[nf1e]

Full circle. Blackening rifle sights.Started with a small carbide lamp in boot camp and then graduated to the Ray-Vin, got lazy and went to Birchwood casey. Now as age has taken a toll on the eyesight have gone back to large carbide lamp to blacken sights and put additional light on the target.

 

[Tom Paine]

I have worn glasses all of my life, and had good vision with them. My father had 20/10 but that passed me by. As I have gotten older, the sight is worsening. Iron sights are a thing of the past for any kind of distance.

What is the theory behind blackening? Thanks.

 

[nf1e]

I have worn glasses all of my life, and had good vision with them. My father had 20/10 but that passed me by. As I have gotten older, the sight is worsening. Iron sights are a thing of the past for any kind of distance.

What is the theory behind blackening? Thanks.

Reduces reflections off the sights so they appear sharper. Thread is in humor and slightly informative because I have gone to mostly optics these days. Just a chance to bring up one of the more forgotten assists for the shooter. Was brought up on another forum so I thought it might be of interest to shooters here.

 

[electricnic]

I must have sprayed the wrong lens of my scope because now I can't see anything. Thanks a lot, Art.

 

[sbird]

Smudge pots anyone?
I remember them on the firing line.

 

[nf1e]

I must have sprayed the wrong lens of my scope because now I can't see anything. Thanks a lot, Art.

Excellent. Humor make the world go round. Thanks

 

[Louis1332]

I saw a NG butter bar spray sight black on his shooting coat as if it was stick-em.

 

[smoothy8500]

As I have gotten older, the sight is worsening. Iron sights are a thing of the past for any kind of distance.

I hear you, however, there are ways to get around "aging eyes" with corrective glasses or rear sight inserts available from two vendors; Bob Jones and Art Neergaard (ShootingSight). With their assistance, I'm still able to shoot High Power and CMP matches.

 

[Tom Paine]

Reduces reflections off the sights so they appear sharper. Thread is in humor and slightly informative because I have gone to mostly optics these days. Just a chance to bring up one of the more forgotten assists for the shooter. Was brought up on another forum so I thought it might be of interest to shooters here.

I appreciate the humor. My wife kids me about my eyes all of the time. I loved shooting irons as a youngster.

I hear you, however, there are ways to get around "aging eyes" with corrective glasses or rear sight inserts available from two vendors; Bob Jones and Art Neergaard (ShootingSight). With their assistance, I'm still able to shoot High Power and CMP matches.

I will look into it. I am not a bad shot, just not quick on acquisition as I would like.

 

[58COOP]

I have the Birchwood Casey sight black pen that's in my range bag. But I remember the carbide lamps from seeing them used at the matches.

 

[tgilkey]

Tom, have you tried a Miso sight in your hood, seems to work for me along with glasses.

 

[rickgman]

I wish there was a simple solution to this problem that didn’t involve trade off’s. It is important to realize that you can address the problem with a specific solution but it must be selected based n your application. It won’t work well for all applications. Choose wisely.

 

[ShootingSight]

I am not a bad shot, just not quick on acquisition as I would like.

Some of that can be due to old eyes, and a lens will fix it. The relaxed human eye will focus at infinity. To focus up close, your ciliary muscle flexes to squeeze and reshape the elastic lens. As we get older, the lens loses its elasticity, so it cannot be squeezed as far (hence we cannot read), or as fast or easily, so we can see intermediate distances like the front sight, but it takes us longer to focus, and we can only hold it for a few seconds before it fades. Looking at the front sight also fatigues the eye muscle, so you can do 5 or 6 shots, then it gets more difficult at the end of the shot string.

You can try the aquisition experiment yourself: close your eyes (which makes your eye muscle relax and your focus goes out to infinity), then put your hand in front of your face and open your eyes. You can count in your brain how long it takes your hand to come into focus, and it is a few tenths of a second. Try the same thing with reading glasses on (which artificially shift your relaxed focus closer to you), and when you open your eyes, your hand is in focus instantly.

So adding a shooting lens that focuses your eye at the correct distance for shooting, and when you bring up the gun, your focus is instantly perfect.

 

[racer]

Or have your optometrist check your eyes for cataracts...for us oldies medicare will cover it. This past summer I had both my lenses replaced and now can see the red bull on an 8" dirty bird splatter target thru my open sights...do I shoot any better??? Maybe if I could just stop shaking. Not sure they can fix that.

 

[MRusan]

Full circle. Blackening rifle sights.Started with a small carbide lamp in boot camp and then graduated to the Ray-Vin, got lazy and went to Birchwood casey. Now as age has taken a toll on the eyesight have gone back to large carbide lamp to blacken sights and put additional light on the target.

View attachment 444557

That lamp off a coal mining hat, or a car?

 

[MRusan]

BTW: if you want to improve your vision in darkness, try taking a bilberry supplement that has lutein in it. My brother tried it after I told him it worked (British figured it out in WWII when certain night crews had oddly good night vision over others...they were eating bilberry jam each day) and he did a test with his roommate. The roommate was the control (no supplement). They did a base test of sitting in a room with zero lighting and wrote down the results (both could see jack). My brother took it for a week following the instructions on the suplement jar, then they did the same test. His roommate thought he was pulling a fast one to win when he said he could see anything at all, so he started holding up fingers and stuff. My brother kept getting it right. My brother even pulled open a book and started reading like there was a full Moon out. My brother was floored by the results. At any rate, it's good for the retina in the long run even though that particular effect only lasts if you take it constantly. Could improve older eyes for shooting, especially if the lighting isn't that great.

 

[nf1e]

That lamp off a coal mining hat, or a car?

Just a hand held carbide lamp. Nothing special. Much larger than would have been used on a miner's helmet.