Prescription Shooting Glasses for Shotgun Only

[TheKlawMan]

I finally am going to get some shooting glasses, that will only be used for shooting shotguns and 99.99% of the time shooting clay. Perhaps someday I will give some form of hunting a try, but presently I don't hunt.

So I need to pick a brand and type of shooting glasses. Ducot seems to be the most popular and a good solid choice. I am also interested in Randolph Engineering's Sporter Rx; the ones with with an insert that holds clear Rx lenses and allows you to switch colored clip ons. http://www.randolphusa.com/product-categories/ranger/
I almost bought some Barry Allens until the dealer told me that he now represented antoher company. I beleive it was Post 4.

Some have adjustable nose pieces but I am wondering if they are worth getting if you only shoot shotgun. I tried getting a set of street glasses with larger lenses, but whenn shooting shotgun I am still looking above the optical center.

Does anyone have any recommendations or warnings what to stay away from?

[jmortimer]

Evil Roy recommends Wiley X
http://www.evilroy.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=91

[oneounceload]

I use Randolph's with my contacts, two others use them with the insert - they love it because they get to keep and use all of their colored lenses all they need to change if their scrip changes, is the insert.

Get some good colors like yellow, light purple and the CMT and you can also use them for driving - especially the yellow at night

[TheKlawMan]

FWIW, I mispoke when I wrote that the Randolph Enrineering Sport RX have a clear insert. It appears that it isn't an insert but a pair of glasses that the colored lenses clip onto.

{Aargh!!! Their are Randolph Engineering glasses with an insert. The Sport Rx have no insert and use clip ons, while their XLW can take the inserts.)

[Virginian]

I don't know what prescription you need, but I finally settled on full lens 1.75 diopter regular inexpensive safety glasses. I have one pair with tinted smoke lenses and one clear. I added a couple of those little nose pads and that made them sit just enough higher. And when they get dripping wet with sweat and I break them drying them off for the 247th time I am so glad they are cheap.

[zippy13]

Some have adjustable nose pieces but I am wondering if they are worth getting if you only shoot shotgun.
The only shooter I know who used an adjustable nose piece wore the same Decots (bifocals, IIRC) for everyday wear and for shotgunning. When he got to the range, he lowered the nose piece.

...ones with with an insert that holds clear Rx lenses and allows you to switch colored clip ons

I got my first Decots before I shot with prescription lenses and had several tints. Since I went to the RXs I've bought only one tint. For RX wearers, the double system, like the Randolphs, might be a solution; but, I see a possible problem when it rains -- how quickly can you wipe down the dual lens glasses?

[oneounceload]

I see a possible problem when it rains -- how quickly can you wipe down the dual lens glasses?

That's why you wear a hat - keep the sun or the rain out.......:D

[TheKlawMan]

Good point, Zippy. I likely will only need one tint.

[zincwarrior]

I can't tell how expensive those are. If money is an issue I know (because I just bought some) that you can buy prescription sports glasses at Walmart for $60.

[oneounceload]

Good point, Zippy. I likely will only need one tint.

MAJOR difference between shooting when there is a bright cloudless day and when it is a gray overcast one TKM.....and if you start shooting in any type of fun night league, you just added a third completely different scenario

Most folks who shoot no matter the skies prefer some form of bronze/dark/blue blocker color (Randolph's CMT lens makes orange targets GLOW in bright sun), along with a light purple or similar for cloudy days and a yellow or clear for night or really dark conditions under lights

[BigJimP]

DeCot HyWyd is what I recommend...

but you'll need more than one tint...depending on time of year, where you shoot, sometimes under the lights if you shoot at nite, etc....

a. for bright sunlight days...a V light or purple probably...maybe a polarized lens as well.
b. for overcast days...some type of target orange...
c. for night shooting under the lights / or in the trees or in heavy shadows on some wooded courses...a light yellow / gold color and maybe a clear...( not a factor for Trap or skeet - unless you shoot at night )...but a lot of sporting courses....have some stations out in the sunlight / some back in the trees in the heavy shadows...

depending on your prescription ...frames are about $ 125 / a pair of lenses is about $ 140 ( so 3 pairs will be about $ 420 ) ...so you should be able to get what you need for about $ 600.

long term ...change just the lenses ...as your eyes change. You can go cheaper ...but not better.../ DeCot understands the shooters needs ...and how to fit them --- and with bifoculs or not, etc.../ way better product than a typical optical shop, wal mart, etc...

[TheKlawMan]

Thanks for all the ideas. Called a couple of places, Ducot and TexasShootersOptical, and was pleased with how straight forward the folks at both are about their product. Given how much trouble I have had with seeing well it is time to bite the bullet and get some dedicated glasses. Besides seeing better, I also like the idea of wider protection than standard lenses afford. (These friggin glasses will cost as much or more than my first shotgun, the 870 Express.)

[BigJimP]

Ok, .....but then again, decent boat anchors ...cost more than you paid for the 870 ...

Its your eyes man ....don't go cheap !! Glasses will last you 20+ yrs....look how much you spend on shells in 1 Yr ( 6 boxes a week X 40 wks a yr X
$ 4 a box...) or almost a $ 1,000 a year ....x 20 yrs....

good glasses, are a smart --- and good investment....

[LSnSC]

IMO, You dont need different sets of glasses. One set with multicolored clip ons work fine. I wear a set of Randolf prescription Rangers. I like them so much I wear them 24/7.
Get them with a light yellow tint them your choice of tinted clip ons. Since the clip ons have no RX they are very thin and add practically no weight. I have a polarized set and an orange set. That covers everything from a bright day in the September sun shooting doves to shooting skeet under the lights.
I sent my RX to Morgan Sport Optical in New York and had my glasses in a week. They are shooters and understand what you need.

I had a set of shooting glasses with the inserts. IMO, THEY SUCK!

[TheKlawMan]

What was it about the shooters with inserts that you didn't like, LSnSC? I am confused about the light yellow tint. Are you saying that the prescripton lenses are light yellow and then got a set of polorized and a set of orange clip ons? Using them 24/7 is what I thought of doing a year ago, but thought that may not work too well with my script

[oneounceload]

TSO is where I and my friends got their RE glasses - he even exchanged some colored lenses for others when a friend didn't like what he ordered

Talk to the man, he can help a lot

[TheKlawMan]

Oneounce, I remembered that you got your glasses from Tom at TSO and did call him. He was out so I sent him an email not long ago. (Add by edit: And he already got back to me by e-mail although it would have been after 9PM in Texas.)

[TheKlawMan]

I deleted this post as I only had a question because I misread one of Zippy's posts. I can't even blame that on being on a diet as I ate well this 4th.

[Al Den]

I still use Ray Ban Shooters. They are a yellow-brown transition type lens -- no inserts. Wraparound temples. The point is the frame/nose is designed to put your eye in the center of the glass when your head is down on a longarm stock. They sit way high otherwise. The Ray Ban Shooter frames were 50% more metal than the standard frames which were quality sunglass frames to begin with. Randolphs were a good alternative given the price.

Find transition type lens' if ya can and don't look back...

[LSnSC]

The RX lenses in the glasses have a light yellow tint. That tint is very versatile. Good for shooting indoors, driving at night, shooting on overcast days, etc.
I have two sets of clip ons( non RX). One orange i use for 90% of my clay shooting, and and one bronze polarized, I use like sunglasses.
FWIW The glasses with inserts made me feel as if I was looking through a tube.

[zippy13]

FWIW The glasses with inserts made me feel as if I was looking through a tube.
LSnSC. I've never used them, do you think they hindered your target acquisition on crossing shots?

[TheKlawMan]

Al, I din't even know there is such a thing as Ray Ban shooters and will google them. They wouldn't be perfect, but I could probably get by pretty well with my street glasses if not for the problem with the centering the eye. Mine is not only not centered, if I don't use a very erect stance and mount get into the gun, I am looking over the tops of my frames. The particular frames were chosen since they rode the highest on my face. The stuyle is what I call pilots glasses like the old Ray Bans.

[Al Den]

Had them forever. Notice how relatively low the nose-pads are compared to regular aviator frames. Just another option for you to try.

Not sure who might be doing a yellow to gray transition anymore...

[TheKlawMan]

I see what you mean, Al. 10 minutes ago I tried bending the pads on my old glasses to raise them up. It helped but would not get the flasses high enough (partialy due to smell lenses). Also, the top of the nose pads are a good .5" down from the top of the lenses of my old glasses. My oresent ones, the ones I bought for street that should have been better, are perhaps .25" more from their tops, but that 1/4" is all the difference in the world. I will look around for those Raybans (and I notice they have a brow bar).

[Al Den]

Klaw -- you will NOT find them on a rack in drug store if that's what you mean. They are poor (and look silly) for anything but shooting longarms and are bought through specialty channels. And they're not cheap. Sorry.

[TheKlawMan]

Not at Wally World where I went for cat food for our cat (BigJim salivates but diets can do that). I think I would have to be eating cat food before I would let them make up some glasses for me. A lady was complaining about her new glasses that they made up - and she works in the optical department.

[LSnSC]

Zippy,
They absolutely did. I felt there was some distortion as well.

[zippy13]

LSnSC, thanks for the heads-up.

TKM, I know quite a few shooters who need RX glasses and maintain a good selection of Decot lenses. Their solution is simple (and much cheaper when its time to change RX), they use the same Decots year in and year out and contacts for the RX.

[TheKlawMan]

I have never tried contacts, Zippy. I have been thinking of it and supposedly the optometrist I see is especially good at prescribing for contacts. I think I should look into them. That is what oneounce does, IIRC.

[Couzin]

Gave up on glasses and contacts - just had monovision lasik three weeks ago - vision is great and I am going out next week to 'test' the results. May have been a costly mistake - or a solution - but I was so tired of the glasses and just not being able to see well in all situations.

[TheKlawMan]

As many know, I have been looking at shooting glasses, which for me perhaps are more important than some, because I look over the frames of my pilot style street glasses when shooting due to a long neck.

The fix is shooting glasses, but I need to wait a month to qualify for an examination paid for by my insurance. The glasses are expensive enough to pay for the exam if I don't wait 3 weeks. Meanwhile, a stock fitter showed me how to properly mount my XS Skeet and when I do I look clean over my streets. I want to shoot with the mount but it self defeating to shoot without prescription glasses as I have a fairly strong RX.

The temporary answer: $2 worth of MOLESKIN that I have in my shooting bag, anyway, for experimenting with raising my POI! Actually, I cut about a nickels worth and stick little pieces on my nose pads, as well as little pieces on the bridge of my nose. (I may be able to get away with one piece pon the pads if I can get thicker Moleskin.)

As is, one piece on each nose pad raises my street glasses so that I am looking beneath the top of my frames. Two pieces and the frames are out of sight.

I love moleskin!!

[TheKlawMan]

I am still deciding on shooting glasses, but meanwhile I think I found a pretty good temporary solution. I started a thread on this since I have never seen it metioned elsewhere, but I raised my street glasses up with a nickel's wotrh of moleskin by cutting little pieces and sticking them to the bridge of my nose and to the pads of my glasses. Now I have to see how long it takes for them to fall off. Alternativley, I may try a piece the size of a bandaid placed across the bridge of my nose. Isn't that swank!!

[zippy13]

TKM, you're stylin' now! :rolleyes:

[TheKlawMan]

TKM, you're stylin' now!

Zippy. They look great with the white tape holding the one temple on.;)

[TheKlawMan]

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o616/poppoppa5/th_Stylin.jpg?t=1341713857

And it works, except the moleskin doesn't want to stick to sweaty skin. I could use a stapler? (No, Jim. Not the nail gun!)

[Al Den]

Klaw, if I didn't know u and saw u in that gettup w/a shotgun, I'd have to confiscate it from u. Sorry.

[oletymer]

You can buy packs of pads for the nose pads of your glasses. They are cheap and fit without cutting.

[TheKlawMan]

Oletmeyer, Actually I tried to buy a set of those pads a coupld of nights ago and got distracted by the optometrice assistant. I think I will grab some today. They only have to last a month but for that month I want to be able to shoot and see through my glasses.

Anyway these are lovely moleskinners/

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o616/poppoppa5/th_Stylin.jpg?t=1341713857

[Mike Irwin]

Merged "problem - solution" threads.

[TheKlawMan]

I tried the packs of nose pads. It took 4 thin pads per nose piece to raise the glasses high enough to look through when I mounted the XS Skeet with the heel of the butt on the collar bone. Things started off pretty well, and went to hell. At the end of the first 25 I discovered that the pads had slipped off on one side and my glasses were canted radically.

After doing almost as poorly with the pads off and looking over the frames, I shot fairly well by taking my glasses off (even if I saw a very blurry clay about 4" below another one). I will likely try the two layers of moleskin across the bridge of my nose this week and am about to order the Randolph Engineering Ranger XLW with the presctiption insert

[TheKlawMan]

I finally orderd some glasses. They may not help with my miserable shooting, but there is (almost) always hope.

I kind of liked the look of three layers of moleskin across the bridge of my nose to push my street glasses up. Damn glasses cost more than my 870.

[TheKlawMan]

I got my Ranger XLW glasses with inserts from Tom at TexasShootersOptical ( http://www.texasshootersoptical.com/ ). Tom made me a deal that was hard to refuse; return them for full credit on Ranger Edges after trying them for 30 days and if I still don't like them. I don't think I will be returning them.

Caution: If anyone with a strong prescription is considering them, I paid $30 extra to upgrade the clear insert lenses to hi-def and even then they are just a bit on the heavy side. I think they would have been two heavy with regular CR-39 lenses. Glad I took Tom's advice on the upgrade.

[mete]

Years back when I got mine I was lucky to go to a place where the guy was a shooter . He knew exactly what I wanted !! As I'm putting my face down on the stock he made the optical center in the upper left part of the physical lense ! I also had him make the lenses in light grey as I prefer neutral color .They're great ! :D

[TheKlawMan]

I know what you are talking of, mete. I don't believe tom had that done. These glasses have an adjustable nose piece. Fully extended raises the optical center, medium is for normal use like driving or handguns, and up is for activities like golf in which you are looking down. For dedicated shotgun glasses, I believe what you had done is best.

There is a good guy and shooter in Iowa by name of Steve Maltzahn, at http://www.cleartargetoptics.com/ , that does that and I almost ordered from him a while back, but he had changed brands and I wasn't wild about his new line.

[340 Weatherby]

Klawman, my shooting glasses and driving glasses are the same (distance). I can't hardly see a plate of food in front of me with them though. I don't see why a good eye doctor can't fix you up with something that will work if you explain to them what you are doing. When I get new glasses, I have new polarized prescription lenses put in my old frames. I wear the clear set the first 45 minutes in Yuma, then change to the sunglasses because of the sun if the birds are coming from that direction.

[TheKlawMan]

Hi 340. I needed actual shooting glasses because of a long neck that leaves me peering up through the tops of my eye sockets if I mount my gun properly. I realize that you would just get another gun, but the glasses, a different gun, or at least another stock were my only choices. I could have had them made with a small prism for that but opted against it. onI like my Browning and dedicated glasses seemed preferable a Monte Carlo type stock.

The glasses you have seen me shoot were made by my optometrist to be used for the street and shooting. They just didn't work out. I can see things up close pretty well with these shooters, but writing and fine things are a bitch. I could have had them made with a small prism for that but opted against it. onI like my Browning and dedicated glasses seemed preferable a Monte Carlo type stock.

The thing about the ones I got is that if my Rx changes, all I have to do is have the clear lenses of the insert replaced. I continue to use the same frame and all tinted lenses.

[TheKlawMan]

I thought I should cap this off in case someone shopping for glasses sees it. This is written after I running a few hundred shot shells through it.

The only real trouble I had was that they slipped down on my nose, but there was a mistake in the shipment. 45 mm cable temples were ordered but the glasses shipped with 55's. Tom asked me to try them for a couple of weeks and then if I wanted he would send me the 45's. I e-mailed him today and he replied that they will ship to me tomorrow. I doubt that they will slip with the 45 mm temples.

There was a small fissure on the perimeter of one of the tinted lenses and Tom of Texas Shooters Optical is sending me a new set of tinted lenses.

Before I got them a question was raised about cleaning them. I haven't shot in the rain, but shot on three days with high humidity and 100 degree temperatures. The combination of sweat and probably sun block did accumulate on the inside of the prescription lenses, but was easily cleaned without needing to remove the outer non-prescrtipion polycarbonate lenses. (The Ranger XLW's have tinted nonprescription outer lenses made from polycarbonate and inner clear lenses. Since my prescription is fairly stong, I went with high index clear plastic lenses instead of C-39's. the idea is that if my script changes, I only have to get a set of lenses for the inserts and need not replace sets of outer tinted lenses.)

I am glad I went with glasses with an adjustable nose bridge. It has three positions. I shoot with them on postion 3, which is the extended position. This raises them up extra high, which I need else I will be looking over the optical center of the lenses. Some people may set it on the middle positon for things such as shooting a pistol or driving a car. I imagine some people could also use it for shotgunning; especially with a Monte Carlo stock. Thought I mainly shoot trap, I use a skeet gun. Position 1 is for looking down as when golfing.

Before getting them I discovered that some people had posted about trouble seeing the nose bridge in their peripheral vision. After the first day it wasn't a problem for me.

If you can afford to swap out all your colored lenses when your prescription changes, I would go with another model such as Ranger Edges or another brand without prescription inserts. While these come with the inserts (or you can order them without inserts), I may later try using them with contacts.
The insert frames are easily removed with a screwdriver supplied with the glass kit.

I followed the advice of most and went with mono focus distance lenses. I can read a little with them, but they are actually for shooting and I like the way I can see the target much more sharply with them then I did with progressive glasses.

One thing. Some mentioned them being heavy, which is one reason for getting high index lenses, for which I was only charged an additional $30. So far I have shot 6 boxes with them in near 100 degree heat and 70% plus humidity and I didn't notice the weight. In fact I kept forgetting whether I was wearing my street glasses or the Rangers.

That's about it.