[bob_nj]

Another user suggested I take this here from the Takedown Forum, so I'll paste my original post and we'll take it from there.

Let me start by saying I'm kind of new to all of this and read what I can.

I got my first 1022 about 3 weeks ago.
It's a takedown.

I'm 64 years old, so when I got my first handgun last year I was told that I must see the front sight on the handgun clearly and I found that to be true. Even when the front sight is clear, I can still see the rear sight on the handgun, and the target well enough to hit it once in awhile.
I'll ad that I used a pair of these to accomplish all of the above because of old age and astigmatism.
---> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So now I have about 250 rounds through my 1022 and I'm having some trouble seeing and using the factory iron sights.

I turned the rear sight around so it's all black now, and put a white dot on the front brass colored sight and those two things seemed to help a little.
The solid black gives me something to focus on with the white front sight.

The rear sight is where I'm having trouble.
It's blurry to the point that I cannot for the life of me get a sense of where I am left or right now.

So my pressing questions are,

Where are you guys looking, and what's clear and what's not clear?

Is it just me, or is there a better sight system for the 1022?
I know nothing about scopes and was hoping not to go there, but I understand it's
an option.

Lastly, since in my mind in a tactical situation in my home I would be using two eyes, that's how I try to shoot everything.
Is that wrong while at the range with a rifle just plinking at some random targets?

User "sethpa" suggested a red dot and I'm reading about them now.
Not sure if I want to deal with the complexities of a scope at the moment, and the red dot looked like it would get me in the taget zone rather well.

So what are your opinions on scope versus red dot?

I am older and wear glasses. Would I leave on or take off the glasses with a red dot?

Thanks for any ideas?
Bob

 

[Flintlock28]

You might be alright with Aperture sights.... below is a good company for aftermarket sights.

Traditional iron sights require your eye to focus on 3 objects...the target, the front sight and the rear sight. As we hit about 40 years, or more, our eye/brain connection loses the ability to do the optical dance with three different distances. This is where Aperture sights are superior, they cause you to look Through the rear sight, and now your eye has to work with two objects instead of three sights.

The following link just might work for you...

https://www.tech-sights.com/ruger-products/

if Aperture sights don't work, you're probably relegated to a Red Dot, scope, or laser. I'm 55, and can still use iron sights, but they fight me. Aperture sights are a lot easier for me.

good luck.

p.s. you are also putting the front and rear sight farther apart, which is a good thing.

 

[bob_nj]

Thanks for the idea.
Now I have to go read and learn about aperture sights.

So many subjects,
So little time...

 

[bob_nj]

So with an aperture sight, is it one eye or two?

With a red dot, would I wear my glasses?

And what exactly do you mean when you say,

now your eye has to work with two objects instead of three sights.

Thanks
Bob

 

[I6turbo]

When it comes to eyesight and gun sights of various types, there's a lot of variation in what works for some and what works for others.

For me, reading glasses at 1.5 power allow me to see the iron sights of a rifle or handgun pretty clearly, and also see my target plenty well. They might be worth a try for you. You can pick some up to try for $1 each at Dollar Tree.

 

[bob_nj]

I AM using the glasses listed in the link in the first post.
They are 1.0 shooting glasses.
Not sure what the differences are between them and just plain ole reading glasses though?

Like Flintlock28 was saying, I cannot focus on both sights clearly at my age.
Are you saying the 's enable you to do that with a rifle?

I can get both sights with the glasses on my handgun, but not the 1022.

Thanks
Bob

 

[bob_nj]

And by the way...

I also wear corrective glasses so whatever readers I use have to fit over my regular
glasses.
That's why I have the ones in the link.
I bought a pair of .75 and a pair of 1.0 on a gamble to try them out.
It gets pricey having to guess at what I need though.

Thanks again

 

[Southern1]

As you get older you have to make some choices.

1 Not use iron sights. Go to a scope or red dot.

Some work arounds.

2 Use a rear peep. It helps, there are some long explanation involving depth of field etc, but that is not important. Apatures work. The Target may be a little fuzzy but the sights are clear.

3 Special glasses. Pro shooter have special glasses made. In general the lens is .5 to 1.0 diopters more or less than your distance prescription. Some web sites sell sets of test lenses to find the magnification you need.

4 Wear an apature in front of your eye. Lots of pro shooters do this. I wear an EyePal to shoot pistols with irons. I can't see the sights without one. Champions Choice etc sell all kinds of apatures for glasses, hats, or head bands. Amazon sells EyePal for $25 for a master set that includes rifle and pistol apature. These stick on your regular glasses.

 

[Test_Engineer]

And what exactly do you mean when you say "now your eye has to work with two objects instead of three"?

With an aperture rear sight, you can't see the front sight unless your eye is behind the hole. Once there, your brain automatically centers the hole because that's the easiest for seeing what's on the other side. So all you have to work on is lining up the front sight and the target. Much easier to be accurate with an aperture than with open sights. :t

A typical setup (like Flintlock28 linked to) has 2 hole sizes. normally 1/16" and 1/8" or something like that. The smaller hole is intended for being more accurate at longer ranges, while the bigger is intended to make target acquisition faster at closer ranges. But this assumes that the shooter has good eyesight.

The standard setup worked well for me when I was young. But now all I see is a blur when looking through the small hole, so I only use the bigger one. It's still a bit blurry around the edges, but the center (where the front sight is) is nice and clear.

 

[dbr65]

THE biggest problem with red dot sights and not wearing glasses would be if you have uncorrected stigmatism that yields a dot that is more of an oval or "smear" rather than a crisp dot. That makes it difficult for proper aiming. But then you should wear protective tire eye wear anyway when shooting.

Doug

 

[RAR8326]

bob, i too am having the same difficulty as you..
i purchased one of these to give a try, forgot where i read about it, anyway not going to have time to try it out until after the middle of this month...i figured if this works ok, then could look at skinner or tech for something more robust if needed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ruger-10-2...Sight-Blade-New-Also-Fits-Lyman-/202366339079

they also have a 1/16 hole size if i recall, anyway i am in no way associated with the product or supplier of the same...

i do have some red dots on a couple of my other rifles, Vortex 2mm dots, had a 3mm but its a little to large, they look ok to me so far, as stigmatism goes..

good luck

 

[Flintlock28]

So with an aperture sight, is it one eye or two?

With a red dot, would I wear my glasses?

And what exactly do you mean when you say,

Thanks
Bob

With Iron sights, your eye has to focus on the Target (let's say 100 yards away), the front sight, which may be 20 inches away, and the rear sight, which may be 10 inches, away from your eye. Your brain/eye combo, processes the image, and when you're younger, your Brain is able to very quickly work with all three images, to make a sharp image of all, at the same time.

Most people at about 40 years of age or so, will start to have issues, trying to see all three images as clear, since the brain/eyesight combo isn't as capable, as when they were younger. Your Brain is trying to focus on 3 objects, at different distances.

Aperture sights (sometimes called peep sights), have a rear sight that is nothing more than a Hole. You look THROUGH the Hole, rather than at it, and your Brain will automatically want to put the front sight (usually a post), dead center of the Hole. The point where the post is dead center of the Hole, is your aiming/impact point.

Short answer....now your brain only focuses on the front post, and the target, that's two points, rather than three.

If I remember correctly, I believe the U.S. military, near the time of the First Worlds War, proved the superiority of Aperture sights over Iron sights.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/g...e-your-vision-and-rifle-shooting-peep-sights/

 

[comfisherman]

Short answer is we don't do it.

Look at the market for optics, it's not big like that because we all can see our sights....

Aperture helps, red dot helps more and scope works when all else fails.

 

[Priotosh]

Check Peep sights

Peep sights usually use in bow but you can try it to your 1022.

 

[rc.]

Well you have a lot of options so I'm going to give you some choices to consider.

You may not realize it but at least on the older ones they had a top and a bottom. You could flip the rear sight by unscrewing it and flip the U notch to a larger square notch. But then you still have the eye focus issue. You can get a fatter brass bead from brownells or a fiber optic front. Some prefer a peep sight. There is williams ace in the hole which is nice but if you want to stick with open sights, tech sights will add height to your sights and are good for plinking around. Now if you want to get away from traditional sights you can get a red dot and mount that on your scope rail. Then there are scopes. You can get a low power 1-4 scope that will take care of your plinking needs, a 3 to 9 power scope that will be better for hunting. There are other scope options but I think these are your best bet for general use. 3x allows you to plink with minimal magnification and 9 power allows you to see what you are doing at 50 yards on paper. If you want to shoot at 100 you'll probably want more magnification.

 

[Discontinued]

THE biggest problem with red dot sights and not wearing glasses would be if you have uncorrected stigmatism that yields a dot that is more of an oval or "smear" rather than a crisp dot. That makes it difficult for proper aiming. But then you should wear protective tire eye wear anyway when shooting.

Doug

This^

I have the same issue, a Red dot is more like a Red Egg shape!

Red dots have one downside, they run out of batteries and can be hard to see on bright sunny days.

Iron sights are great, as they usually come free with the gun, Peep sights even more so

Peeps are essentially a round rear sight which is more precise than the classic V notch

As some may know I'm a scope hater- well sometimes.

If I had a penny for every time I heard someone say "these old eyes" as some justification to get a 50X zoom scope costing £20000 I'd have around £1:50p

Honestly good spectacles are all you need, I have shocking eyesight and look like Eddie the Eagle, but I've been using open sighted rifles since childhood.

Sure it takes more skill than a scope, to use irons and there's your bragging rights. I shoot competitively in the UK in Running Boar moving target and can easily keep up with the Scope guys, My average is 93 out of 100 at a 50 meter moving target.

Usually after stepping off the firing point I have a crowd of slack jawed locals looking at me like I'm Annie Oakley but to be honest its just practice.

A March 50 zoom scope has its place in 1200 yard shoots but 99% of the time people just buy a scope for bragging rights. or to compensate for issues in the trouser department.

Don't be swayed by the crowd, think of it like this, most people like cruddy music, bad food and rubbish telly programs .

Ive always thought the same about scopes, the current trend for massive magnification is a fallacy and won't make a average, to poor shooter better. In fact it can be a major put off.

And there is nothing inherently wrong with scopes. But don't get sucked into the trend of High magnification do all scopes. As a novice it will only add to the confusion.

If you feel you must get a scope. My advice would be get a good quality brand at low magnification, try not to be swayed by gizmos and trinkets and the ability to tell the time on other planets, whilst re ordering you ammo via the internet and calling you wife to say your will be running late....

Sometimes less is more!

A good 3x9 variable zoom is more than adequate for most purposes. Personally I prefer fixed magnification scopes as there are less components and therefore less to go wrong. Also cleaner lines.

Leupold 6x42

I would recommend Leupold,Vortex or my Favorite Nikon. But theses will still set you back many hundreds or Dollars.

Don't be tempted to get a cheapo scope it will most likely fail.

Or you could just stick with Iron sights and learn to shoot proper like me

 

[bob_nj]

Man,
This is all Very Very good stuff, and thank you.
There are so many things that I'm just not aware of, and don't have the experience to consider, but that's where you guys come in.

"Discontinued"

Or you could just stick with Iron sights and learn to shoot proper like me

I would love to shoot proper like you, and in my original post I mentioned that I didn't want to go the scope route, but I can't see the sights like you. That's the reason for my post. I needed some help, guidance, and opinions on what you
guys do in my situation.
I wasn't sure if it was just me, or what the heck was going on.
I just knew that after 250 rounds in my new gun, it's time to look at options
because what I was seeing just wasn't consistent or fun.

So, today I'm going to the local gun shop to look at a red dot and see what they are all about.
Hopefully I'll find some common ground and get comfortable with the sight picture so I can start working on not moving the gun.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know how I make out.

Take care
Bob

 

[Discontinued]

Man,
This is all Very Very good stuff, and thank you.
There are so many things that I'm just not aware of, and don't have the experience to consider, but that's where you guys come in.

"Discontinued"

I would love to shoot proper like you, and in my original post I mentioned that I didn't want to go the scope route, but I can't see the sights like you. That's the reason for my post. I needed some help, guidance, and opinions on what you
guys do in my situation.
I wasn't sure if it was just me, or what the heck was going on.
I just knew that after 250 rounds in my new gun, it's time to look at options
because what I was seeing just wasn't consistent or fun.

So, today I'm going to the local gun shop to look at a red dot and see what they are all about.
Hopefully I'll find some common ground and get comfortable with the sight picture so I can start working on not moving the gun.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know how I make out.

Take care
Bob

Hi Bob,

glad to see your a scope cynic like myself!

It could be your glasses? but then shooting glasses are quite expensive. I got some Zeiss ones and I ended up wearing them as my everyday specs, as they are so clear, its like the world is in high defintition! IT really helps me gain a sight picture.

Often using iron sights it is quite blurry anyway, try to keep both eyes open and focus on the front sight.

For a red dot I would recommend a tube type sight as it will function better on bright days.

Depending on your budget there are some good choices.

Cheap but good are Hawke

Vortex are a little more expensive and come with a lifetime guarantee

Leupold more expensive and higher quality still and also lifetime guarantee.

Good luck old chap!

 

[bob_nj]

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

The shop where I'm going has a Hawke 12131 -->
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1215271-REG/hawke_sport_optics_12131_red_dot_1x_relex.html

This doesn't look like a tube though, does it?

Thanks for the advice
I'll keep that in mind.

Take care
Bob

 

[Flintlock28]

I would first go the Tech sights approach. If that doesn't work, than maybe the Red dot route. I'd lean toward holo_ sun red dots, as they seem to work better for those with Astigmatism.