Current Pistol Shooting Glasses Comparison

[Dcforman]

Getting tired of shooting air pistol with my bullseye glasses. Looking to get into some glasses with a left blinder and right diopter with adjustable iris. Done some research, but having trouble finding comparisons between the major brands. Any recommendations? Champion, Knobloch, Gehmann, MEC? Anyone else?

Dave

[Ramon OP]

I bought the Olympic Champion model following the advice of a friend who is in the national team, because the bars are square and hence have less risk of moving. I chose this model because it was cheaper. I was lucky to have a store in Belgium where I could see and try a lot of brands and models.

If I had to do it now I would go for the Superolympic Pistol model, because you do not have to use any screwdrivers to set the lens, which is difficult and makes me refrain from doing it because I fear not being able to set them properly.

You can see their models here: https://champion-brillen.ch/en/product- ... g-glasses/

[Gwhite]

I've always been happy with Champions. I have a pair for air pistol, and a pair for shooting outdoors with filters for free pistol. I started with the World version because that's all they had. I now have the Olympic version for air pistol, and the ease of adjustment is very nice. That said, once you've got the lens position set up correctly, you don't really need the instant adjustability the Olympic & SuperOlympic versions give you. In some ways, the lack of quick adjustability helps enforce a consistent head position.

The downside of the World design is that it can be hard to make tiny adjustments once you have things set. The screws tend to dig into the metal, and if you want to move something a small amount, you can end up fighting the tendency of the set screw to recenter itself in the old dents.

I haven't been shooting much air pistol lately, so I don't recall how easy it is to bump the knobs on the Olympic and accidentally knock things out of whack. I don't recall having an issue with that, but I handle them pretty carefully.

[Dcforman]

Thanks guys. Another question, are these frames legal for free pistol? Specifically if you don't have a lens over the left eye but just a blinder? Doesn't seem the safest... If they aren't, what are people using for free pistol?

Dave

[Gwhite]

As far as I recall, the ISSF rules don't require any sort of safety glasses, or even hearing protection. I've shot free pistol for years with my Champion glasses using a blinder over my non-shooting eye. Especially for free pistol, you don't have hot brass flying around, and the odds of an explosion of any sort are very small.

I'd be a bit more concerned about shooting Rapid, Standard or Sport pistol without good wrap around safety glasses. However, if you look at the videos of various Olympic & Word Cup finals, nobody else seems to worry about it.

[David Levene]

Thanks guys. Another question, are these frames legal for free pistol? Specifically if you don't have a lens over the left eye but just a blinder? Doesn't seem the safest... If they aren't, what are people using for free pistol?

Yes, they're legal but, in common with all ISSF pistol events, the non-shooting eye blinder can only be a maximum of 30mm wide.

[Tangohammerli]

Have used Champion Shooting glasses since 1998.
No need to change now..

[Dcforman]

Ok, so looking at Champchoice, getting all the pieces I want (frames, blinder, iris, +0.50, +0.75), my cost for Knoblochs is $269. Cost for the Champion Olympic is $424. Are the Champions worth the extra $155? The obvious difference is steel vs titanium. Any other major differences I should be aware of?

Dave

[Gwhite]

A much fairer comparison to the Knobloch frames are the World Champion frames, which ChampChoice doesn't carry. I'd call Neal Stepp at ISS. He carries Champion, Jaggi-Nova, Junker, Knobloch, & MEC frames. He's a one man shop with low overhead, so he probably has lower prices than ChampChoice as well.

[Dcforman]

A much fairer comparison to the Knobloch frames are the World Champion frames, which ChampChoice doesn't carry. I'd call Neal Stepp at ISS. He carries Champion, Jaggi-Nova, Junker, Knobloch, & MEC frames. He's a one man shop with low overhead, so he probably has lower prices than ChampChoice as well.

Thanks, Doug! I'll give him a call.

Dave

[JonPersson]

I have the Knobloch K1 and the quality feels very high. Adjustability is good in every way.

The only thing is that the thing that goes around the ear may cause discomfort on SOME people. They work alright for me, but if you would wear them 4 hours every day the Champion may be more comfortable, and I suspect they are lighter too.

But you see Olympic shooters with Knobloch as well as Champion, so they are both good options. For the price, if they feel comfortable, I would say Knobloch.

But the Champion has a cool high tech look to them...


Aahhh, all these choices...

[thirdwheel]

Or do as some top world class competitors do have their shooting prescription put into ordinary frames, it can be a lot cheaper, lighter and more comfortable over long periods that way too, for cheaper use the online suppliers, downside is you may have to estimate a wider Pupil distance (PD) if you do not hold your bonce square to the sights to get the lens sweet spot in the correct place.

[Dcforman]

Ordinary frames sound good from a price standpoint, but I'm trying to get away from a bulky clip-on iris.

One more question... For this who use the Champion glasses, which size lens do you use? 32 or 42?

Dave

[Gwhite]

Another option for use with prescription glasses is a clip on booster lens:

https://shootingsight.com/product/clip-on-flip-lens/

[thirdwheel]

Completely off subject but I'm intrigued why you want to use a iris for 10m, as you do not want to increase the depth of focus which stopping down an iris does, the people you see using them don't close them down very far and use them to control the amount of light as different venues have different ambient lighting and not to bring the target into focus.

[Dcforman]

Not off topic at all. There's always the chance I'm doing it wrong! I use the iris for two reasons: consistent head position, and it helps bring both the front and rear sights into focus. Without it, it SEEMS that the rear sight is too blurry, and I feel like my groups open up. That said, I've not played around with lenses. Maybe trying a +0.50 or +0.75 would accomplish the same thing?

Dave

[JonPersson]

Completely off subject but I'm intrigued why you want to use a iris for 10m, as you do not want to increase the depth of focus which stopping down an iris does

I close my iris down a lot for two reasons:
1) make both the rear sight and front sight sharp
2) reduce the light intensity of strongly lit ranges.

I do use a prescription glas which is about +.75 and also corrects for astigmatism. I have also tried shooting with +.25 and +.50 lenses.

Without the iris closed down I have trouble getting good sharpness of the sights. Well, sharpness is acceptable, but the front sight takes on an irregular shape in the form of the right side of the front sight appears to be slanted. I suspect it’s my astigmatism that is causing this. To add to the problem I’m sensitive to strong light which will often create weird halos around the front sight.


For the absolute majority of top shooters it is correct that they don’t close the iris very much. There are a few that does it, but I don’t know THEIR reason.

The main disadvantage is that it is easy to get distracted but the sharp target bull. You have to train yourself to accept the noticeable movement of the sights in relation to the target.

[thirdwheel]

Yes to controlling distracting peripheral light and yes also yes to helping head alignment but no to sorting out the wonky front sight (been there got the T shirt) and you are correct it is your astigmatism. You need to go to an optician that is willing to spend the time with you to dial out that problem and the halo you get especially of some of the more modern LED Illuminated electronic targets. It can take some time too for them to get it just right and most want you in and out asap. Another problem is the accuracy of the lens made for you as at the distance of the front sight a small inaccuracy in manufacturing makes a big difference and blows all of the good work out of the water. also the distance you set the lens from the eye makes a difference so beware. Having researched it for ages and had several lenses made that just did not do it for me (and I've got quite good sight with no big problems) I did what Don Nygord did and bought a Lensometer to read the the lenses I had against the prescription and that showed up a couple that were not bang on the prescription. Then I got hold of a complete set of opticians trial lenses and frames and refined my prescription and sorted out all of the problems, it took time but it was worth it. I've not had occasion to use the iris since but I realise we are all very different and some may find it of use. It's a precision sport so be very precise with your vision and have a read up on it all. Oh and the +75 opticians like to guesstimate you will need is off for some so that needs refining as well as the astigmatism and angle. As a wild guess try turning your lens to see if that makes a difference to the wonkey right hand side. Good luck and try and sort the central problem.

[JonPersson]

..... Good luck and try and sort the central problem.

Well if I was aiming for the olympics I may go through all the hassle of getting the prescriptions dialed in for perfection.
...but right know the iris is not what needs to be addressed for me anyway. It allows me to shoot comfortably and reliably and there are other aspects that will make me go to the next level: mental, shot process and trigger control.

I’m not saying you are wrong, it’s probably solvable, but I do not have the time or energy to chase that rabbit at the moment

Thanks for your thorough explanation though!

[thirdwheel]

Do try turning that little lens in it's little holder or even taking the holder off the frame and holding out your pistol on a rest and getting a pal to place the thing in place and then turning it a tad clockwise and anticlockwise and as you would to focus a lens, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Oh and all those little things that you don't get perfect for you all add up and banjax you outcome - it's called systematic error.
Happy shooting