Correct spectacles

[Oregon Bill]

What are y'all wearing in the way of glasses that look right for 1865-1875?

[Books OToole]

My powers of discripiton are going to be challenged here.  Truely a picture is worth a thousand words.

About the cheapest original glasses that you can buy at antique stores will have;

* oval lenses
* straight ear pieces
* an arched bridge w/o any nose pads

This style goes from about 1840 through the mid 1880s.

This research, and much more, on early eye glasses was done by Rob Stone.  I do not know if he has ever published his findings.

Books

[Wymore Wrangler]

Most folks wear modern shooting glasses, again safety overrules authenticity here, you can't get your eyesight back.  If you chose to get more period looking glasses, I'd highly recommend getting a pair of side shields for them....

[Books OToole]

I have a pair of reading glasses as I described.  If you need glasses to shoot, I believe that safety/shooting glasses would fit over them.  Other wise go with modern safety glasses with your perscription for use while shooting.

Books

[Will Ketchum]

I found an 1890 version of the safety glasses at an Antique stores.  They are called "driving" or "Railroad"
Spectacles in the 1897 Sears &Roebuck catalog., and merely D
Driving" Spectacles in the 1895 Montgomery Wards catalog.    I had my prescription lenses put in and the make nice period shooting glasses.  I think I will replace the lenses after I have my cataract surgery.


Will Ketchum

[Oregon Bill]

Thanks for the replies. One of my older pairs of prescription glasses has roundish gold rims and polycarbonate lenses -- close enough for now. I wil have to poke my nose in an antique shop again; have an old pair from a Denver optical shop circa 1905, but they are too small to offer much protection.

[French Jack]

A couple of alternatives are: 1. Use modern glasses with safety lens for shooting w/side shields, then change to more period correct ones when off the line.  2. Use period glasses and buy one of the safety goggles that most hardware and Walmarts sell to wear over them while shooting.  Such goggles are easily removed, are large enough to wear over the glasses, and are very inexpensive.

[Lone Gunman]

I have a pair of genuine Dorado Slim shootin' specs (unfortunately no longer available) that I used to wear at the range until I got paranoid about lead inflicted blindness. The past few years I've gone to wearing contact lenses with 'Radians Clay Pro' clear wraparound shooting glasses. Since they don't have any 'frames' they often don't even show up in photographs.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=257109

They're discontinued by midway but still available other places...midway had the best picture

[Dakota Widowmaker]

I have always worn a pair of RayBan wrap around prescription sunglasses at shoots.

I know, not period correct, but, I gotta see. Every single SASS event I was at this summer was 90+ degrees and very sunny.

You have to account for some trade-offs now and then.

[Sagebrush Burns]

Do NOT wear any kind of glasses on the firing lne that provide any less then full coverage and protection.  Period correct may be "nice" but your eyes are not easily replaceable.  I just underwent a situation (out of battery discharge with my rifle) where if I had not been wearing full coverage glasses I might well have lost the sight in one eye.  Thank god I was wearing good full coverage glasses.  I am now a full-fledged fanatic on this subject and will be happy to argure it with anyone.  Protect your eyes - worry about the rest after that!

[Dr. Bob]

Howdy,

I have to agree that proper safe eye wear is necessary.  I wear either "dark smoke" or yellow Ray Bans for shooting.  My reading glasses are period.  1760's or 1800-35 or 1835-65 or 1875-1900. Being in order round, oval octagonal and back to oval.  I am embarassed that I forgot to take off my Ray Bans for the "Originals" group picture at the Nationals.  Noticed right away an requested another photo.  Trap's wife Michelle got a  good one.  The one that OCB posted had the dark glasses.  Blush!  Oh well, I never claim to be perfect.   

[Will Ketchum]

I have found that full coverage safety glasses are needed anytime you are any where the firing line, even as far as 25 yards from the line I have seen people hit with splatter.  A couple of years ago a person was standing some distance from the line with his back to it.  he was not wearing side shields.  Somehow a piece of lead struck him in the eye and imbedded in it.  He nearly lost his vision .  He had to wear a patch for months.  I believe he had to have the lens replaced.  That club made side shields mandatory.

When working the loading or unloading tables it is common to have splatter hit you in the side of the face.  Side shields or wrap around glasses are the only safe way to go.

Will Ketchum

[Oregon Bill]

Thanks for the Web site, Nolan. Some great-looking specs there.

[Guns Garrett]

Lord's "Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia" has a couple of photos of 1860's eyeglasses.  All have oval lenses, no nosepads, and one has "cable" temples (hook behind the ear).  Another has temples that slide for adjusting length, and one pair of sunglasses.  The text describes that the sunglass lenses were coated with a "blue material".
When on the  firing line I wear the same safety glasse I wear at work (aircraft manufacture), with sideshields, and I have a pair of period style that I wear when otherwise in my attire.

[Lars]

A little off the subject. However, the amount of splatter varies greatly from CAS shooting range to shooting range, as well as with the ammo.

There is one CAS group locally that has their targets so close to the shooters, and stages so close together that one is incessantly bombarded with splatter from shotgun and revolver targets. They do emphasise side sheilds there -- they are really essential there. This club is way over on the "closer is better, bigger is better, faster is better" side of CAS. Makes for really boring shooting to many of us.  We very seldom shoot there.

There is another where the targets are much farther away and nicely angled, plus, each stage is separated from those adjacent by a high wall of large bales of cornstalks. There are NO close shotgun targets and seldom a close revolver target. Very little scatter there, mostly just a few larger chunks (not pleasant to get hit with). Shooting there is great fun, careful aim is essential, times are longish, always some more difficult targets on each stage. We try never to miss a shoot there.

Over lots of years of shooting CAS, I have yet to have anything splatter back from pure lead balls from C&Bs or from same loads in brass cases. Ditto for other pure lead bullets. Lots of splatter from hard cast bullets at low velocities (eg., even standard velocity revolver ammo, worse with low velocity loads common to CAS).

Lars