Shooting Glasses for Air Pistol?

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JimR
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Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:23 pm

Shooting Glasses for Air Pistol?

Post by JimR »

Just a sanity check for myself here. Just wondering how many people use shooting glasses for shooting AP, what type you have, and what benefits you get.

I have this itchy feeling that they'd help me (I'm a cross-dominant shooter, and I think a deeper depth of field and a way of covering my right eye would beat squinting), but that just be my deep-seated desire to buy points......

Thanks as always.
Bill Poole
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Post by Bill Poole »

Use a blinder on the non-shooting eye. squinting causes muscle strain.

Shoot with your dominant eye. The Steyr grip offers more adjustability and those who shoot cross-dominant find it fits better.

often a shooter will wear a lens (typically mounted on a knobloch type frame) on the shooting eye which is 0.5 or so diopter (more +) weaker than needed for normal correction. This prevents the eye from focusing on the distant target when relaxed, so it makes it easier to focus on the front sight. For those who do not need correction, they sell frame-mountable lenses at +0.5, etc.

Some shooters will put an adjustable iris on the shooting eye, increasing depth of field.

The blinder on the non-shooting eye can be a piece of tape on the street or safety glasses, it can be a blinder tab mounted on the knobloch/olympic type lens frame, or what I am currently doing, it is held to the bill of my cap with a pin. It could even be a piece of paper taped to the forehead.

Poole
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RobStubbs
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Post by RobStubbs »

Jim,
I use a pair of gehman shooting glasses with just the side blind and the non shooting eye covered. I would think that would help you, certainly better than squinting ;).

For the greater depth of field you need to reduce the aperture you look through i.e. use a diopter. I was told not to use one by my coach and I think my shooting has improved slightly as a result - others on here do recommend diopters so the choice is yours. A diopter improves the depth of field but that doesn't necessarily help as you want a clear foresight and blurred target; too small an aperture and everything will be in focus.

Rob.
David Levene
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Post by David Levene »

Bill Poole wrote:The blinder on the non-shooting eye can be a piece of tape on the street or safety glasses, it can be a blinder tab mounted on the knobloch/olympic type lens frame, or what I am currently doing, it is held to the bill of my cap with a pin. It could even be a piece of paper taped to the forehead.
Providing that it isn't wider than 30mm ;^) (Under ISSF rules)
iandavid
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Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:22 am
Location: isle of man

re Shooting glasses for AP

Post by iandavid »

Hi Jim,
Personally I use Champions my preference. All types of shooting glasses will help IF set up correctly.
In your case as cross dominant you can IF using shooting glasses decide which eye to use for aiming. All you need to do is use a blinder in front of the non-aiming eye. Doing this may help your stance and any fliers, as cross-dominant shooting can result in an awkward stance.

Regards

Ian Hodgson
Guest

Re: re Shooting glasses for AP

Post by Guest »

Why shoot cross dominant in the first place? Isn't it better to just shoot with the same side hand as the eye? (assuming one has both hands and eyes to use of course)
iandavid wrote:Hi Jim,
Personally I use Champions my preference. All types of shooting glasses will help IF set up correctly.
In your case as cross dominant you can IF using shooting glasses decide which eye to use for aiming. All you need to do is use a blinder in front of the non-aiming eye. Doing this may help your stance and any fliers, as cross-dominant shooting can result in an awkward stance.

Regards

Ian Hodgson
SteveT
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Post by SteveT »

I use Varga glasses from Pilkington's. They were the cheapest good glasses I could find. They are not as adjustable as the top of the line, but they are very good.

I am also cross dominant, but I shoot with my strong hand and weak eye. I used to shoot with my left eye, but switched about 2 years ago and have not had a problem. I use a blinder on the unused eye and a 0.5 diopter lens and an Iris on my shooting eye. I keep the iris pretty large (3/16 - 1/4 diam). It is mostly used to keep my head in the same position relative to the gun and target. It sort of makes a ghost ring around the target. I have tried closing it down and it does bring the target into sharp focus (not necessarily a good thing) but it feels claustrophobic because I can't see much other than the target.

I have also shot with my old reading glasses whith a piece of Scotch Tape over the non-shooting eye. It worked very well.

Good luck,
Steve T
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