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I'm looking for tips and or ideas about how to stay focused on accuracy when suffering from Macular degeneration of the eyes.

I'm mainly referring to handguns for self defense.

Any and all info would be deemed very helpful.

Thanks.
 
Buy big dot sights.
They glow in the dark.
And even in the day time they are huge .
Obviously you can't depend on glasses .
But WilyX makes good balisic glasses.
 
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I put these on two of my guns
XS BIG DOT SIGHTS.
it does take a few shots and some practice to get used to them
A favorite pistol of mine came with XS sights already installed.. I really like them. Some people poopoo them like crazy but I find them (literally) exceedingly fast and quite accurate enough for people work.
 
A favorite pistol of mine came with XS sights already installed.. I really like them. Some people poopoo them like crazy but I find them (literally) exceedingly fast and quite accurate enough for people work.
They are self defense sights.
Basically made for shots on target .
Fast a human size target .
 
I practice "point shooting" often. Up to around 25 feet I can be minute-of-badguy without using the sights at all.

And yes, my eyes are lousy and not getting any better.
 
Fiber optic, Lasers, and Red Dots can all help aging eyes.

I also don't know what your specific condition is, but finding an eye doctor who has experience working with and fitting shooters can/may help. Ask around and find out who other shooters in your area go to.
 
I was sans glasses during qualification week one year in the Marines due to breakage, and spent Monday through Thursday learning to shoot with blurry vision. If you have the time I would take a few days and shoot many three round courses of fire to figure out a technique that works with your condition. Particularly, I would use a range book to predict where you think your shots hit, and keep doing it until your prediction pretty much matches the group on your target
 
I am getting older so iron sights are harder to use. One thing you have going for you now is how far optics have gone the last decade or so. Many great optics now for hand guns that are not expensive it all. I also love lasers. They get a lot of haters when brought up. To each his own. I think they are fantastic. Have one of several hand guns now and one of my PCC's for home use.
 
IOM, Have you considered using a supplement for eye health? Not a specific answer to the original question, but may be helpful in the long run.
Express sights seems like a pretty good solution. I like the sights on Steyr pistols too.
I was diagnosed with cataracts a while back. Corrective surgery took me from Mr. Magoo to Top Gun level eyesight in 2 easy sessions.
 
IOM, is it bad enough that you are getting injections?

Reason I ask is that it is hard to know how much help you need, and that would give me some idea about whether to endorse the other recommendations.

I have a related problem: Diabetic Macular Edema with retinal separation. While your central vision may either be blurry or blackened like this:

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My black area is just off center of my vision, but about the same size as the pic above.

Folks, you see the problem now?

While your vision is still on the lesser side of damage, Big Dot sights should help. After that, if you can still see the bad guy, point shooting might be your only option. Point shooting is good for typical gunfight distances of belly button - 10yds. At longer distances you will have to choose between cover, cooperation, or Runfu.

Just $0.02 from a guy with experience with macular problems.
 
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BTW, are both eyes equally problematic?

Reason I ask is that I have a bigger problem in my dominant (shooting) eye, and a much lesser problem in my left eye. So I switched my handgun shooting to my left eye. It took some practice sessions but it was doable.

(Edit: safety issue... can you still see the backdrop? We are responsible for where every round winds up, bad guys or bystanders!)
 

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