eye wear question

silhouette13 · Post by **silhouette13** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:40 am

hi,

my range has an eye protection rule. alot of ranges do as well, alot of time i see ,in peoples photo buckets , match photos where people are not wearing shooting glasses. and even at the HP footage of the nationals that was on shooting usa i recall there were some who didnt wear glasses.

do your clubs require them? what do you think about this subject? is there a detriment to wearing them?

just curious, every firearms manual i have ever read says to wear them,is it a rule at larger matches that just gets over looked?and every yout program i have ever been involved with requires them as well.

i really am not trying to start any thing here, i live in NH we dont HAVE to wear seat belts or moter cycle helmets.

dave

BlauBear · Post by **BlauBear** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:56 am

We have not required them for smallbore in the past, but they are required at larger matches and any hi power match. Oddly, I need glasses to adjust the scope but take them off to shoot! I need to retrain to wear them full time, as a good example if nothing else, and since smallbore is really intended as preparation for hi power - whether most of us go there or not.

jneihouse · Post by **jneihouse** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:35 am

Eyewear is a good idea, though I don't always wear them....I bought a pair from Cathy and James (Good Shooting Inc) and really like them...My main complaint with most shooting glasses is, unless they are the higher dollar ones, you'll get a little distortion looking through the lens...A word of heads up for those who will be attending the Nationals for the first time this year, be aware that the Whittington Center mandates protective eyewear and at the last time they Nationals were held there they policed it zealously.....For anyone on the line, including spotters..

Kitty

Innocent · Post by **Innocent** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:46 am

they policed it zealously

Some line officers were even obnoxious to the spotters to an extreme.
Innocent

cslcAl · Post by **cslcAl** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:04 pm

[quote="BlauBear"]We have not required them for smallbore in the past, but they are required at larger matches and any hi power match."

Eyewear for SB is equally as important as HP. I have personally seen two instances of case ruptures on the SB line. Both of the individuals were lucky they did not suffer an eye injury, as they were not wearing glasses. Yes, they do obsess about glasses at Raton, and I have heard several adults rant about wearing them. With the amount of junior shooters that attend the larger matches we should try and observe all the rules no matter how trivial they may seem, to set a good example for the kids. Al

kevinbear · Post by **kevinbear** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:44 pm

I was at Raton in 2007 when they required the spotters to wear eye protection as well, I could see during a highpower match but 22RF ? Seems like a little to much CYA or nannyism to me. At some point in the future will the shooting sports become to dangerous for us all?

Bob Mc Alice · Post by **Bob Mc Alice** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:33 pm

In my profession I have to wear safety glasses 8 hours a day. You get used to it. They have saved me many times getting hit by flying debris.

My shooting partner gripes of having to wear $5.00 glasses while peering through his $800.00 quality optics. I tell him to shut up, put them on and dont make trouble for yourself.

If you need any more convincing, just look at the photos in HP of the
"Rifle Blowup".....you might want to wear Kevlar, too.

Eric-WD · Post by **Eric-WD** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:33 pm

I had a Norinco .22 that didn't like CCI Green Tag, the first time I put Green Tag through it I had my hand under the magazine. The case head punctured where the firing pin hit it, I ended up with powder and bits of case in my hand. It would shoot everything else with out a problem. it may have been a bad batch of ammo or???. I am glad the gasses went down and not back in my face.
Too much "stuff" can happen on the line with out risking our eyes, there are shooting glasses out there for everyone find some that work for you and wear them.

Just my thoughts

Eric

stronghold · Post by **stronghold** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:56 pm

I would wear eye protection. Double primed 22 rf will develope more pressure than a 30-06 per Wayne Leek.

Ghostofwar · Post by **Ghostofwar** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:56 pm

I prefer to not wear eye protection... I just don't have good glasses that don't distort my sight picture. I also don't like anything on my head while shooting. I prefer ear plugs over muffs and don't wear glasses unless I am made to. I wore WileyX's in the Marine Corps all the time and loved them, so I guess I'll be getting some new lens for the ones I have. The things about that is that we never had to wear them on the rifle range (at least not the qualification range). I'll just have to bite the bullet and wear them if I want to shoot at Nationals.

Bob259 · Post by **Bob259** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:05 pm

Ghostofwar wrote:....................... I'll just have to bite the bullet and wear them if I want to shoot at Nationals.

Even spotters need eye protection at the Nationals in NM

deadeyeky · Post by **deadeyeky** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:02 pm

eyewear is required at our range, there are a few of us though that forget a few times a year though. Even with a .22, i have seen an incident where a firing pin pierced the base of the case, and much particulate come out of the small slots in a .22 bolt. good thing he was wearing eye protection or else he could have hurts his eye badly. with a .22 i would consider eye protection much more necessary then ear protection. but now since i have custom molded plugs and a $200 pair of glasses, i dont have a reason never to wear them. I think i remember BB say in a previous thread that "you wont fully appreciate safety glasses until one of them gets ruined" or something to that effect.

kevinbear · Post by **kevinbear** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:20 pm

You guys better stay inside, I heard of guy that got hit by meteor once.

Bob259 · Post by **Bob259** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:59 am

It's simple;
You have two eyes
They are NOT replaceable
$5 for a pair of inexpenisve shooting glasses Vs loss of one or both eyes

Answer seems simple to me.

Why risk anything happening to them????

ShooterP14 · Post by **ShooterP14** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:23 pm

If you want to see a five hour discussion, just mention requiring eye protection on the firing line at a club meeting.

They are required at all times on the action ranges because they shoot steel plates and "poppers" at close range (min 10m). But both the smallbore and (some) highpower shooters say that they won't be able to get anyone out for their matches if safety glasses are required.

Then you get the "range lawyers" asking what constitutes "safety glasses" (i.e. sunglasses, prescription glasses, etc.). And if a shooter is wearing glasses and their eye is injured from the side, are the glasses required to have side shields to be considered "safety glasses"?

I don't usually wear my prescription glasses when I shoot. The way my head rests against the stock, I am not looking through the optical center of the lens, and I get a distortion. To compound the problem, I have a scar on my cornea from a bad contact lens resulting in a "flat spot". This essentially gives me two prescriptions in one eye (yes, this drives my opthamologist crazy). So, when looking through optics I see better without my glasses and swapping between clear shooting glasses and prescription ones are a big pain.