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Shooting glasses for shooting scoped rifles?
- Thread starter Mr.BR
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Any glasses you wear are going to induce parallax errors, which is why so many LR guys don't wear them. As someone that has to have glasses to see (and can't get a scope to focus without them), I find it nearly impossible to get perfect parallax, as even the slightest shift of my head causes me to look through a different point in the lens.
I commend you for thinking about safety, just be aware of the frustration that any kind of lenses will bring.
I commend you for thinking about safety, just be aware of the frustration that any kind of lenses will bring.
Single vision prescription Z87 safety glasses and frames at Wal Mart for $100 a pair. That’s what I use. If you ever experience a over pressured round or see it happen to others, you’ll were glasses forever after that. No issue with focus or parallax wearing them. Now, if your not using single vision, yes wearing glasses will induce issues in different shooting positions.
I gave up looking for shooting glasses that don't impede the sight picture. Have tried a few Oakleys and others with no luck. The only thing I have tried that worked well are made by a company called Pilla. They are big with the shotgun crowd (skeet, clays) but they worked great for me behind a rifle. The problem is the cost. They are horrifically expensive glasses. I haven't bought a pair yet and am not sure whether I will. I can shoot without glasses and focus the scope perfectly.
Have you tried larger lenses? I had issues with my first pair where in some positions I was looking through them at the top or bottom of the lenses. I went with a larger lenses and a strap on my frames for consistent eye/glasses fit and that fixed it. Only issue I have had since it forgetting to add Fog-X to them.
I can lay prone, get in position, and just barely shift my head and watch the target and crosshair shift. I can't adjust the parallax out completely, there's always movement. I also have astigmatism, but I know other shooters with the same problem that don't have it.
Cool deal, that’s the benefit of a forum. Hearing about issues/remedies never heard of or experienced by anyone else. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep a look out for this in the future. Don’t understand how this is possible, but worth another look. Question, are you sure your not inducing the issue due to poor shooting position. Example glasses and scope lenses are made to be viewed through the perfect center of either. Could your issue be improper head/eye position? Yes it’s difficult in some of the pretzel positions, but that’s what practice is for.
I've played with this for a while and it's a pain in this ass. That said, the best thing I've found thus far are the large windshield style glasses like the Wiley-X Sabers or Oakley Ballistic Si type glasses. These seem to interfere least with my optics and provide sun/dust protection.
I've seen it in every optic I have tried. Bushnell XRS1 and 2, DMR2 Pro, Forge, plus a bunch of Vortex, NF, etc.
(02) NF Atacr, (01) NF SHV, (01) Vortex PST Gen 2, (03) Leupold Mark 4, (02) Bushnell HDMR2, (01) Athlon Ares BTR, etc. All scopes I have (know I forgot a few) never seen this issue. I would highly suggest looking at the possibility your the issue and not the equipment. That’s not a personal attack on you. Cognitive dissonance is the human struggle that drives the consumer impulse and the push against self accountability. I don’t claim to have the answer or be correct. I do claim the ability to be wrong and open to correction.
Like I said, I have several friends with the exact same issue with parallax and glasses, so it's not just me. I've looked at switching to contacts, but haven't been able to find a brand/style yet that was comfortable for me.
The problem with contacts are your astigmatism. I have tried them and nothing corrects astigmatism despite the claims
I never got far enough into wearing them to see if they corrected anything as it felt like my eyes were being sandblasted when I had them in my eyes. I wore contacts in the past (when my astigmatism didn't need correction) without those problems, though. Go figure.
I know. I have worn contacts before and tried them for 3 months. Glasses were superior in terms of correcting my astigmatism
I always wanted glasses without a frame at the top of the lense. That frame seemed to get in my way. So far the best I have found are the Smith Pivlock V2. They are about the same cost as Oakley but rated higher for safety. Also the replacement lenses are around $20.
How to pay is a better question. Their site is loaded with information on the lens color and effect. It really comes down to what will work for your type of shooting
I’ve been using the Pilla Outlaw X7 with what looks to be the the Truck Kit of lenses. Primary use has been clay shooting but I also use them for rifles. They have worked well prone behind a scope. For dedicated rifle shooting I would think a high light transmission lens would be good. They have lots of information on filtering for action shooting. Yes they cost a lot but you get what you pay for.
pillasport.com
Pistol & Rifle Shooting Kits
For over 30 years, Pilla has provided the very best in shooting sports eyewear and is exclusively partnered with ZEISS for our design engineering. All of our products are certified as optically perfect. More professional shooting champions use Pilla as part of their competitive gear than all...
pillasport.com
I do 99% of my shooting with Vermilion and Light Purple. The other 1% is yellow for night/low light shooting.
The benefit for PRS and other style shooting is you can help make targets pop out against the background terrain. Yellow, white and orange painted targets in a green background almost glow with the right lenses. Your eyes naturally track to them.
The benefit for PRS and other style shooting is you can help make targets pop out against the background terrain. Yellow, white and orange painted targets in a green background almost glow with the right lenses. Your eyes naturally track to them.
Some optical engineer is going to have to explain how it's possible for a single lens behind the ocular to induce parallax error in a lens system in front of it.
Parallax is adjusted between the Objective lens and the erector cell lenses ( in an FFP scope anyway). The ocular lens assembly simply magnifies that image. An additional lens correcting the vision of the wearer is acting just like the diopter setting on the eyepiece, correcting focus of the PARALLAX FREE image.
Repeat after me, focus is not parallax, focus is NOT parallax.
It's perfectly possible for the image of the target to be soft focus and parallax free. Once parallax has been adjusted, the image is in the same plane as the reticle. At that point, adjustment of the eyepiece power, diopter or wearing a prescription or plain safety lens is not going to change that.
In any event, parallax error for practical shooting is really not much of an issue anyway. Unless you are wildly out of center, seeing a large black crescent, its hardly worth worrying about it. Note that if you are looking at the center of the FOV you are parallax free no matter how it's adjusted.
In short, if you perceive parallax error, it's not due to your eye pro. Sorry Hollywood, it's a personal perception problem, not the lenses.
Parallax is adjusted between the Objective lens and the erector cell lenses ( in an FFP scope anyway). The ocular lens assembly simply magnifies that image. An additional lens correcting the vision of the wearer is acting just like the diopter setting on the eyepiece, correcting focus of the PARALLAX FREE image.
Repeat after me, focus is not parallax, focus is NOT parallax.
It's perfectly possible for the image of the target to be soft focus and parallax free. Once parallax has been adjusted, the image is in the same plane as the reticle. At that point, adjustment of the eyepiece power, diopter or wearing a prescription or plain safety lens is not going to change that.
In any event, parallax error for practical shooting is really not much of an issue anyway. Unless you are wildly out of center, seeing a large black crescent, its hardly worth worrying about it. Note that if you are looking at the center of the FOV you are parallax free no matter how it's adjusted.
In short, if you perceive parallax error, it's not due to your eye pro. Sorry Hollywood, it's a personal perception problem, not the lenses.
I shoot pilla’s, the Matrix are the ones I use for rifle shooting, lightweight and help when it’s real sunny.
https://pillasport.com/collections/all-performance-glasses/products/matrix
I used the outlaws when I was trapshooting, purple color lenses, they really helped the orange birds become more visible especially with a green background. Definitely helpful trap shooting, if you get a chance give them a try.
I have yet to notice any distortion.
They do a lot of impact testing as well, somewhat helpful if something was to go wrong.
https://pillasport.com/collections/all-performance-glasses/products/matrix
I used the outlaws when I was trapshooting, purple color lenses, they really helped the orange birds become more visible especially with a green background. Definitely helpful trap shooting, if you get a chance give them a try.
I have yet to notice any distortion.
They do a lot of impact testing as well, somewhat helpful if something was to go wrong.
Like I said above, I’ve shot Pillas for a while now. Bought the first set in 2012 and have never looked back. I even use their lifestyle glasses for my regular sunglasses.
Back when I was shooting sporting clays hard core they were essential equipment. Back then I was shooting 50k targets a year in PNW lighting conditions so the quick change lens system worked well. I never felt under gunned with the three lenses in the Truck Kit.
They also work just as well behind the rifle which was a bonus. I just can’t understand people who spend $2-3k on a scope and won’t wear eye protection.
I wear the Oakley tombstone reap or M frames.
I have not had parallax problems with them. Yeah the Pillas are nice! I tried some at a sporting clays match, just couldn't justify them over the Oakley's.
We shoot at two places that is 100% eye protection on the line. I like to set an example for my kids too.
I have not had parallax problems with them. Yeah the Pillas are nice! I tried some at a sporting clays match, just couldn't justify them over the Oakley's.
We shoot at two places that is 100% eye protection on the line. I like to set an example for my kids too.
As I stated earlier I wear prescription glasses with astigmatism correction, and I can't see through an optic without them. No matter what I do, and no matter what optic I use, I can't get a 100% parallax free image with a scope. Even the slightest head movement, and I can see a slight shift in alignment between the reticle and target. I spent 30+ minutes on the range one day trying, and never got it completely dialed out.
That said, even when I see a shift, it's very minor through the optic - minor enough that it doesn't really seem to show up on paper when shooting groups. I can't think of a shot I have ever missed at a match due to parallax issues with my glasses - but I can see the alignment shift.
Maybe it's my glasses, maybe it's my eyes. I can't try it without the glasses, so I can't eliminate them as the problem. Dunno what the hell else to tell you.
Have you ever looked through a fixed parallax scope? Or, have someone else set the parallax for you. If you just look at how the scope and parallax adjustment works, you'll see that your glasses are not causing a parallax problem.
It's possible you are seeing some other kind of distortion and then interpret that as parallax. Pincushion, barrel and mustache distortion all exist in prescription lens so most likely you are seeing that rather than parallax error.
It's possible you are seeing some other kind of distortion and then interpret that as parallax. Pincushion, barrel and mustache distortion all exist in prescription lens so most likely you are seeing that rather than parallax error.
That's entirely possible, especially knowing that astigmatism lenses are cut differently than non-astigmatism corrections. As I mentioned earlier, I know other shooters that have experienced similar issues, and I believe they all have astigmatism. I have a friend that ran into so many problems with glasses that he actually shoots without his glasses (he's able to see through the scope without them), and only puts them back on when the match is over.
I have looked through fixed parallax optics, but don't own one at the moment. I didn't pay much attention to parallax on them, either, so I can't say if the problem exists on that type of optic. I've had friends set parallax on my optic before (as part of chasing an issue I was seeing with POI shift in mirage we eventually traced to a problem with my glasses), and I want to say that I still couldn't get it completely out, but I can't remember for sure. That was over 2 years ago now. I'll be at K&M this weekend, so I will try to get someone to try adjusting it for me and see if I can replicate it.
The way I had it explained to me by the guy who is gonna do my cataract surgery not my optometrist is that with really strong Rx the quality of vision just off the optical center changes drastically unless one is looking right through it dead center. If you are say a -2 and get a bit off optical center you don't walk into a wall.....but I might b/c w/o correction I'm essentially blind. In a perfect world I need freaking trifocal lenses, but I just live with bad intermediate vision and use distance glasses and swap to readers. My -7.5 L eye and -8 in shooting eye are so strong I have to keep my head very upright so I can look directly though the optical center b/c even off just a smidge and I drop off 20/20 quickly to where it's just garbled crap shapes. So when my image blurs downrange I always go to double checking my cheek weld to ensure it's locked up. Just something to think about if you have not considered that when struggling at a shoot. I've learned how to relax best I can b/c natural point of aim is really not anything I can strive for everything I do is derived out of keeping optical center of glasses as close to vertical as I can and lined up with scope which creates tension, but like anything else humans adapt best they can it ain't keeping me from the game!
I'm not smart enough to identify if my struggles with Rx and downrange are exactly what you are experiencing, but I have a few things going on up to and including image quality, reticle focus, reticle/image seem to shift around unless I'm just dead nuts dialed up in the optical center of my Rx glasses.
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good points....I went with the Vigilante with the clearest possible lenses, my idea is that I like to have my prescription lenses inser behind the clearest protective screen, being mostly shooting PRS style
ICE glasses from ESS are pretty good and you can normally find um for a reaonable price online. They have no top frame and I haven’t had them impede in any position.
Obvious, but the eye is the most fragile/easily damaged part of the human body.
I know guys that shoot without eye pro for bolt guns all the time. They are big boys and can make their own decisions.
That said, I wear ballistic eyewear (Oakley) because of how vulnerable the eye is and I've watched pistols basically explode from double charged ammo. I will never purposely shoot without eye pro.
And I'll give up slight parallax or other issue to protect my eyes to the best way I can.
I know guys that shoot without eye pro for bolt guns all the time. They are big boys and can make their own decisions.
That said, I wear ballistic eyewear (Oakley) because of how vulnerable the eye is and I've watched pistols basically explode from double charged ammo. I will never purposely shoot without eye pro.
And I'll give up slight parallax or other issue to protect my eyes to the best way I can.
There is a place in Denver called Tactical RX that sounds promising and they cater to to shooting sports...gonna try them shortly...
not that they are the best probably not but I tried these and have had no problem with them in 2 years https://www.esseyepro.com/Crossblade_259_category.html think the package i got was 145.00 . I sm not positive , but think you can even get a clear or colored lens in your proscription , if that is what you are looking for . They like many have interchangeable lenses , at least it's better than loosing sight in your eye sight and not costing thousands of dollars .
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