Old eyes and crosshairs

[WhelenMan]

I'm slowly but surely getting a little older. I've noticed that every time I've put a rifle aside for a while I've had to refocus the reticle by backing the eyepiece off a little. I finally refocused the reticle on a 3.5-10x50 Leupold VXIII once again yesterday and discovered I hit the end of it's range of adjustment. I know I'm not the only one to experience this and was wondering what others have done about it or is it possible for the factory to alter the focusing range. What do I do old timers?

 

[Cheechako]

Whelenman

Glasses????

Ray

 

[SteveNC]

Glasses are a good safety anyway. Bite the bullet, so to speak, and get a pair of cheap readers at the drugstore if necessary. The sooner you start the sooner you will get used to them.

 

[Ackman]

Back when I used Leupolds, some eyepieces had more adjustment than others. But in general they don't back out as far as other brands. Several of mine ran out of adjustment. Simplest would be some reading glasses from the drugstore. Dillon also used to sell shooting glasses with slight magnification, just like those reading glasses from the drugstore. They may still but I haven't checked their flyer for some time.

There's a little stop screw that keeps the eyepiece from being backed off past a certain point. Without it you could probably unscrew the eyepiece completely. I had target knobs installed on several Leupolds, some by Leupold and some by Premier. Premier would take that stop screw out on request, then you could back out enough more to where things would focus. But Leupold played dumb......wouldn't do it or even admit such a thing was possible.

 

[dipper]

Whelenman,

I'm there too!!!LOL
Go to drug store and get a pair of reading glasses---you can try on different strengths to see which one you need.
Bring something along to read or just grab a magazine off the rack---and with your elbow bent in a normal reading position, pick the lowest "power" that works.
On top of getting older, I am a diabetic and your vision can change from hour to hour let alone year to year!!
I've got about 4 different pair I use.
Get the good ones they last along time and hold up well---I pay about $22.00 a pair.
You should also visit a eye doctor for a check-up---mine just recommended the reading glasses and told me which ones,strength) to get.

Rich

 

[Forum Boss]

Prescription Shooting Glasses.

"Drug-store glasses" made of cheap plastic or glass can shatter.

You only have one set of eyes.

There's a whole big story we just released on eye protection for shooters.

http://www.6mmbr.com/eyeprotection.html

 

[dipper]

Being a toolmaker for some years now, I always wear proper eye protection.
I wear very good osha approved safety glasses over my cheap glasses whenever I need to use them.
You do bring up a very important point and I should have mentioned that in my post.
The way my eyes can change from day to day it is the least expensive way for me to go---but again, I always wear the good stuff over the cheap stuff.

Rich

 

[WhelenMan]

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I've got shooting glasses and reading glasses also. LOL I got there years back. It's not a problem when shooting at a range because as you suggested I could wear corrective eyewear. The problem comes because this is my hunting rifle and if I wear reading glasses it won't work for far vision when hunting. I just don't want to take them on and off when hunting.

Thanks for the article on shooting glasses. I'd always had 20/10 vision in my youth and I'm having trouble getting used to being normal now. I get eye checkups every year since I have lots of health problems including diabetes and I'm down to 20/20 now. I complain about my vision being worse and they tell me it's normal since it tests 20/20. I've got a number of rifles and scopes and this Leupold is the first to run out of adjustment so it must be a Leupold trait. I may eventually have to try taking out the stop screw but I hate to tinker with my scope not knowing what I'm doing. Thanks all.

 

[JFMorgan]

Just checked my safety catalog. Crews has three ANSI Z87.1 Uv glasses that have from 1.0 to 2.5 diopter magnification. Bearkat Magnifier, Klondike Magnifier and Rx Option. AO Safety has the BX with reader lense and Nuvo Readers. Jackson has the NEMESIS RX. Another option is to buy a standard Z87.1 safety glasses and purchase the magnifier tabs from WalMart. The cost of the glasses mentioned start less than $5 to $11.

Jim,

 

[Tiratore]

I have a somewhat different question on the same topic.

I've had cataract surgery, so focus on crosshairs is no longer the issue for me.

But - Shooting F-Class, with the sort of fine crosshairs and small dots that many long-range scopes have, the reticle sometimes becomes lost on the black bull (sometimes wiggling with mirage). I've had to aim the reticle off onto the white to re-see it and then move it back to the center.

I was wondering if an illuminated (red?) reticle would help. I've never looked through a scope with one.

Tiratore

 

[chkunz]

I have a somewhat different question on the same topic.

I've had cataract surgery, so focus on crosshairs is no longer the issue for me.

But - Shooting F-Class, with the sort of fine crosshairs and small dots that many long-range scopes have, the reticle sometimes becomes lost on the black bull (sometimes wiggling with mirage). I've had to aim the reticle off onto the white to re-see it and then move it back to the center.

I was wondering if an illuminated (red?) reticle would help. I've never looked through a scope with one.

Tiratore

I have a similar problem and I have started holding the dot in the white at six o'clock, just touching the bottom of the black.

 

[cmysix]

Glasses are a good safety anyway. Bite the bullet, so to speak, and get a pair of cheap readers at the drugstore if necessary. The sooner you start the sooner you will get used to them.

NO! the cheap readers will ruin your eyes, even cheap sunglasses.

 

[Liven The Dream]

I have been shooting Matches for 45 plus years.
You need a good Eye Doctor not Walgreens.
You must tell the Doctor what your using theses glasses for ????
Today at my F/Open Shooting I have Glasses just for Shooting. Then my everyday ones.
I just came back from the F/Class Nationals lot of Kids my age ( 75 +) shooting very well.