]

Corey Joe, you will need to experiment with single vision shooting glasses, you may even need to move your rear sight. Jakob you are a good shooter. Protect your eyes with quality shooting glasses like Decot. They do not need to be prescription. GT Rubicon contacts do not protect your eyes.
Roger I've seen you shoot, that is why you have never been challenged LOL.

I always wear safety glasses when I shoot.

[Scota4570]

Progressive's are not suitable for shooting.

I wear bifocals.  I use the top of the lens for shooting.  For rifle I have a pair that focuses at about 4'.  For pistols I have a pair that focuses at arms length.  The second ones are also my "computer" glasses.     

The front sight must be in focus.  By definition this excludes the target and rear sight being in focus.  As my vision has gotten worse I have changed to holding on the center of the target rather than a 6'Oclock hold.  This hold minimizes light related changes in  point of impact.  It has paid off, on a good day I can keep up with the best shots on the line. 

[T*O*F]

I trashed my progressives.  I had no peripheral vision and had to turn my head and look directly at what I wanted to see.  This was a PITA when driving.  To use them with a computer, I had to tilt my head which caused neck pain after a while.  I just couldn't adjust to them.

[wmrike]

Progressive lenses do not work well if one is looking out the side of the lenses.  The eye needs to be looking forward.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I opted for progressive lenses with my last spectacle upgrade.  But there are quality levels in progressive lenses, and I opted for the second most expensive one.  With these lenses, the field within the lens that corrects your vision is larger than on cheaper lenses.  And I also have had a cataract repaired with a new lens in my shooting eye (right).  The issue was that my shooting eye now has better vision than my apparent good eye, so I needed glasses to relieve the balance.  With my progressive lenses, I now have the best vision I've ever had in my entire life.  I see the rear sight perfectly clearly, as well as the front sight and the target.  I can't see how this could be improved upon.  I'm delighted with my new vision.

[DanL]

I use 2.0 readers for normal reading/working. For shooting I acquired over the internet some readers that are 0.5 and 0.75 single vision. They work perfectly for shooting iron sights. They provide just  enough magnification to see the front & rear sight and the target is not so out of focus.

[Jakob]

Corey Joe, you will need to experiment with single vision shooting glasses, you may even need to move your rear sight. Jakob you are a good shooter. Protect your eyes with quality shooting glasses like Decot.

Oh, I'm always wearing glasses. Either my prescription or shooting glasses on days where my eyes feels good.
My eye sight is essential for my job (helicopter pilot).

The variance is that I can't always seem to focus properly on the front sight. It's at a weird distance for my prescription (and without it).
I usually then try to move the sight off-target, which usually allows me to then focus on  the front sight and then move that back over the target, trying my hardest not to 'look' at the target.

[Cody B]

I’ve recently come into the same situation. Since I always get two pairs of glasses,regular and safety I had the safety made with regular lenses. The progressives work fine with a hand gun but not a rifle. On a rifle the sights come in clear but the target is super blurry. Using regular lenses work fine for me. I also know people who wear bifocals and do well with them. I may try bifocals the next time I have to get a new pair.

[Marcruger]

Yeah, no luck with progressives.  Go to the drug store and buy some large lens reading glasses.  Take a yardstick with you, and find the readers that "just" allow you to focus on the front sight.  The target will be blurry, but the front sight is the key to good shooting.  By choosing the pair with the minimum magnification, you'll be able to see the target less fuzzy than with high magnification.  I keep a bag of various reading glasses in my gear, so I can pick what works best for a giving distance to the front sight.   God Bless,   Marc

[Jeff Murray]

I've had progressive lenses through two different prescriptions.  The latest pair I had made with photo grey lenses.  They are a pain, won't buy those again.  I use the older prescription for shooting as they work better than the photo greys.  latest exam revealed cataracts so that is my temporary excuse for supporting the winners.

[Bob Roller]

I had cataracts removed back in 2017 (I think) but I have yet to try any primitive sights.I use dollar store reading glasses of 2.50 strength and am using them as I type this.I have had glasses in the past that I thought came from a mortuary along with a lower partial denture that has never worked right.
Bob Roller

[AwwNaww]

I shoot Olympic pistol and rifle and have used the incredibly expensive (and totally useless for any other pursuit) target frames and custom lenses. On a lark, I ordered a very cheap pair of glasses from China using my normal distance formula for the left eye and for the right eye, adding 0.5 diopter to that distance formula. This sharpened the front sight for my right eye and weirdly enough, I was able to function normally using the left. This works for hunting and general shooting.

I imagine this would not fly for some people but I have so much astigmatism that it is imperative I have that correction on both eyes.

[Bob Roller]

Where eyesight is concerned,whatever works,cost not to be considered and to many,me included,I will let nobody do anything with my eyes that is not qualified to perform surgery on them.ALL of humanity is dependent on being able to see and I know one long rifle was built by a blind man but had a LOT or really professional help.
Bob Roller

[Tim Crosby]

 I had good eyes all my life until I got into my 50's. Then things were not as sharp as they used to be and ended up with progressive lenses, no lines. For years I played a lot of pool, the progressive lenses were horrible trying to shoot pool, look down see good look up get a curve of some sort. Working on the shop wasn't bad but I found myself using a little pair of half lens magnifiers, ok but not the best. So I had Lasik surgery, best money I ever spent. That was 17 years ago and still at a distance I have no trouble, up close I an back to using the same pair of magnifiers for some stuff but I can still read a book without them. When I had mine done they had a life time guarantee, if you ever need it done again it was free, we'll see how it goes I may have it done again. 

  Tim       

[Daryl]

My fist set of glasses were progressives. I know know if they would be classified as cheap or expensive. That was back in
1995 or so and cost me close to $600.00 with frames. The long range focus near the top of the lens was very narrow & quite
useless for shooting iron sighted rifles.
I see by the picture given here, that has now changed. Thus, progress has been made in these lenses as far as shooting is
concerned.