doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting glasses

Looking at maybe purchasing new set of shooting glasses. I have a couple of pair of the old HY-DEF shooting glasses. Both have the reddish tinted lens. I have been told that the purple color is best for orange clays?
My club sells the Rangers and you can choose your lens color.
So what is best for defining the orange clay targets, BTW, I will be 68 this year so old eyes could use some help.

Pilla, with the orange enhancing coatings. I'd use no other. Like you, I've used them since they were called HyDefSpecs.

Stan what colors do you use for hunting?

Need some colors for dove and quail. Also, for the brighter landscape of Montana.

Will the Pilla stay on used in this manner?

I’ve been using the old Decott high wide but the wire frames around my ears make my ears sore after a long day.

I have used Ranger XL since they came out. At first I wore them using contacts but as I got older I had the Rx ground into the lenses. Great service and reasonable prices. Color tends ot be a bit of a personal thing. What works for one is not always the best choice for every situation or every person.

Willieb, your Decots can be equipped with rubber snakes on the earpieces so your ears won't get sore. The snakes come in different thicknesses. It seems like you need the thick ones.

Are the Radians RSG-3LK Shotgunner Shooting Glasses any good?

Willieb, I don't wear them hunting, usually. I know that's bad, but I just don't. The reflection off the lenses will flare doves badly, and I just don't wear them for ducks or quail, either.

But, mine are the brownish tint that Pilla is really known for. They would work perfectly fine for hunting, too.

Eight bore, I have the rubber cover on them. I think after 20 years or so they have gotten bent and worn and I can’t seem to get them back straight. Might be time for a new pair of frames.

Agree Stan, the reflection will flare many birds. I see decott is offering non reflective lens. I Might give these a try. Like you, I in the past I haven’t used my shooting glasses for hunting, but as the years go by I have trouble with contrasting colors. A bird against a blue sky has a pretty good chance of hitting the ground. One against a contrasting back ground disappears.

I wear Pilla Outlaws that have 3 interchangeable lenses. I use a purple lens for hunting at the recommendation of the Pilla rep and the brownish pink for clays. There are so many color options, I was overwhelmed. The best thing about the outlaws is that they are totally frameless as I tend to become distracted with lens frames while shooting. I have been dove hunting with the purple lens for several years—glad I read this thread! Good tip.

If you have a lens lab near by they can dye the lens any color you want . I have Decot's but they are very expensive and Pilla makes them look cheap. When it became time to buy my kid shooting glasses I bought him Rangers and saved a bunch of money. He went on to be AAA in all 4 gauges. To me that indicates the optical quality was there.

bill

I change my lenses from Decot to Ranger and back again. My Decot frames are probably more than 40 years old. About 25 years ago, I won a set of Ranger frames at a shoot, still have them too. I have used them probably four days a week for the 40 and 25 years I have had them. Willieb, you could save some money by just replacing the ear pieces and using your old frames if they are in good shape.

Eightbore, The ear pieces are hard as a brick and couldn’t get them to move with fear of breakage. Finally said what they heck and got them off. Damn if they don’t feel a lot more comfortable without them. Will order some replacements, but am going to try them for a while without. Thanks.

I wasn’t aware Ranger lenses would fit Decott frames.

I recall well when purple lenses came out and were all the rage. For me they didn't work quite so well, this is a VERY true statement:


Wore Post 4 Optics for ~20 years then a couple of years ago cracked the lenses on my High Definition Light Target Orange lenses. Which despite having every color lens wore 90% of the time. That is when I found out Mike at Post 4 had passed away and were no longer available. I switched to Ranger. Finally, like most people LOL.

Talked to Wayne Morgan at Morgan Optical when I switched, he is the largest Ranger dealer in the Country and their preferred vendor. He has also been featured on podcast such as Behind the Break and The Dead Pair. He told me the Ranger HD Medium would work as well as the Post 4 Light Target Orange and maybe even a bit better. So got those along with the Ranger HD Light lenses. He was right. If I had to pick only one lens it would be the Ranger HD Medium.


Not so much, for several reasons. Was going to say Radians should have stuck with ear plugs, they also make Dewalt safety glasses besides their own branding. Pushing through ruff grouse cover would rip off shooting glasses and I want clear lenses for shooting at the streak through the trees that is a grouse anyhow. I wear bifocal wrap around safety glasses so that I can read the Garmin Alpha. The bifocal (2.5+) part sits really low on them so it doesn't interfere with my seeing the ground clearly when walking. They are made by Radians.

Take a look at Hunter's Gold HD glasses. They come in gold/yellow & ruby. They also can do prescription lens. Great product, good folks, great service and they are located in Alabama.

I left my set of Pillas, with several lense colors, in somebody's shooting cart several years ago at a big three day shoot. I was sick. My shooting buddy handed me a black, zip-up case and said "Here, someone left these on mine". They were Randolphs. I shot three or four stations with them, and was missing birds I didn't normally miss. I realized there was terrible distortion in the lenses. I tried another color and got the same thing. I handed them back to my buddy and said, "No, thanks".

I called Phillip Pilla and asked him if he still had any aviator frames, like he had in the old HyDefSpecs. He said he stopped selling them but that he was sure he had a few pairs left in stock. He asked what color I wanted and I replied that I wanted the brown/bronze color with the orange enhancing coating. He asked what light transmission level (%) I wanted. I said I wanted the highest light transmission tint available. A few days later I had them. I guard them with my life. I hate wraparound styles as they make me sweat behind them. No air movement. Aviators are the deal for me.

Since becoming something of a "codger" in the last few years, I find that I'm drawn to familiar things for clearly nostalgic reasons. The latest designs in shooting glasses are probably fine in every way that matters, but....they look cheap, plastic and cheesy to me. I can easily see why the avator Pellas and HyDefSpecs are still popular. Since you can't get the old stuff anymore (not easily), the Radians look good to me because to don't look so-plastic. The other solution is to go fully cheap and buy the $7 Smith and Wessons (& others) with the traditional sunglass-like shape. And, you can buy 'em in any color you like seeing as they are nearly free. At least when you inevitably lose (or break) them, you won't be so torn up.

I can justify using my 45 and 25 year old frames with obsolete colors by remembering that I don't make my living shooting a shotgun. I do it for fun. Somehow, I made A class in International Skeet, AA or AAA in NSSA skeet, and carried an A class card in early day sporting clays, shooting maybe 300 birds a year. I shot them all at the same time and didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to be doing that. I guess my glasses weren't all that bad. A friend passed away not long ago and I have some of his more modern glasses. Unfortunately, I will have to have lenses made in my prescription. I guess I'll just do it.

Lens color is personal. I’m red-green color blind. I like vermilion, red, amber and brown. I occasionally wear purple to subdue green background. I have both Decot Hy-Wyd and also have Pilla. I’ve worn Decot for close to 50 years. I like both and can’t appreciate much difference although on real bright days I like polarized which are offered in Decot. The pilla glasses I have are not polarized. Mike of L and M lenses told me Pilla aren’t polarized but polarized Pilla may be coming down the pike soon. I bet I’ve spent a million dollars ??? on glasses over the years and none are magical imho. Some are clearly better than others though. I’d recommend high definition and some sort of anti reflective to reduce glare (if at all light sensitive like me).

That is my ploy for shades for high performance boating. Although I wear "mirrored" aviator RayBans when driving on the roads, when I run a hi-perf boat I wear a pair of $10 shades that won't break me if they blow off at 90 mph. I blew a pair of RayBans into the river last year. Not again.

Yikes, 90 MPH in a boat on a river. Sounds like another good way for you to get killed in a boat. I’m guessing you aren’t James Bond there Stan and with more lives than a cat...

I sure like my Philla glasses.

I have four Pilla lenses 32MXB is one of my favorite. Pilla claims 600 % boost in target orange.

We have some long straights stretches on this portion of the Savannah River, and it's a good sized river with at least 150 yards from GA to Carolina, in most areas. The nearest boat landing from my house is only about 1 1/2 miles. We don't hold those speeds long. We usually cruise at 50-60 mph to the sandbars, then hang out there all afternoon. My Allison will run about 90, maybe a touch above on a good day. My son's Triad STV will probably run 110-115, driven right.

I've enjoyed speed for most of my 69 years, but I don't break the law on the highways by speeding. I drag raced at the track many years ago. But, there's no speed limits in GA on open waterways, except in specified areas. You just can't endanger others. Game wardens don't particularly like it, but the law is the law. Neighbor of mine set the record for highest speed attained in a single outboard, multi-seat boat, on this river about 12 years ago. He ran an STV at 151+ mph, recorded by two different GPS speedometers ............. upstream. There's a semi-"cult" following of people across the USA who like to run single engine, 18-21 foot, boats with (usually) 2.5 liter, two-cycle Mercs that are making 240, 260, 280 and 300 hp. Then, the guys with the big $$$ to spend can have custom built billet aluminum ones that make over 425 hp from that V-six block.

It doesn't take the place of shotgunning, by any stretch, but it's a fun distraction on a hot, summer, weekend afternoon. Here's a video of my neighbor who ran 151 mph running a different setup on the Suwanee River at 143 mph. His boat is kinda in the middle of the video. Michael Dixon. He makes two passes, as I recall. You may want to mute the sound, because when he makes the 143 pass there is some jubilant profanity by the guy with the radar gun. Just wanted to warn you in advance.

First off, where’s the trolling motor on that boat? Second, if that boat lost control, the folks in the pontoon boat might be in big trouble and in a permanent sort of way, not to mention what would happen to the boat pilot. Looks very dangerous to me.....kind of similar to a ‘watch this’ sort of moment.

Yes, it's dangerous. No denying that. And, I agree about those on the pontoon boat. I wouldn't be there either. But, the speedboats are further away from the pontoon boat than it appears. These boats have accelerator pedals, called a Hotfoot, and if the driver loses control the very strong spring on it returns it to idle in a second. Also have kill switches that kill the motor if the driver is thrown out of his seat.

It's all about taking calculated risks. These drivers obsess over tiny details with equipment, water conditions, and especially wind. Ever think about how close you come to death on a two lane highway meeting trucks with only 6' of distance between you and them? One careless second of inattention and its a head-on. You can control only half of the risk involved there.

jOe, Did you find those pilla glasses in a shooting cart? So Stan, where’s the trolling motor go??

Not mine. They weren't in a fancy box like that, and the name's wrong.

No trolling motor needed. They're not for fishing.

Ordered my Rangers today from Deep River. Now I got the vermillion lens, what would be a great second lens?

Pilla bronze

I swear I saw some glasses fly off the head of that 3rd driver....was that you ?

Ranger Edge, HD 48(?) & 49(?) plus dark purple (all Rx).
With the Edge you get three lenses. They're perfecr for me; they cover my eyes and I don't see any edges. I believe the ear pieces are the same type as the Ranger Classic. They're a little less money than the classic plus you get 3 colors.
TexasShooters.com
DB

Those look pretty good...

At any big clays shoot the major glasses vendors will be present, allowing anyone the opportunity to try them on and look for distortion or other imperfections in the lenses before laying down the bucks for them. I would highly recommend this. Much easier than trying to convince a seller that you don't like what you ordered and want to return them and be reimbursed. Don't assume there can't be distortion just because it is a major name brand. The Rangers I mentioned earlier were awful.

Thanks Stan!

Hey, I found a pair of Raybans while digging clams on the CT coast last year, they're my truck glasses.

Hoping to dig up a Submariner this year...

I dug up an Omega Seamaster on our club skeet field about twenty years ago. I wound it and it worked without any further attention. To be honest, it has been repaired a couple of times since. No one has claimed it. I still have my Ray Bans from fifty years ago, but the prescription is a bit dated.

You 'da man, Bill!

I can't even remember how many pairs I've been through. Laid one pair on the tractor seat then got back in and sat on them. Another set I laid on a peanut combine tire while I crawled under it to work on something. Yep, you got it, I climbed back in the tractor, started off, and ran over them. Then, there's the ones last year when I took them off to pull off my t-shirt before putting on my LifeLine vest. Warmed up the 240 Merc on the Allison, made a short run upriver then turned back to look for them ............ gone of course, into the drink.

Maybe they worked their way downriver to Savannah, got caught up in the currents and wound up in Rob's clam bed. I dunno. One thing's for sure, no one will ever find a Submariner that I lost. I don't even own a watch.

By now I figured you would know you were accident prone.

I can just see Stan hopping around after shooting him self in the foot trying to quick draw on a drug dealer.


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It’ll be fun watching Mont…l getting crushed by Vegas.

HD Medium. And then Clear.

HD Medium is the most commonly sold lenses according to Wayne at Morgan Optical. And he knows what he is talking about.

Mentioned not long ago that I agree with a person on here pretty much all of the time. This not so much, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Randolph lenses. If you think there is distortion it is in your mind. Although maximum transmission is the correct answer so he is not too far off the mark. But Bronze? No. Rifle yes, then again that depends on kill conditions.

My grandfather gave me his slide rule when I went to Alfred for Ceramic Engineering. He was one of the Engineers on the casting of the Ca. Palamor lens that Corning did. Both of them. Been balancing empirical equations since 7th grade. Didn't have a chemistry set had a full chemistry lab with a 1000 ml. distillation flask and worm tube condenser by 7th grade. Which somehow managed to make C2H5OH more than distilled water by the 9th grade.

HD Medium Ranger, Then clear. Anti fog and reflective coatings bug spray (Deet) will kill in a heartbeat and smear. On any lens. So be careful what you order. And use.

There is no distortion with the Rangers. Anyone that says otherwise is trying to justify the expenditure for something they think is better. But is not. Actually for a small subset of shooters under the age of 50 they may be. But hard to empirically justify, and where the money counts does not.

I am prone to purchase Serengeti glasses made by Corning Glass Works. Before they sold them off and Corning Glass Works became Corning Inc. Will take their fiber patch panels all day long now and do for networking.

Just buy the Ranger HD Medium lenses you will not regret it. More than likely you will end up preferring them to the Vermillion lenses. But clear always pretty much wins too. Just saying, keep it simple. And clear.

Can't buy an extra target no matter how much you spend. But there is a heck of a market out there for those that think you can.

Not so sure about that. When you're shooting early morning, into the sun, a good pair of polarized lenses will help you see the bird more clearly. Heck, I've seen times where it was the difference in seeing or not, at all. It's [poor target setting when that occurs, but not all target setters remember that. Also, with an orange target streaking through the shaded woods, in and out of beams of sunlight, showing and then hiding for a split second as it passes through a shadow, "strobing", I call it. In that situation the orange enhancing coating makes the target stand out lots better against the dark background. And, in both of those scenarios you can well pick up a few targets. After all, if you can't see 'em you can't hit 'em.

Serengetis were really good driving glasses, but I don't recall any that were stated to be impact resistant. I had a couple pairs. It's Pillas for me now, as long as they stay in business and the quality holds up. I wear sunglasses every day the sun shines, at work or at play. I'm wising up in my old age as to my choices, and hopefully with not destroying or losing any for awhile.

As I recall Stan you were just in your death bed....I just got to know who is stupid enough to let you drive a "240 Merc on the Allison" ?


I think you're full of BULL shite Stanley

Someone with a life insurance policy on him?

Think positive, jOe.






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If it wasn’t for the powder, the paint and fine tooth comb…

I guess I'll just have to look more closely at Pilla.

I decide what I drive and what I don't, Frank. Nobody "lets me drive" anything. I decide ........ Me. Who decides what yOu can drive? I'll bet I know.

And, let's clarify a bit here. If I had been on my death bed I'd be dead now, right? Well.......... I ain't. And, FWIW, I'm building a 2SIXTY Merc powerhead for it.

But, I'm flattered that you're so interested............

Is your middle name MariO' by chance ?

I have my Dad’s aviator sunglasses that he was issued in 1943 by the U.S. Army Air Corps.

New shades are far superior.

Is this a misunderstanding or do they interchange?