Ocular Adjustment; entering a new phase for aging eyes. Any shared experience?

J

Jurome

New member
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Location
Northern
Good day. Lifetime shooter. from childhood to now (late 50's)

I have noticed in the last three years my ocular adjustment is creeping out, out and out. I am now at max out on all my scopes.

I know how to adjust the reticle; not my first rodeo. However, I notice now at the first indication of a focused reticle, by scope image is blurry. I cannot see anything in the scope until it is backed all the way out. I do have prescription glasses but they are only for reading. I am a commercial pilot and get tested every 6 months; my eyesight generally is very good but mostly for distance. My arms length eyesight is where I do not do well and wear glasses for reading or fine motor skill.

I guess I am asking two questions: first, anyone else out there in the same boat as me? secondly, should I be thinking about doing ocular adjustment now with my glasses?

I did a search of old posts but thought I would start fresh as some of them are very old. I got a kick out of one post where a member says "it does not affect eye relief", but I can assure you with a Butler Creek cover and some high recoil it most certainly does! lol.
 
I'd be looking for an optometrist who is knowledgeable about the shooting sports and talk to them.

If you are maxing out the scope adjustment then glasses sounds like a necessary addition to me.
 
Last edited:
OP I had an old friend with exactly the same issues you have.

He's gone onto another plane of existence as he put it, so I can't give you his contact information

His long range vision was incredible but if you put anything in front of him, the closer it got, the blurrier it became.

He had to resort to wearing "glasses" while he was shooting, and had to give up on iron sights completely.

He had been in the RAF during WWII and flew a few different types of fighters. His name was Roger Moorcroft.

He loved everything about shooting and hunting came second, but was still a passion. He loved to "experiment" and designed several of his own cartridges. None of his designs did anything better or more efficiently than what was already available, but he was "having fun" doing it, right up to the last few weeks of his life.

Roger went to an Ophthalmologist, after seeing a couple of Optometrists. He was serious about shooting accuracy and wasn't getting what he wanted from an Optometrist. Nothing against Optometrists.

He ended up with a pair of very specialized glasses, which he only used for shooting/hunting.

They were "progressive" but not like the glasses I wear.

Most of us, as we age, end up with vision issues both close up and at distance. I was born near sighted. When I was younger, I could focus clearly on things within an inch of my nose, but things got blurry beyond 18 inches and if a person stood 2 meters away, I wouldn't recognize them.

At this stage of my life, my eyes focus clearly at appx 2 feet and I need glasses for everything else. So regular progressives work just fine and I've had to learn to bring my eye to the clear enough spot behind the Ocular lenses of my scopes and binoculars. Large Ocular lenses are a must.

Roger's Ophthalmologist came up with a special lens design at the bottom of the glasses, which corrected his vision "enough" to satisfy his needs.

Roger said it wasn't perfect, which he was used to, but it worked well enough for him to win matches and shoot game at a ripe old age.

You may need to consult someone with another level above that of an Optometrist, but there are some extremely knowledgeable Optometrists out there.
 
Jurome - You didn't say if you have talked to your optometrist about this. When I was in my 50s I went to progressives with Distant, Medium 5-20ft, and close for reading and PC use (I was on PCs 6-8 hours for work plus 'after'. At 67 yrs I got corneal implants due to Glaucoma and Cataracts so now just use Costco readers on PC or Books. I've found that using the readers when shooting with a scope improves the clarity of the reticle - I shoot target with a 34X scope and the readers allow me to 'fine tune' the parallax better than without. IMO you should try using your 'reading only' glasses with your scope. And you may get a second opinion from your opto, maybe take your scope and get a comparative vision test using the scope on his eye-charts ?
The other comments both have valid points too.
 
Hello everyone. Thank you!!! I am really grateful for the the input and is really appreciated.

I will talk to my Optho next chance I get, and I will give the glasses a try. I just came up from my gun room and just set up one of my rifles scopes (VX6 HD) using my progressives (very similair to the ones described by Buck1950) and wow...the ocular adjuster is screwed almost all the way back in to where it was when I was 18, lol. Quite the difference. Will have to give it a try next range day.

I think I have been holding out because I love still-hunting whitetails in the timber, and do not require glasses for this...except now for the shooting part! It would be difficult in the rain and snow constantly raising and lowering binoculars all day wearing glasses. Maybe contacts for this endevour??

Once again, thanks very much all of you for the quick reply.
 
I was just in for my annual eye check this morning. No change, but my shooting glasses need upgrading. Haven't changed those for a couple of decades, so it's time for new lenses. I go to the Iris in Edmonton between 104 st and 105 st on Jasper. They farm out shooting glasses to the lady that did them for my previous ophthalmologist, who has since retired. They do make a difference, and are well worth the cost when your eyes start to go. - dan
 
Jurome said:
Hello everyone. Thank you!!! I am really grateful for the the input and is really appreciated.

I will talk to my Optho next chance I get, and I will give the glasses a try. I just came up from my gun room and just set up one of my rifles scopes (VX6 HD) using my progressives (very similair to the ones described by Buck1950) and wow...the ocular adjuster is screwed almost all the way back in to where it was when I was 18, lol. Quite the difference. Will have to give it a try next range day.

I think I have been holding out because I love still-hunting whitetails in the timber, and do not require glasses for this...except now for the shooting part! It would be difficult in the rain and snow constantly raising and lowering binoculars all day wearing glasses. Maybe contacts for this endevour??

Once again, thanks very much all of you for the quick reply.
Click to expand...

That's why they make baseball caps with wide bills. I usually end up cutting about 3/4 inch off the tip of the bill, so it doesn't cause issues when bring up the scope.

Once you start wearing your glass in inclement weather, you will notice 90% of the water droplets which get on your glasses are on the inside.

That's because most glasses slope back to your face at the bottom.
 
Jurome said:
I think I have been holding out because I love still-hunting whitetails in the timber, and do not require glasses for this...except now for the shooting part! It would be difficult in the rain and snow constantly raising and lowering binoculars all day wearing glasses. Maybe contacts for this endevour??

Once again, thanks very much all of you for the quick reply.
Click to expand...
Contacts would help. But personally I only really find my glasses to be an issue if I'm on the move and working up a sweat. At that point I have to keep the time I have my binos up short, my glasses will slowly fog over and the longer I have my binos up the more they fog, and thus the longer I have to wait for them to clear.

If I'm sitting and glassing or slowly moving about then rain drops on the lenses of my binos are a bigger deal than fogging.
 
Had a similar problem, was seeing 2 sets of cross hairs. Got a new lens now as good as old. Screwed the adjustment back in, can read the paper with out glasses, not bad for 74.
 
WOW - $ 180 USD, Plus Exchange rate, Plus shipping. Prob near $250 CDN. Not bad for something that can likely be 'cured' with Costco readers ?
 
Suther said:
Contacts would help. But personally I only really find my glasses to be an issue if I'm on the move and working up a sweat. At that point I have to keep the time I have my binos up short, my glasses will slowly fog over and the longer I have my binos up the more they fog, and thus the longer I have to wait for them to clear.

If I'm sitting and glassing or slowly moving about then rain drops on the lenses of my binos are a bigger deal than fogging.
Click to expand...
Anti fog spray coatings help with that. - dan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom