training with both eyes open?

[cusco19]

i'm a new shooter.. kinda. i'm a right handed shooter with left eye dominant.

whenever i try to shoot with both eyes open, my sight picture looks funky, or i'll feel cock-eyed.

for those of you who train with both eyes open, how do you focus? even when i squint on my dominant eye first and then open both trying to focus on the front sight, everythin becomes a blur.

[rdc000]

Practice, I suspect is the answer, that's how eye dominance works.

I am left handed but very right eye dominant, my left is much more near sighted than my right. So I write and eat with my left and do most others with my right.

Have you tried shooting left handed? If your goal is to shoot with two eyes open that might be easier to learn.

[sharxbyte]

I'm right eye dominant, right handed, so it hasn't really been an issue... I guess practice a consistent good grip on the gun (and practice drawing and transitioning to your consistent grip with you weapon unloaded) and then move the weapon into a firing position unloaded, and in a safe direction). If your grip is consistent, and you manage to get good sight picture (which may just take getting used to) then your gun should automatically line up your eye with the sights.

By good grip, I mean grab the pistol high on the tang with your trigger hand, trigger finger outside of the guard, and the other three fingers wrapped around the grip, then use your support hand to clamp down your trigger hand on the grip, so it can be semi-relaxed, while the support hand maintains the firm grip. There should be no gap where your palms meet behind the grip, and neither of your elbows should be locked.

I prefer my thumbs side by side, but some shooters prefer to cross them. It feels slightly weird at first, but it helps to make sure that your grip is always the same (take note of where your support hand touches the trigger guard and always return it to that position), which removes one of the many variables from shooting.

Not exactly about sight picture, but definitely about aim.

[potguts]

Same here, right hand/left eye. Fortunately for a handgun it doesn't make much difference, just practice bringing the sights up directly in front of your left eye. Start by squinting the right eye as usual, then slowly open it. Squint again a little when you lose focus. Eventually the dominant eye will do its thing. In a weird way, I think practicing with both eyes open helped me to be more accurate in slow fire, by relaxing all my other muscles to help my dominant eye take over.

I still struggle sometimes to get quick acquisition with both eyes open.

BTW, great choice for a first pistol.

[smak28]

Practice focusing on getting a clear picture of the front sight even if you are left eye dominant. That is key.

[dyson]

Hold up a pen and practice focusing on the tip throughout the day

[Dannicus]

I struggled with cross dominance for a while until I just decided to switch hands. I personally think it's easier to train your hands than your eyes.

[Corbin Dallas]

Do you drive with one eye closed?

[Mayor McRifle]

whenever i try to shoot with both eyes open, my sight picture looks funky, or i'll feel cock-eyed.

for those of you who train with both eyes open, how do you focus? even when i squint on my dominant eye first and then open both trying to focus on the front sight, everythin becomes a blur.

Whenever your sight picture starts to get out of whack, or you lose your focus on the front sight and you can't seem to get it back, close your nondominant eye for a couple of seconds and regain your focus with your dominant eye. Hold onto that focus and sight picture as you open your nondominant once again. Repeat this process as necessary. Before long, you will be able to zero in on the correct sight picture and focus automatically with both eyes open.

[hammerhands32]

have you looked at non standard stances?

I once had a firearms instructor show me a modified weaver stance where even though I was right handed, I was bladed to the point where I was shooting with my left eye.

Imagine your body bladed to your weak side and the firearm is tilted at an approximate 45 degree angle as it comes across your body to meet your line of sight.

I couldn't do it but it might work for you. (reversed of course)

http://www.gunsandammo.com/blogs/defend-thyself/which-is-better-the-isosceles-or-weaver-stance/

[TomReloaded]

I gave up on it. I dont find it practical at all.

[himurax13]

i'm a new shooter.. kinda. i'm a right handed shooter with left eye dominant.

whenever i try to shoot with both eyes open, my sight picture looks funky, or i'll feel cock-eyed.

for those of you who train with both eyes open, how do you focus? even when i squint on my dominant eye first and then open both trying to focus on the front sight, everythin becomes a blur.

I am also left eye dominant as well.

It helps to have a fiber optic front sight or if you have night sights, use a sharpie on the rear dots.

I found that it was easier to overcome the eye dominance issue by simply practicing shooting with the strong hand only while focusing on the front sight with your right eye. Then switch to the support hand and let the left eye do its thing. Then switch back using your strong hand and your right eye.

After a while it becomes natural to use either eye.

[forerl]

I was watching a Jerry Miculek video and he said to bring the sights in front of your dominant eye. Instead of having the sights in between your eyes, align them with your left eye

[MauserMike]

yeah being right handed and left eye dominant youll have to move your gun/head infront of your left eye, use your left eye only at first, if you open both eyes and see 2 images, figure out which image is basically coming from your left eye and make sure you are focusing on your FRONT SIGHT not the target. if you dont focus on the front sight im sure it will mess with you more. my father is left handed and NO eyes dominant he has to use cheater glasses to focuz on the front sight. just get some practice and see what works for you.

[Prise]

Likewise, very left eye dominant and right handed. I've found this isn't an issue with handguns, since I just angle my stance and shift my head a little to the right to line up with my left eye's line of sight.

The issue is when you use long guns. This will not work, at least not for me. So, for long guns, I've found it easier to shoot left handed than trying to use my right eye.

So, I've been shooting long guns for most of my life left handed, and avoided handguns, until recently. Either way, much harder to aim with a pistol than a long gun.