Cross dominant eyes

[SparkYZ]

So I'm one of the unfortunate shooters that's cross dominant (shoot on right side, left eye dominant). I'm also a lefty, but any lefty will tell you that they are mixed with their tasks...
Handgun shooting I deal with by learning to shoot both eyes open.
Irons on rifles I have trouble with sometimes. Some days I can use both eyes open, others I have to close my left eye, which makes my right eye squint.
Any ideas? Some days I can shoot 1-1.5 MOA with irons....other days it's 3-4.

Also, could this be why all my rear irons on all my rifles are adjusted to the right of center?

[Fjold]

Shoot left handed

[SparkYZ]

Shoot left handed

I've done it with handguns and done almost as well, despite feeling foreign. Rifles it just feels awful...

As a kid though I made it a point to play paintball ambidextrous and was equally good on both sides...maybe I should shoot more

[highpower790]

Place a cover over left eye.I shoot with a hat that has a velcro strip that holds a patch so I can shoot with both eyes open...no strain!

[71MUSTY]

Both wife and I are left eye dominant. Both shoot right handed two handed. Both eyes open NO Problems. Just took some range time.

[bigbearbear]

I shoot with my left eye closed, some people squint their left eyes. Take a look at hickok45 on YouTube, he too is cross eye dominant.

[Gomphe]

I have almost the same problem. I am right handed with a left eye dominance. I tried to overcome this "handicap" in a several ways because I recognize the importance of keeping both eyed open while shooting.

- When firing a handgun, a friend of mine suggested that I try using the "Hommie" or "Gangster" style by tilting the gun so that the sights aligns with my dominate eye. This allows me to keep both eyes open.

- Another method is to shift both your stance and head so that the sight piciture can align with you dominate eye while keeping your gun straight. This method also allows me to keep my eyes open.

- And when I am shooting my rifle, I use an Aimpoint red dot so that I can keep both my eyes open. However, for long distance shots, I just place a business card over my left eye to avoid unnessary squinting and/or eye strain.

- Gomphe

[rexblaine]

Only time I close an eye is when I use a scope.

I prefer left hand with handguns, just turn my head slightly to use right eye leaving left open. I do well enough with right hand so sometimes so really I don't need to cross.

Even though I am left handed I mostly shoot rifles right handed, fits my right eye dominance and was literally beaten into me a long time ago... Original steyrs didn't come lefty and instructors didn't think it funny having hot brass bounce off your cheek.

[jeremiah12]

So I'm one of the unfortunate shooters that's cross dominant (shoot on right side, left eye dominant). I'm also a lefty, but any lefty will tell you that they are mixed with their tasks...
Handgun shooting I deal with by learning to shoot both eyes open.
Irons on rifles I have trouble with sometimes. Some days I can use both eyes open, others I have to close my left eye, which makes my right eye squint.
Any ideas? Some days I can shoot 1-1.5 MOA with irons....other days it's 3-4.

Also, could this be why all my rear irons on all my rifles are adjusted to the right of center?

I am like you. I am a lefty, though some things I do right handed and others I am truly ambidextrous. I am right eye dominant. For me, if it requires strength, I am usually better right-handed, if it requires fine motor skills, I am usually better left-handed.

Shooting was one that I was truly ambidextrous with. I never thought much about it, however I picked up the gun is how I shot it. I was equally good each side. The right side was slightly better for rapid fire or quick follow up shots and the left side was slightly better for those absolutely must make precision shots, especially at a distance when I could take a little time to make the shot.

This all changed 4 years ago when I had a stroke. I have physically recovered 98% and my brain has recovered to 95% of functioning.

The problem is the two sides of my brain do not communicate very well with each other. I am no longer ambidextrous. When I try to shoot a long gun right handed it feels strange. Before, I probably shot right handed 70% of the time. It was easier to do when at gun ranges. When I try now, it becomes nearly impossible to coordinate all the muscle movements with the sight picture to pull the trigger when I am on target. Then mag changes are impossible, I am totally uncoordinated and my brain looses focus and I do all sorts of unsafe things with the gun. The gun has to be in my left hand and the right hand has to be removing or inserting the magazine. It is the only way I can make it work while following all the other safety rules and not sweep everyone else or inadvertently pull the trigger.

So know I am truly cross-eyed dominant. For my long guns, I have just put in hours and hours of practice; a minimum of 20 hours a month for two years. I started with my right eye closed. After I year I became proficient at using my left eye with my scope or iron sights. Then, as my sessions become longer, my right eye became more tired, it would slowly open, and I could shoot while it was squinting. As my range sessions became longer, my right eye muscles became exhausted from being closed and I could not close the eye. I got better at shooting with both eyes open. Eventually, I got to the point where it become natural. I also replaced my iron sights with a rear peep sight, and it made all the difference in the world.

As for my handguns, I shoot left handed, but I use my left eye. After hours of practice I realized that this was causing my shots to move slightly to the right of where I was aiming. After many more hours of practice I have made the adjustment to aim the width of the front sight to the left of my target and it is working well. My groups are becoming very tight and centered on the bullseye.

So, you can try to practice left handed. Put in the hours and it could become natural for you. Then you would not have to worry about the cross-eyed dominant. Or, you could put in the practice to learn to use your non-dominant eye to sight with. You have to pick one or the other to practice with and then put in the hours. Eventually, your body will learn to do it automatically.

[funnybookz]

I'm cross dominant. Iron sights on a long gun are difficult for me, luckily I have an aimpoint.

[Leethe4th]

You should always shoot pistol, rilfe and shotgun with both eyes open. However, there are alternate solutions. You can train yourself to shoot from the dominant eye side, ie, left eye, left hand and close the weak eye. Or you can scotch tape over the dominant eye, keep both eyes open, and eventually your weak eye will take over. You can see with both eyes, but the dominant eye is just a ghost image. Things get more complicated with vision correction. For example, perfect 20/20 vision with a pistol is tough because the shooter can focus on the rear sight, front sight and target when what you want is front sight focus only. My correcton for shooting is right eye dominant corrected to front sight exactly and left eye to infinity.

[DoddRod]

I have the same issue, usually I tilt my head so my left eye aligns with the site but I have has some success with placing a piece if tape or putting wood glue in a small patch of my shooting glasses so that my left eyes view of the sights is fuzzy. Forces your right eye to take over

[CSACANNONEER]

I've done it with handguns and done almost as well, despite feeling foreign. Rifles it just feels awful...

As a kid though I made it a point to play paintball ambidextrous and was equally good on both sides...maybe I should shoot more

Keep trying. As a lefty who does almost everything LH, I prefer shooting RH guns LHed over shooting LHed guns. Get over the foreign feeling. You should be able to shoot a handgun with either hand anyways. For rifle shooting, shart off shooting from a BR set up for a while and see if you can adapt to shooting LHed.

[tonyxcom]

I'm right handed and left eye dominant. Shoot pistols right handed just fine, closing my right eye and aiming with my left.

I prefer to shoot rifles with magnified optics left handed though and have adopted pretty well. I can shoot red dots right handed with both eyes open.

Hardest part is dealing with my astigmatism. Some days my red dots look like Air Jordan.

[e90bmw]

I'm left handed, mostly.
I do most things that require strength with my right hand (bowl, throw, etc).
Left hand is for fine motor skills.

That said, I am left eye dominant, which cause problems with most cameras.
Anyway, I primarily shoot right handed because that is my strong hand and getting a left handed guns is a pain.
I shoot both eyes open and have never really had an issue.