Aperture for aging eyes with open sights

Any thought on the use of an aperture on the shooting eye with open sights. I have experimented with it dryfiring and it certainly makes a difference with the sights except even the bull is sharp too. I know this goes against the paradigm (sp) of shooting with a "fuzzy" bull by concentrating on the front sight. I will be getting a red dot to compete eventurally in open class but am saving the $$$ for it by limitiing my match entries and sticking to open sights in the meantime.

I am aging also. I find that the Merrit  work real well for me when shooting open sights.
http://www.bullseyegear.com/bullseyepistol/product.php?productid=69&cat=0&page=1
Len

I tried the [url=http://www.champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetailOptions&item=390]Gehmann iris[/url], it worked very well but a trip to the eye doctor was a much better solution. It didn't seem to help much with my astigmatism as much as prescription glasses. 

I've heard it said repeatedly that you can't but points; yet my score increased by more than 10 points the first day I wore them and my average has been consistently higher.

The Merrit helped me considerable till I found the red dot

A trip to the eye doctor is definitely a way to buy points for a shooter at any level.

I'm fortunate to have Dr. Wong as my optometrist.

Cost of living is a little steep out this way, though.

You can "open" the aperture a bit to blur the target. 

Putting the aperture closer to the eye helps. Or, you can put increasing sizes of holes in masking tape. Start with the large end, and go down until you can see the front sight crisp with the others blurry. 

Obviously, an exam is the way to go. The eyes can change as moisture content and fatigue changes. An adjustable iris would be a useful piece of gear if you need that one last thing.

I've used these: http://www.eyepalusa.com/eyepal_ordering.html

I like to think I'm a good listener when shooters come to my office for their exam.  I encourage shooters to try apertures to see how they can change vision and how they may affect scores.

When a shooter emphasize good sight alignment along with good trigger control, one may shoot 2600+ regardless of how blurry the bull may appear.  I believe our interpretation of the sight picture with a blurry bull hold many of us back from advancing.

My friend Kirk A brought up some questions about iron sights a few years ago which prompted me to conduct a survey which included most of the top shooters in the nation which included Brian Zins, Steve Reiter, Jim Lenardson, Dave Lange, John Bikar, Chris Johnson, SSG Robert S. Park, SSG John Ennis, Philip Hemphill, Colonel Joe Chang, Scott Lorenz, John Zurek, Steve Locatelli, Tony Silva, Dr. Richard Kang, Cecil Rhodes and Steve Killingsworth. I'm grateful for their participation.

Twelve shooters did not use an aperture, one used it sometimes, while four did used the aperture.  Older shooters tend to need a lens to help with the front sight focus, while younger shooters prefer a lens to enhance to front sight focus while purposely making the bull fuzzy.  John Bickar is an exceptional shooter who prefers total concentration and clarity to the front sight regardless of how bad the bull may look while consistently shooting 2600+ scores.  With his preferred lens, one will not pass the vision test at the DMV.

Something to think about and try.  This post may be a bit redundant to many shooters but it may help some newer shooters.  Try the various apertures and by all means use them if they help.

http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongmain/ironsightsurvey.html


Best Regards,

Norman