Shooting with contacts

[jambau]

I've been wearing glasses for 40 years. Could not wear contacts back then because my astigmatism in the right eye was too great. Now, thanks to today's technology, I've gotten contacts. However, I noticed that when looking through my scopes the sight picture is now distorted. It is clear but mildly egg shaped. I'm wondering if this could exaggerate parallax or throw something else off. I haven't shot at distance with the contacts yet only 300 yards but I haven't noticed a difference in POI. I was wondering is anyone has experienced this and what the conclusion was.

 

[charnicus]

Did you go from shooting without glasses to now shooting with contacts? If so, your diopter is going to need some adjustments. I shoot with contacts just fine but my scopes are set up as such.

 

[Charger442]

ive shot with contacts for years. your scope adjustments can compensate for that.

 

[jambau]

Charnicus,

I'm going from shooting with glasses to shooting with contacts. I've made the adjustments to the scopes. I can get clear crosshairs and sight picture but can't get round crosshairs and sight picture. The crosshairs and sight picture are slightly elongated from top to bottom. I don't know. Maybe the optometrist needs to make more adjustments but I've never had anyone test my vision for round shit.

 

[EddieNFL]

When I switched from glasses to contacts it was like moving from irons to glass. WOW, what a difference. Fast forward 40 years and it just doesn't matter what I use. No such thing as a perfectly clear sight picture for me.

 

[11bar]

I am no eye doctor but have really bad eyes and have used contacts for 25 years. I would bet it’s due to the contact correcting you astigmatism. I would see if your optometrist could get you trial pairs of different brands and see if that solves your issue.

 

[Porksboy]

Shoot open sights with contacts, mostly shotgun these days. I have my right eye for distance and my left for close up, doc called it monovision.. Works ok because I can track the clay with my right eye and judge distance well still.
No astigmatism correction however.
For scopes I found I needed to adjust my scope.
I thought about getting shooting glasses that corrected the correction as it were. Anyone tried that?

 

[EddieNFL]

Shoot open sights with contacts, mostly shotgun these days. I have my right eye for distance and my left for close up. Works ok because I can track the clay with my right eye still.
No astigmatism correction however.
For scopes I found I needed to adjust my scope.

That's me. I use a .25 for irons. Have to use distance for dots or glass. When the dot becomes a cluster, I know my eyes are tired.

 

[Doc68]

Are you shooting with a scope or red dot.

Doc

 

[fxdwgkd]

Weighted contacts by chance? If so they may be rotating while you are down on the rifle. I had them and gave them up because it drove me nuts when they would rotate in my eye if my head was tilted

 

[jambau]

I am shooting with a scope. My contacts are weighted and I also have a "mono-vision" set up. fxdwgkd might be on to something. I'm gonna pull a bolt and try different shooting positions.

 

[HiDesertELR]

I shoot better with glasses now, contacts were always a little "off", for me anyway. I like the extra layer of protection they offer as well. YMMV.

Sincerely,
Middle Aged Man With Head Injuries

 

[Doc68]

Contacts were always off for me also. I had a horrible astigmatism and got lasik about 3 years ago. Now everything is crystal clear.

When I had contacts red dots were more of a blur than a dot for me.

Now they are a dot.

I always had issues with the fast focus ring on scopes while wearing contact lens. It was never clear for me.

Doc

 

[sinister]

Toric contacts (weighted so they orient north-south) will correct for astigmatism but may shift when you blink and have to return to orientation.

I had the greatest success with hard contact lenses, but over the years my tear ducts can't keep up all day and I get dry-eye. Soft toric lenses are good, but have some minor limitations you need to compensate for.

 

[jambau]

Thanks for all the input. Lots to consider.

 

[charnicus]

Charnicus,

I'm going from shooting with glasses to shooting with contacts. I've made the adjustments to the scopes. I can get clear crosshairs and sight picture but can't get round crosshairs and sight picture. The crosshairs and sight picture are slightly elongated from top to bottom. I don't know. Maybe the optometrist needs to make more adjustments but I've never had anyone test my vision for round shit.

They could maybe tweak the astigmatism correction which is what I think causes that. Play with your scope height if possible. I too have a decent astigmatism and my eye position behind the scope, to include angle seems to matter. I’ve got it pretty squared away now. By that I mean it shouldn’t be impossible. What I found to help was to play around with things and compare to a plumb bob.