Coloured safety glass lenses and targets for clayshooters
Tony Bracci focuses on the best target and safety glass lens choices for your circumstances with regard to environment and weather
We should all wear eye protection when we are shooting, so why not use eye protection that enhances what you are shooting at? If you predominantly shoot in green woods and fields, purple lenses can dull down the green and help to highlight the target. If you are shooting mainly blaze targets, orange and red lenses will make the targets stand out more. If it is a dull, dark or overcast day, yellow can brighten things up. On bright sunny days, try brown or grey to reduce the glare.
Various style safety glasses ranging from sports to casual
The right fit
What do I need to cover all scenarios? Mostly this is down to personal preference; something middle of the road in which colour you prefer to suit your type of shooting. A light colour to help in low light situations and a darker pair to stop you squinting when looking for a target in a bright sky. Whatever you choose, they must be comfortable and they must fit. Make sure they have no distracting elements, edges or nose supports that get in your eyeline.
What colour lens and when?
Remember that when you mount your gun, your head will be forward and down so glasses should sit high on your face. Whatever you choose, always put your glasses on at least 15 minutes before you start shooting to let your eyes get accustomed to the lenses.
Top tips
- Make sure your glasses fit properly
- Let your eyes get used to tinted lenses before you shoot
- On bright days polarised or dark lenses can reduce the glare
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The basic black target is great against clear sky
Coloured or black clays?
Black is the standard colour clay and the most common. It is the cheapest to buy as all clays start black and paint is added to brighten them up. A black target is easy to see against a sky background, but if you want to present a target with a dark background, in a wood for instance, then you are going to have trouble seeing it. This is when using a coloured target comes into play, giving the course setter scope to use an otherwise unuseable area. A coloured target is sometimes hard to see against a sky background and in this instance a black target works best.
Coloured targets can help greatly in unusual conditions
