Eyes getting older and front sight is getting harder to see.

[kweidner]

My buddy was struggling with the same thing so we got some laser grips for his 629. One cylinder and I knew I was going to get some for my 357PD 41 mag. I did a video on it. Gun is still a titanium handful but I can shoot again. Man I had been missing this gun due to me struggling with the front sight. I guess it's now funding lasers for all my handguns without optics. Anyone know if there is a way to get a laser on a Dan Wesson 741?

https://youtu.be/SJFXtZS6qxo

[Winger Ed.]

Not sure about the various ones they fit, but check out 'Crimson Trace'.
They are in their grips and don't hang on the frame or barrel.

[elmacgyver0]

A green laser is easier to see than a red laser, the human eye can see green better than red for some reason.
If you can get it in green, go for it even though it will cost a bit more.

[pworley1]

I feel your pain. Old eyes and iron sight don't work well any longer.

[lancem]

I recommend ArmaLaser if they have a model that will fit your pistol. No buttons to push, just your normal grip turns it on. Put one on my carry Bersa 380 and it is great and the battery has lasted a long time, I bought a couple of spares but have yet to need to change it.

[dannyd]

Get a Red Dot will make your eyes 35 again :)

100 rounds 25 yards and I have a Medicare Card

[kweidner]

green would be nice! Armalaser huh? If they will fit a DW i am 100 percent in. Bout to google that!

[ohen cepel]

This may also help, did for me. Best $25 I have spent on shooting gear in years!

https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Products-EyePal-Master-Pack/dp/B01D1AJZ06/ref=sr_1_2?crid=LEA6LSG3YUHZ&keywords=eye+pal&qid=1679014142&sprefix=eye+pal%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-2

[contender1]

It's a simple fact of life & aging.

For open sights,, bite the bullet (so to speak,) and get a prescription pair of glasses JUST FOR SHOOTING. Your eye doctor should be able to help with this. Mine allows me to bring in my gun & adjusts the focal length for my open sights.

Now,, a laser is good,, and so are red dots. BUT,, a red/green dot will appear as a bit of a starburst unless you have corrective glasses.

[Noah Zark]

Put a dab of almond colored appliance touch up paint on the front sights, especially brass beads. Works wonders. I use Rust Oleum brand; got it off Amazon.

Noah

[MostlyLeverGuns]

A red dot, Burris Fastfire, Holosun, Vortex Viper, something like that changes handgun shooting a great deal, works really great for longer ranges.

[contender1]

"A red dot, Burris Fastfire, Holosun, Vortex Viper, something like that changes handgun shooting a great deal, works really great for longer ranges."

I have several red dot sights. One thing to consider is the MOA of the dot when buying. A "3 MOA" will appear to be a 3" dot at 100 yds. If you need more precision than that,, a red dot may not be the best option.
"Longer ranges" means different things to different people. Many feel 25 yds a long range. Yet others think 25 yds is the starting point & going to 100-200 yds is a long range.
Dots can help, but realize their limitations as well.

Scopes are adjustable for focus.

Prescription glasses help across the spectrum.

My point???
Match your equipment to the type of shooting you do.

[Thumbcocker]

Wider rear notch or skinny front blade can help.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Yeah, longer range with handguns, to me, starts beyond 50 yards to 150-200 yards. The 3MOA red dots work pretty well for those distances, for 100 yards and under, a bigger dot 4.5-8 moa, might be faster. A wider rear notch and a big bright front sight works well for speed close-in, under 50 yards. Of course, properly fitted lenses should be part of the solution. The red dots ease some of the 'old guy, arms too short' problems. More(less?) than 3 MOA targets at 100 yards, you can center that 3 MOA dot on the targets and there are some 2 MOA dots and maybe smaller out there.

[fourarmed]

If you don't have a lot of astigmatism, measure the distance to the front sight, and go to any place that sells reading glasses. Find the weakest (lowest number of diopters) that will let you focus clearly at that distance.

I wear trifocals, and have found that the middle lens is just about perfect for iron sight pistols. I had a set of shooting glasses made to that prescription. They work great.

[Gray Fox]

Unfortunately, I have astigmatism and every red dot I have looked through looks like a glob of red spaghetti. I wear trifocals and the changing astigmatism requires that I get new lenses about every 14 months--an expensive proposition. I can tell when it's time for new lenses when a set of 3-dot sights looks like a half-to full size stack of dots. My eyes are 76 years old, but my eyes have been this way as long as I can remember.

One thing I have found that works is the One Ragged Hole aperture rear sight blades for Ruger revolvers. They really work well on my 7.5 inch Blackhawk .45 Colts and I'm considering them for my .357 and 10mm match Champions. I just wish that the Blackhawk front sights were easily replaceable with a gold bead to go along with the aperture, but I use just enough blaze orange on the front sight to make it look like a square dot. Some years ago someone made them for S&Ws and I put one on my 625 .45 acp Mountain Gun and it works well, too. I think it was discontinued because you had to basically destroy the old sight blade to install the aperture. You don't have to do that with the Rugers, and can change back to the original blade the same way you changed it out. You just have to keep track of the parts!

For those of you who also like a colored front sight blade I have found this system to work well. I degrease the blade then apply some Rustoleum white epoxy appliance touch up paint. I let that dry then apply some fluorescent orange Createx water-based air brush paint and let it dry. The white base really maks the orange much brighter. Finally, to give a more durable finish I apply some Hard as Nails clear fingernail polish and let it dry. For the first and last ones I use their applicator brushes. For the orange I cut a piece of cereal box cardboard about an eighth of an inch wide for an applicator. It may sound excessive, but it gives a finish that survives holster use. I prop the guns up in a vertical position as they dry to avoid paint runs. GF

[fivegunner]

Reading this thread, , I had the same problem I am 68 , as I write this I am just about done with the UV light treatments for my new L.A.L. len`s in my eye`s No more glasses for near or far, and no more astigmatism . I am as of Friday I am 20/20 Vision . Cost? I had cataract`s My insurance and Medicare paid for that, and I paid out of pocket 3,500 per eye for the LAL len`s I know it`s expensive, but I will be able to shoot like I did in my early 20`s well worth the money. Check it out with your eye doctor ..

[smkummer]

Yep, I am 62 and for at least 10 years now, a simple 1.0 power readers glasses works for handgun and now even rifle.

[NSB]

It’s not true that your group size is limited by using a red dot that covers 3” at 100 yards. If you KNOW how to aim it won’t make a bit of difference. I have been using a variety of different brands for around thirty years now. I even put one on a Win rifle and shot groups at 114 yards (my camp deck railing to my backstop). The gun was a 1886 45-70 and I could get groups of 1.3-1.8” with five shots. All you have to do is understand that the bullet POI is in the center of the dot if you sight it in that way.This gun couldn’t shoot better groups if it had a scope on it.
[/ATTACH]312043312044

[Jtarm]

Wider rear notch or skinny front blade can help.

^^^^This for all-around use^^^^

Dawson sells a variety of fiber-optic sights in different widths.

Other solutions depends on the use of the gun.

For hunting or range:
A 3-MOA red dot or low power scope.

If you have astigmatism, the dot can appear as a starburst. I have it, but I can usually find a focus and for up-close, it doesn’t matter.

“Computer” glasses designed to focus on objects at arms length, perfect for pistol sights. Great for range & competition, but not much good for anything else as everything but the sights tend to be blurred.

SD:
On a red dot, I’d go with a minimum 5-MOA dot. You need to pick it up fast and see it in bright light.
If you go that route, train, train, & train some more as it’s a different world.

I’ve never used a laser, but they seem like they’d only be useful at close range in low light.

The most underrated, IMO, are the XS Big Dot sights with the V-notch rear. The combination makes them very fast to pick up. They may not be as precise as a traditional square notch, but I can shoot them accurately well beyond any reasonable distance I should be shooting at a human.

[FarNorth45]

Man the last few years my close up vision is really fading !!! I just bought a Freedom Arms model 83 and was having a really hard time with the iron sights .
I painted the front sight and that helped a lot .... at times lol
The red dot set up really appeals to me and is very tempting as I run red dots on other pistols .
But a red dot on a Model 83 doesn't really sit well with me as far as looks go ha!ha
Now that One Hole peep sight .... that's something I need to look into for sure !!!

[GregLaROCHE]

My optometrist, who is also a long time competitive shooter, made me a pair of glasses that were between my distance and reading glasses. They work pretty well for long guns. They would probably work for handguns too.

[6string]

What you're describing is usually a symptom of Presbyopia, a thickening and hardening of the lens in your eyes.
Modern lens implants can correct this, but be aware that there are several choices of lenses including monofocal, multifocal, and toric. These can correct for astigmatism as well as cataracts. Be aware that many of the lower cost monofocal implants are designed to correct primarily only for distance. For close up and mid distance focus, especially under indoor and low light conditions where your iris is at its most open, the results can be disappointing. Some people get a near distance lens in one eye and a long distance lens in the other. Find a doctor who's willing to take the time to talk. Some of the big eye clinics that are joint business ventures co-owned by several investor/doctors, be they ophthalmologists and/or optometrists are just "in & out" patient mills with fancy advertising. If you can find a doctor that's also a shooter, so much the better!

But, the best bet is to try the simplest things first. That means purpose-made prescription shooting glasses. For pistol use, you are trying to generally achieve 20/15 vision. This gives you the sharpest front sight focused sight picture, leaving the target slightly blurry.
You can achieve this with a +0.75 to +1.0 diopter adjustment to your current prescription.

If you are a dedicated precision target shooter, you can purchase shooting glasses frames with adjustable nose pieces, arms, lens holders & brackets, and adjustable apertures from companies like Knobloch or Vargas. They run a couple hundred bucks. The cost of corrective lenses is in addition to the frame.

[atr]

I have questionable eyesight also, I'm 76 with cataracts but I REFUSE to give in and get laser sights. I can still hit 6" dia. metal plates at 25 yds with my revolvers. Yea, the sight is a little fuzzy but not enough to stop me.
best....F***old age
atr

[Texas by God]

Thanks to this thread I stashed a pair of 1.5x readers in my shooting box.
The front sights on my handguns have been getting blurry-er as time goes by.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[huntinlever]

Thanks to this thread I stashed a pair of 1.5x readers in my shooting box.
The front sights on my handguns have been getting blurry-er as time goes by.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Knock on wood, that has worked for me. +1.25's. I can shoot my son's 336 with the Skinner peep and his H & K .45 acp, just with a pair of cheap, weak readers.

I got a prescription that is almost like a miracle - I can see perfectly at all distances - but it would have to be progressives. Before I sink dough into a pair, I want to make sure it will really work in the field, then I'm on the prowl for tough, durable glasses - not the designer stuff costing a house and lasting a day and a half.

[Alstep]

My eye Dr at the VA gave me a 1.0 diopter lenses that simply clip on my regular glasses. Real simple solution that sharpens up the sights. Works great for me.

[MT Gianni]

Another fix is to take a piece of blue painters tape and put a hole in it with the smallest hole punch you can find. Cut that so it is a small circle and put it on your shooting glasses. Sighting through that hole will help bring things into focus.

[billmc2]

Knock on wood, that has worked for me. +1.25's. I can shoot my son's 336 with the Skinner peep and his H & K .45 acp, just with a pair of cheap, weak readers.

I got a prescription that is almost like a miracle - I can see perfectly at all distances - but it would have to be progressives. Before I sink dough into a pair, I want to make sure it will really work in the field, then I'm on the prowl for tough, durable glasses - not the designer stuff costing a house and lasting a day and a half.

I'm wearing Randolph frames, one of their Aviator styles. American made and they come with a lifetime warranty. I've had progressive lenses since I first started wearing glasses.

[lx2008]

Merit Optical has a solution. i bought it for around $70...works like a champ for those who have to use reading glasses.
meritcorporation.com/products.html

[M-Tecs]

This may also help, did for me. Best $25 I have spent on shooting gear in years!

https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Products-EyePal-Master-Pack/dp/B01D1AJZ06/ref=sr_1_2?crid=LEA6LSG3YUHZ&keywords=eye+pal&qid=1679014142&sprefix=eye+pal%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-2

I will have to give those a try. Thanks