It’s important that you stay focused when using a firearm, and it also helps if you can see your sights! Whether you are shooting recreationally or relying on a firearm for your everyday job, the Top Focal^® shooting glasses from SSP Eyewear will increase your accuracy by magnifying your sights, like readers for shooting! SSP works closely with Law Enforcement, Military and firearm competitors to come up with new concepts, designs, and materials to develop game-changing eyewear kits and accessories. SSP has innovative eyewear for everyone, including the famous Top Focal^® kits, starting just under $40!

SSP Eyewear was tasked by the Washington State Criminal Justice Center to design shooting glasses for aging shooters who need reading glasses; especially for the instructors teaching those new recruits. The Top Focal^® glass is designed to work as readers, but the magnification is at the top of the lenses so you can easily see your sights.

By placing the magnifiers at the top of the lenses your shooting stance will improve, you will see your sights clearly, and the target is less obstructed. These glasses are available in stores (click here find the store nearest you) or order directly online (click on the name Top Focal^®) and check out our game-changing shooting glasses!

Choose the magnification power of the Top Focal^® (between 1.00 and 3.00). This will be the same as your reading glasses. Be sure try on a pair of reading glasses at your local drug store and confirm the magnification power you need by focusing on the tip of a pencil at arm's length. You may use a lower strength than you do for reading, since you’re focusing at a further distance than your normal reading distance.

The Top Focal^® glasses offer a lot of flexibility and are interchangeable with the Denial (bottom bifocal) and the Chelan Kits (plano no magnification) offered by SSP EYEWEAR. Additional lenses are available if your right eye requires a different strength than your left eye.

Choosing the correct Top Focals®

To choose the correct magnification power 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 2.00, 2.50 & 3.00 use the same magnification you would use for your reading glasses, unless you have long arms. Long armed individuals may go down one full power as your focal point is further than your normal reading distance.

Note for best results we recommend testing with different power reading glasses at a drugstore and focusing on the tip of a pencil at arm's length.

Ways to customize your Top Focal^® glasses to improve accuracy

• Wear both right and left Top Focal^® lenses (sights clear target blur) Top Focal Assorted Kits
• Wear with a Top Focal^® lens on your dominant eye and a Chelan lens (no magnification) on your non-dominant eye. (sights clear, target unobstructed with both eyes open) Top Focal Premiere Kit
• Wear with a Top Focal^® lens on your dominant eye and a Denial lens (bottom bifocal) on your non-dominant eye. (sights clear, target clear, reading clear)

Learn to shoot both eyes open safely

Wear with a clear Top Focal^® lens on your dominant eye and a smoked Plano lens (no magnification) on your non-dominant eye. This will allow you to comfortably practice shooting with both eyes open as your dominant eye will focus though the Top Focal^® lens on your sights and your non-dominant eye will be slightly obstructed (similar to using a piece of scotch tape) so you don't feel like you see two barrels.

Improving Cross Dominance Gun Stance

Right-hand, Left-eye (cross dominance aim)

The design of the Top Focal^® lens has the magnifier located next to the nosepiece, at about 1-1/4" wide. With dry fire practice, this will enable you to bring your firearm correctly in line with your dominant eye. You may need to turn your head slightly on its vertical axis until your dominant eye is looking through the magnifier at the sights. You may also want to put a plano smoked lens SSP Eyewear Chelan Lens in your non-dominant eye to direct your dominant eye to view through the Top Focal^® lens. It takes a little practice, but you will be rewarded with a better stance and improved accuracy. Here is a great article if you would like to learn more about improving your shooting stance: Gun Stance: Right Hand-Left Eye – Cross Dominance Aim

Breaking Bad Habits

SSP Eyewear research has found as we age, our bodies tend to favor certain weaknesses. For example, you may favor a bad shoulder or hip. A lot of times we do this unconsciously. The same can be said for our shooting stance. If you wear reading glasses, you tend to wear them at the end of your nose so you can see unobstructed in the distance and through the glasses for reading. If you are on a gun range, you may find yourself leaning back or shooting with your head held high.

The SSP Top Focal^® glasses are designed to be worn up next to your face to prevent debris from going behind the lens. This may require you to change your shooting stance, but don't worry, it will be for the better. Remember how you shot when you were in your 20's? Wearing Top Focal^® glasses offers the opportunity for you to shoot that clearly again!

Correct body position:

When shooting your weapon, your torso should lean forward slightly with no more than a small amount of bending forward at the waist. NEVER bend backward at the waist, hip or shoulder area. Shoulders and head should always be forward of the hips. Your weight needs to have a forward bias to counteract the kick of the gun. The idea is to get in a position that allows you to be active against the rearward force of the gun firing (recoil). This will enable you to control the gun properly and quickly return it from muzzle rise and recoil to the position back on target is what our researchers here at SSPEyewear.com shared.

To keep your weight forward, your head will be tilted slightly down closer to your chest. The Top Focal^® glasses with the magnifiers at the top of the lens will allow you to see naturally in this stance. Portions of these powerful tips were copied from the Pros Springfield Armory.

This is the first half of our blog on “How to Stay Focused and Improve Your Shooting” when using your Pistol or Long Gun. Join us again next week to find out additional information on topics like, Long Gun Us, Misinformation and the correct answers to your important questions. These and other important topics will be will be available for your review. Checkout all our blogs Always offering More… SSPEyewear.com, the leaders in, Safety Glasses and Shooting Safety Glasses.