I have been having problems with my eyes that last few years. I went blind in my left eye before starting monthly shots in the eye. The vision there is up to 20/60 now, but it looks like it won't be getting any better. My right eye is 20/30. Both of these measurements are AFTER eyeglass correction. I talked about it with a friend from work who got me into CAS shooting. Turns out, his vision is failing too. He had a couple of cataract operations to partially restore the vision, but it is not as good as it was. Then we talked with a few others that we are close to at CAS and found that bad vision was pretty commonplace in our age group. Different kinds of poor vision, but poor vision nevertheless.

What I noticed then was that the accuracy and speed of all of us is not that much worse than it was a decade ago before the vision problems started. A little bit slower, but not that much. I am thinking that we are shooting as much on instinct as we are aiming. Since at least half of my CAS club is over 65, I wonder how many people shooting there (that I don’t know well enough to question) are also having vision reduction problems. Still, I don’t feel threatened if that was the case.

How is everyone else doing with their eyes?

I've been nearly legally blind since I was in my twenties... 20-200+ uncorrcted.. my main problem these days ( I'm 64)... is focusing at arms length... about front sight range... I've been "instinctive/point" shooting since my twenties and basically use the sights for when precise accuracy is needed as in nonmoving target shooting etc...

My vision was worse than 20/400 uncorrected and "good enough" with glasses until 2010 (56 yoa). I developed some type of very fast growing cataracts. A 30 minute procedure in the right eye (lasered out the cataract and installed a lens in the eye) and a week later the same 30 minute procedure in the left resulted in better than 20/15 in the right and about 20/20-25 in the left.

It was world changing. I see better now than at anytime in my life.

My eyes have gradually gotten worse to where now @ 75, I can no longer focus on the sights enough for a good sight picture. I didn't start with glasses until about 45 yo, then 150's. I do need to get my glasses updated.

As people get older the lenses in their eyes harden and the range of focus is restricted. The acuity of vision may still be good but you can only focus at a certain distance. For shooting you need to focus on the front sight. If you are nearsighted then you might be reasonably close, if you have good distance vision then you might need low strength reading glasses for shooting. It might take a little trial and error to get the glasses strength good. Glasses at the drug store usually start at +1.25 diopters. If you are a little nearsighted then this might be too strong. I've noticed that you can search the net and find retailers that sell lower strength reading glasses, even lower strength safety glasses, starting at +0.5 diopters. Of course glasses are only helpful with focus. Other eye problems require attention from a doctor.

Have worn glasses for reading since the age of 11, when I was diagnosed as far-sighted with an astigmatism in my right (dominant) eye. At the age of 24, was involved in an industrial accident that caused a steel chip to fully penetrate my left eye near the center, leaving it legally blind and uncorrectable. Since then, I wear safety glasses any time I am awake to protect my right eye, which has rendered that eye incapable of focusing without the glasses. The good news is with correction my vision is at least 20/20 in my right eye. Both of my parents suffer from macular degeneration though, so that is my biggest fear for the future.