I've Seen The Light: Shooting Glasses Lens Colors

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  • circleshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 8, 2009
    1,761
    Baltimore County
    OK, I'm posting this here as it seems like clay shooters are more concerned with the lens color of their shooting glasses than other shooting disciplines. Most people opt for clear - or yellow lenses to increase contrast. But unless it's twilight, yellow lenses don't do anything for me when it comes to clay shooting.

    I bought myself a pair of Randolph Engineering, Ranger "Edge," shooting glasses last Christmas. I chose yellow, purple, and vermillion lenses for my set.

    Glasses.jpg


    I shoot at Loch Raven most of the time and the background there is a tree line. For the most part clays are against green. Vermillion and purple lenses are good at reducing the green and highlighting the orange clay. Dark purple goes further and helps cut down a blue sky and accentuates orange.

    I thought I was happy with this until I was competing in the MD State Skeet Championship a couple weekends ago. The tournament was at the Salisbury Gun Club and the tree line there is about 3 times the distance as Loch Raven. The clays were solely against the sky. It was ok in the morning session, but at 1630 the sun's position was such that the light was coming across the trap houses. The sky was washed out and there was considerable glare. I simply could not pick up the clays very well. They were lost in the glare and the washed out sky - even with the purple lenses. Consequently, I didn't shoot very well.

    So I did some reading and decided to order a set of RE's ColorMAG lenses for my Edge frames. At first glance, they look like ordinary polarized grey lenses, with a slight blue iridescence. But, somehow, they've managed to get these lenses to enhance the color orange by 250%.

    Holy cow! I wore them yesterday for the first time and the effect is astonishing. There isn't much color shift...until...you see orange. The clays are seriously lit up - even against the tree line. I shifted myself around the field so the targets were against the sky; and they were still lit up.

    I shot my first 50 straight yesterday and was one shot shy of my first 75 straight. I'd like to think that I had the "zen thing" going yesterday morning, but I have to give some of the credit to the ColorMAG lenses. I was picking the targets up right out of the traps. Pretty cool! On bright days, these are what I'm using from now on.

    If you're a clay shooter, and have Ranger glasses, these lenses are well worth the $69.00.
     

    blackthorne

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 31, 2010
    1,499
    Naptown
    Lens color depends on the targets and the background. I mostly use a vermillion or light purple (favorite). In 50 years I don't think I've used clear except when we used to shoot trap at night. Tried yellow once - damn near burned my eyeballs out!
     

    circleshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 8, 2009
    1,761
    Baltimore County
    Lens color depends on the targets and the background. I mostly use a vermillion or light purple (favorite). In 50 years I don't think I've used clear except when we used to shoot trap at night. Tried yellow once - damn near burned my eyeballs out!

    I know what you mean about yellow. On bright days it's like you just came out of the ophthalmologist's office and your pupils are dilated.

    If you wear Ranger glasses the ColorMAG lenses are astonishing. I couldn't believe the difference and everyone that tried them were like, "Whoa. Where did you get these?"
     

    Kman

    Blah, blah, blah
    Dec 23, 2010
    11,987
    Eastern shore
    $69 is a good deal.
    I looked at these a while ago and they were closer to $90.

    A friend let me use his one day, and the difference was impressive. Eliminated that pale grey eastern shore haze.
     

    PJDiesel

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Dec 18, 2011
    17,603
    I'm fed up (lately) with glasses, to the point of ONLY wearing mine when I'm not in the cage. Differing amounts of light and shade, going from twilight to under the lights, etc, it's impossible for me to get comfortable.

    Good write up.
     

    STeveZ

    Thank you, Abelard
    Sep 22, 2011
    779
    Aberdeen, MD
    My CMT's arrived a couple weeks ago. I've found that RR's dark purple aren't nearly dark enough for bright summer days. CMT's not only make orange targets pop like crazy, they also let through much less light than the standard colored lens.

    I'll probably switch back to dark purple in the fall or winter and use my (very) light yellows for hunting and night shooting. I haven't used vermillions much since switching to purple.
     

    Redcobra

    Senior Shooter
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 10, 2010
    6,422
    Near the Chesapeake Bay
    Interesting. I have a pair of Ranger Classics coming soon with the Dark Purple, Vermillion and Yellow lenses. I see the ColorMags are also available for my frames.

    Should have them just in time for the start of the Wobble Trap League at Loch Raven....
     

    circleshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 8, 2009
    1,761
    Baltimore County
    Interesting. I have a pair of Ranger Classics coming soon with the Dark Purple, Vermillion and Yellow lenses. I see the ColorMags are also available for my frames.

    Should have them just in time for the start of the Wobble Trap League at Loch Raven....

    The ColorMAG lenses are really for bright days. They're pretty dark. But, man, the targets pop!

    I expect that for the Wobble League you're going to start with either the purple or vermillion, probably the latter if you're getting dark purple, and then switch to yellow as the season progresses. At the end of the league I expect you're going to be shooting under the lights.
     

    circleshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 8, 2009
    1,761
    Baltimore County
    Bookmarked for future use. I suck at clays and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks for the detailed info.

    I'm not sure how scoring works in other shooting sports, but in clay shooting it's binary - dead or loss. I've only been clay shooting for a couple of years, and this is my first competitive tournament season, and the MAIN thing I've learned is that, regardless of your classification, you win or lose by one target.

    I've won one event by 3 shots, but all of the others where I've placed was either by one target or it was a tie and I won (or lost) in the shoot off (where you win by one target). So any edge you can get is worth it. I'm convinced that if I'd had those lenses in Salisbury I would have shot much better that afternoon. I wasn't picking a lot of the targets up until they were over the center marker - and that's where you're supposed to break them, not really see them for the first time.
     

    blackthorne

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 31, 2010
    1,499
    Naptown
    Bookmarked for future use. I suck at clays and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks for the detailed info.

    I'm shooting at Pintail Point on 9/15 with some guys I've never met before from shotgunworld.com at about 9:30am. It's a different world. Feel free to join us. We plan to shoot 100 or so targets , followed by crabs and beer.
     

    Augie

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 30, 2007
    4,504
    Central MD
    I'm shooting at Pintail Point on 9/15 with some guys I've never met before from shotgunworld.com at about 9:30am. It's a different world. Feel free to join us. We plan to shoot 100 or so targets , followed by crabs and beer.

    Blackthorne, I am thinking of doing that shoot also, maybe see you there.
     

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