Lyman Hawkeye legal for USPSA/IPSC

[William Chase]

I'm a "late middle-aged" shooter, i.e., 54, and have worn glasses since I was 4 years old, and bifocals since high school, and can't readily afford a new pair of glasses just for my new (and, according to the wifey, expensive and time-consuming) hobby, and I came across this device which may be helpful for me.

tinyurl.com/jgcpp

BUT! I want to be sure it's legal for USPSA, as that's where I'm starting to play. I searched the manual, but couldn't turn up anything, so maybe it IS ok, but I was hoping those more experienced would know for sure.

Thanks!
Bill

[William Chase]

OK, I sure hope this thing IS legal, because what I feared was my aging arm/wrist/hand muscles is clearly my aging eyes!

I went to the range today, and worked a bit with my new P-01 (thanks again, Craig!) and then my SP-01, without the Hawkeye, and was doing my typical "left of bullseye 80% of the time at 15'". Then I attached the thing to my glasses, and wow! The target looked pretty much the same, but without any straining, the sights were much sharper! Every shot in SA was in the 5" bullseye at 15'. So, move to 25', same story. Finally, move to 45', and 8 out of 10 in the bullseye! Even with the P-01, I was getting well over 60% of the lead through the black! Woo-hoo!

Bill

[elsolo75]

I am sure it's great for bullseye shooting, but I wouldn't want my good eye's vision obscured that much for USPSA.

[Walt-Sherrill]

I think you're going to find it very impractical for the active gun games.  As noted above, it nay be very effective for bullseye-type shooting, but you just have to move around and shoot from awkward positions too much, otherwise.

I have a Meritt Optical device that I'll sell to anyone who's interested.  Like the one pictured but with a very adjsutable aperture.  Wonderful for Bullseye-type shooting, which I never did much of...

For Glock, IPSC/USPSA or IDPA competition....

See about getting glasses made that let you focus on the front sight.  Believe it or not, you don't HAVE to see the target clearly, but you do have to see that front sight clearly.   I've done that, and its helped tremendously.

(An opthamologist who works with a number of shooters at our range prescribes glasses set so that the strong eye is focused on the front sight, and the weak eye is focused on the target.  Not ideal, but better than anything else.  And it has helped improve scores.  I did this for a while until I developed a cataract dead center in my weak eye; I can no longer use the weak-eye set for distance -- and won't until the cataract can be removed.  It hasn't really caused my scores to drop.)

[William Chase]

I understand what y'all are saying about moving, different positions etc.

Maybe it won't be ideal for that, as you suggest, but at least for $17 + shipping I found out a change of lenses would help. Just getting lenses done for my eyes costs about $200/eye!

Hmm.... maybe I can just get one custom lens for competitions that I can replace my normal one with..... hmmmm...


Thanks!
Bill

[Walt-Sherrill]

Believe me... the little device you're talking about will be discarded after the first match.  They just won't work.  
You will spend far more time trying to find the target than you think -- and you'll slow yourself down unacceptably.

If you're doing prescription glasses already, you can just have a cheap set of single-focal length glasses made up using your current prescription.  If you have some old frames, use them.  It can be very cheap.

On the other hand, you don't really need CUSTOM lenses.  Just get some solid reading glasses with the largest lenses you can find, at the drugstore.  (Anywhere from $12 - $20.)

Hold your arm up, try on the glasses, and look for something that's about 5" beyond the end of your extended arm.  THat is about where the sights would be on your gun.  

My Optician recommended that I get some 1.5+ diopter reading glasses -- he said there was no sense in getting lenses just for that use -- and he was right.  You may take a different diopter setting, but the idea is the same.

[William Chase]

Walt, I appreciate your guidance, man!

Could this be, for want of a better phrase, an "eye dominance" conflict? I've read a few posts about people with the same problem being able to clear it up by closing the non-dominant (left, in my case) eye. The Hawkeye has a similar effect, so I'm thinking maybe.

If not, would I use the reading/magnifying glasses alone, or over my regular ones?

Again, thanks!
Bill

[Walt-Sherrill]

You use the reading glasses INSTEAD of your regular glasses, so its important to have large lenses (for the protection from flying stuff) that they afford.  (Wait until you see Sears Optical  or someone is offering special deals, take some old frames, and have them use your glasses (which has the prescription encoded on the glass/plastic) to make lenses that fit the old frames.)

The key point is to see the front sight clearly.  It seems counter-intuitive, but you really don't need to see the target clearly.  But if you see the TARGET as a blur, but have the front sight properly aligned, and generally pointed at the center of the target, you'll do fine.

If you're shooting Bullseye, seeing the target is more important, and then the optical device you mention allows you to see sights and target with the same clarity.  But even then, folks can shoot remarkably well when seeing a clear front sight and a fuzzy target.

I suspect you're not going to believe any of this until you try it.  So buy the device and see.  

In IPSC/USPSA and IDPA, speed is very important, and you simply won't be competitive if you try to get the target in focus through that little aperture.
If you've focusing on the target you're making one of the basic shooting mistakes.

[William Chase]

Walt,

I do understand and am perfectly willing to try the things you mention. As I noted, I've been wearing glasses since age 4, some 50 years ago, and have a pretty good handle on eye stuff and optics.

With my progressive bifocals, I can tilt my head to bring the front sight into focus, but it's still hard to hit the bullseye (and I  end up with a stiff neck!), so next chance I get to go to the range, I will try the "one eye" method and see how I do.

I've found a place that sells the Bolle' sun/protective glasses that will take a prescription insert, and if everything does turn out to be correctable with a diff prescription, then maybe I'll bide my time until there is a "two-fer" at one of the optical shops and get some single vision lenses made for those.

Again, thanks, and I'll add to this thread as I learn/discover more.

Bill

[William Chase]

Welllll....

After this I guess we can let this thread die, but it does appear to a conflict between my eyes. Closing my left eye yielded much the same results as the Hawkeye (glad it was only $17!).

Not to say getting lenses set for focus on the sight won't help, too, but there's not so much pressure to, now!

Thanks again, Walt and elsolo75, for the input!
Bill