Sights and target lighting

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ghostrip
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:07 pm
Location: Athens, Greece

Sights and target lighting

Post by ghostrip »

After many months away from the range due to covid19 lockdowns we were allowed to return for some practice .
this weekend and the previous one i did air pistol. of course there was the obvious muscle fatigue.
but another thing i noticed was this and this was before the muscle fatigue.
first 10-20 shots i could see the sights nice and crisp.
the bright target lights were not an issue and shots were satisfying ( i could call them and they were inside the 9 line).
after that if i hold the pistol just under the target away from the intense light sights were still clear (and that even after fatigue) but as soon as i raised a little bit to reach six position sights begun blurring. i tried trusting my wrist and my shooting process and the results were not bad but it was sooo much more effort and the 8's made their appearance eating hard worked 10's.
any advice on this? should i try some glass filter?
how can i maintain a crisp image of the sights?

current setup is an inexpensive vargas frame with vargas iris and a lens.
PS health is not a strong point (high blood pressure) but i take my meds.
PS2 when i shoot outside on a 25m range without shades etc, just target and natural light i see sights crisp for much longer.
if i shoot on a range with sun cover on shooters position and bright light on target it also gets blurry faster.
Gwhite
Posts: 3423
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2004 6:04 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by Gwhite »

I use a weak filter when shooting on electronic targets that ae really brightly lit. I haven't had the eye fatigue you describe, but I think it helps me get the sight picture I'm used to. I've cranked up the lights at my home range, but they still aren't nearly as bright as the SIUS targets a local club has.
brent375hh
Posts: 741
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:04 am
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by brent375hh »

Any chance that the bright light might make your focus on the target subconsciously greater than your sights? Being away from the sport can cause a slight lapse of all the little nuances that make you a good shooter.
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ghostrip
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:07 pm
Location: Athens, Greece

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by ghostrip »

brent375hh wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:38 am Any chance that the bright light might make your focus on the target subconsciously greater than your sights? Being away from the sport can cause a slight lapse of all the little nuances that make you a good shooter.
problem it is not only the sights but whole picture is not correct.
i wonder if a variable ND filter would help. if this is the weak filter gwhite mentions
thirdwheel
Posts: 203
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:16 pm
Location: England

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by thirdwheel »

As Gwhite has mentioned the new crop of bright electronic targets has the same effect on many, a grey filter tones it down but not in my case as my prescription had shifted slightly and it was the bright light on the electronics that exposed it, perhaps after the enforced layoff has seen your eyes shift a bit. After my covid layoff I'm evaluating my shooting lens and vision again to get it the best can.
GaryN
Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:57 pm
Location: California

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by GaryN »

A thought: When you start, your body could be compensating. But as time goes on, you tire, and the effort to compensate gets harder and harder. And eventually, you can't compensate.
So, as @thirdwheel mentioned, could it simply be that your eyes have changed, and you need a new Rx.

This is kind of how I finally gave in and got a purpose Rx pistol shooting glasses.
It started getting hard for me to hold focus on the front sight. The front sight would go fuzzy faster than before. Then I realized that I was conciously straining my eye, to focus on the front sight. And that wasn't good, cuz that distracted me from holding the sight picture.
That told me my eye had changed, and I needed a new Rx.
emre-nur
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed May 26, 2021 3:31 pm

Re: Sights and target lighting

Post by emre-nur »

[/quote]
problem it is not only the sights but whole picture is not correct.
i wonder if a variable ND filter would help. if this is the weak filter gwhite mentions
[/quote]

Seconding thirdwheel, your prescription might have changed due to too much zoom-time during covid.
just a clever guess. No expert.
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