TargetTalk

I have severe astigmatism and I wear progressives all the time. I bought a pair of Varga 3000s for 10m AP with a +.5 lens. I've seen some mention of getting prescription lenses, but I'm not sure if I am supposed to get a lens for this type of glasses that has my distance prescription, or if the +.5 is really all I want. I thought the latter, but when I use the shooting glasses, instead of my regular glasses, the bull is just a wide blurry smear, and so is the front sight. My astigmatism is so bad, that when I look at the moon, I see two distinct moons with a hint of a smear between them. I've been thinking about getting lasik in my right eye for distance, and then I could use the shooting glasses withou needing to wear my regular glasses. Or will an iris help fix the problem?

you need your full prescription for distance including all astigmatism and other corrections but with +0.5 (some say +0.75) spherical added. Ideally measure from front sight to eye and tell the optometrist.

TenMetrePeter wrote:you need your full prescription for distance including all astigmatism and other corrections but with +0.5 (some say +0.75) spherical added. Ideally measure from front sight to eye and tell the optometrist.

+1
When I had a lens cut that way my front sight was razor sharp! Also, because you can perfectly center your eye in the lense you get perfect astigmatism correction. Something I never had before.

Chip

Thanks. Will the optometrist order a lens to fit the Varga or do I need to take my lens in and let them cut it for the distance prescription?

Also, the one meet I've been to, everyone was using Vargas, but no one was using an iris. When would an iris be beneficial?

You might have to take the lense holder in so they can make the exact size and mark it so it is centered for you.

An iris lets you create a sharper image with more depth of field. Similar to using a larger f-stop on a camera. The larger the f-stop the smaller the hole. The down side is when you decrease the size of the hole you reach a point where the light is restricted enough it gets too dark to be useable. I would suggest trying new lense without an iris first.

Chip

There's not much support for pistol irises on this forum despite them being standard on rifle. Irises were beneficial for me as I passed through a stage of presbyopia as I hit 50 and having otherwise perfect sight I used an iris instead of a lens. However once you can get the perfect lens you shouldnt need one.
Drill a 1/16" or 3/32" hole in a piece of tin and try it on your lensholder just to experiment.

Though I have an iris that I bought from Don Nygord (I was taking one of his seminars), I am not thrilled with it. He said it was to keep a uniform pupil size under different lighting conditions, thus avoiding eyesight changes with different pupil sizes. More important is getting your "scrip" right. You want your distance prescription plus about +.50 diopter to pull your focus to the front sight.

I still use the iris, but it is annoying. Do not think it is for controlling depth of field.

Rover wrote: ...
I still use the iris, but it is annoying. Do not think it is for controlling depth of field.

Nevertheless it does alter depth of field same way as a camera iris where primary function is exposure but depth of field is a useful by-product.

The only good thing I ever found when using an iris was, if I set it at about 4-5mm, it made sure that I was looking through the centre of the lens.

David Levene wrote:The only good thing I ever found when using an iris was, if I set it at about 4-5mm, it made sure that I was looking through the centre of the lens.

its how I finished up using mine after I got a lens made, maybe even a bit wider than that.

TenMetrePeter wrote:....maybe even a bit wider than that.

Might have been. I eventually even gave up using it for that.

My boyfriend really likes the iron sights on an ar15. He says the round rear sight has a pinhole effect that actually magnifies the image a bit. Does the iris do that?

ihasagun wrote:My boyfriend really likes the iron sights on an ar15. He says the round rear sight has a pinhole effect that actually magnifies the image a bit. Does the iris do that?

The aperture on an AR15 does act like pinhole camera to extend your depth of focus so the target is only a bit fuzzy when your eye focusses on the foresight. Aperture sights won't magnify anything without a lens.

An iris is just a variable diameter aperture. It has the same depth of focus effect, and allows the exact size of the aperture to be tweaked to suit personal taste and ambient light. I believe that many pistol shooters don't like the extended depth of focus, because they find a more visible target distracting.

You can call Neal Stepp at I.S.S. International Shooters Service with your eye correction prescription and he can have a lens made for you at a very reasonable price. www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com email: i_s_s@sbcglobal.net Phone: 877-595-2090

Neal has always been helpful to me, but I wish I had known this.

Jack Milchanowski wrote:You can call Neal Stepp at I.S.S. International Shooters Service with your eye correction prescription and he can have a lens made for you at a very reasonable price. http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com email: i_s_s@sbcglobal.net Phone: 877-595-2090

Yes, I did this and he did a great job. Also, the lens is marked so you know how to center it if you have an astigmatism.

Joel

Neal's glasses are actually "glass"

It has the lowest ABBE value.

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/wong2.htm

seamaster wrote:Neal's glasses are actually "glass"

Really? Why? I wear polycarbonate bifocals for daily usage and rifle shooting and polycarbonate pistol lens. They are very reassuring for 6 yards ranges where splashback is a problem. They are also crystal clear and much lighter than glass. Why go back 30 years to glass ??

ihasagun wrote:Thanks. Will the optometrist order a lens to fit the Varga or do I need to take my lens in and let them cut it for the distance prescription?

Also, the one meet I've been to, everyone was using Vargas, but no one was using an iris. When would an iris be beneficial?

I use the older "Champion" glass frames and accessories. I have found the lenses to be STANDARD 41mm round lenses as used by your optometrist in his examination equipment. You can probably cover all the possibilities with this Trial Lens kit... https://www.joyfay.com/catalog/product/ ... AnTM8P8HAQ You can confirm the diameter of these lenses for use in your specific shooting frames, or you can use the frames included in the kit.

Or...

Any fully equipped optometrist with lens cutting/edging equipment can take your standard prescription and create a simple round lens from standard polycarbonate. Either to your standard distance vision script, or with plus .50 or .75 adjustment. (I have mine made to standard distance vision, then add a +.75 lens in front of it). I was fortunate that my optometrist could cut the lens while I waited (about 1/2 hour). Price with taxes: $58 US.

Neal Stepp (ISS) is about 20 miles from my home. I patronize his business whenever I can. I didn't know he also offered the lens service, but I imagine he regularly uses a local optometrist who understands what he wants... I needed to explain the basics to mine.

I'm not an optometrist, but I think as long as you look through the center of the lens, you may not need correction for astigmatism. I have an astigmatism myself, but have not found it to matter with a standard round lens while looking through the optical center. (An iris helps mandate this, too.)

Through the years, I've had lenses made from both materials, and don't notice any difference between polycarbonate and glass lenses, other than weight (polycarbonate is lighter, of course).

At least call Mr Stepp. He can describe to you what he can have made and sent to you at a VERY reasonable price. You will need to have your prescription with you so you can read the numbers off to Neal. I guarantee he can be of tremendous help to you.