To cope with shifting light conditions

[Sammep]

Hello fellow shooters,

Shot a 60 shots prone match today at the local district championschip. After 40 of 60 shots, the sun break thrue the clouds and shine at the target. I was not able to respond to the shifting light and my results dropped drastically.

How do you more experianced shooters handle this? I figured afterwards that I should maybe have changed the colour of my iris from yellow to a darker colour. Or is it better to change front sight size?

Regards, Samuel

[skylark]

Personally that's when I would use a polariser, just to take the uncomfortably bright extra light out of the sight picture.

If I didn't have a polariser, I'd change filters.

I'd have to be really desperate to start playing with foresight sizes in the middle of a match, not least because I can't adjust it while in position and seeing what the sight picture looks like.

[Sammep]

Thanks for your advice Skylark!

I think I have a polarizer in my Centra 1,8 twin, will try that next time.

Earlier when I have encountred this problem I have tried adjusting the fore sight size, not always with sucess. I will focus more at learn to adjust my iris.

/Samuel

[dc.fireman]

The Centra 1.8 Twins that I have seen, do not have a polarizer in them - they have a grey filter. It might work for you, because everyone's eyes are slightly different - it should help to dim the light coming into the rear aperture. That however, is not the sole purpose of a polarizer.

When light is focused into the rear aperture, and then directly into your pupil, it has a 'scattered' effect. Think of it as a bicycle rim - each spoke being a ray of light. A polarizer has been ground in such a way, that it 'blocks' the light from coming in in all but two directions (think of the spokes coming from north to south, and south to north).

This will cause the light that is allowed through the aperture, to be more focused. Because a certain amount of light is blocked however, the target will appear to be slightly dimmer. MEC/Centra have a great explanation of this, in their catalog (which can be ordered free from their website). Their logic is, use your color filters in your rear aperture to create a comfortable contrast on your bullseye. If you need a polarizer, because it's particularly bright on the day you are shooting, then use the type that goes on the front sight tunnel, so that you don't lose any light - you simply control the light you see on your target.

I hope this helps, and hasn't confused you - the whole iris/diopter/filter thing was a mystery to me until I'd researched it. Their explanation of it provided me with a better understanding, and saved me a little $$$ in the long run on what can be some rather expensive equipment.

-tc

[Sammep]

The Centra 1.8 Twins that I have seen, do not have a polarizer in them - they have a grey filter. It might work for you, because everyone's eyes are slightly different - it should help to dim the light coming into the rear aperture. That however, is not the sole purpose of a polarizer.

Aha, I did not know the difference, I shall admit. I will play with the grey filter when a opportunity comes along.

When light is focused into the rear aperture, and then directly into your pupil, it has a 'scattered' effect. Think of it as a bicycle rim - each spoke being a ray of light. A polarizer has been ground in such a way, that it 'blocks' the light from coming in in all but two directions (think of the spokes coming from north to south, and south to north).

This will cause the light that is allowed through the aperture, to be more focused. Because a certain amount of light is blocked however, the target will appear to be slightly dimmer. MEC/Centra have a great explanation of this, in their catalog (which can be ordered free from their website). Their logic is, use your color filters in your rear aperture to create a comfortable contrast on your bullseye. If you need a polarizer, because it's particularly bright on the day you are shooting, then use the type that goes on the front sight tunnel, so that you don't lose any light - you simply control the light you see on your target.

I hope this helps, and hasn't confused you - the whole iris/diopter/filter thing was a mystery to me until I'd researched it. Their explanation of it provided me with a better understanding, and saved me a little $$$ in the long run on what can be some rather expensive equipment.

-tc

Thank you for the explanation. I have read the article in the MEC/Centra catalog, which I just got from a vendor at the swedish championchip, but maybe I did not understand it fully. Will look in to it again.

After last season, I added some equipment to the rifle and I have not fully mastered the settings yet.

Thanks,

Samuel

[patriot]

Everyone's eyes are different.

I no longer use rear filters, they seemed to help initially but over a long match they tired my eyes. I open and close the rear iris as the light brightness changes.

I do use a filter I invented on my front Right sight that knocks down the side glare; full light on the bull with just enough light on the sides to read the flags. This is particularly useful on bright winter days with a low sun bouncing off a north target.

Mark

[ShootingSight]

The way to stop eye fatigue is to get the correct shooting lens.

Changing point of impact with changing lighting is a reality of shooting a post, however with the right shooting lens you can minimize the impact.

Your correct shooting lens for a pistol is +0.75 added to any distance correction you need, or just a +0.75 lens if you need zero distance correction.

Art

[mmajora]

Fine, but it's more like 60 prone discussion than pistol chit chat.