[Whirlwind06]

I'm working on shooting with both eyes open.
Where should my focus be? Still on the front sight? With the target slightly out of focus?

[ChristopherG]

Yup. If anything but the front sight is in perfect focus, you're doin' it wrong. Less'n you're real close.

[Lucky 7]

easy transition actually:

1) Non-dom eye closed
2) Non-dom eye squinted
3) Non-dom eye squinted even less
4) Non-dom eye OPEN

practice practice practice (dry-firing is cheapest ive found :rolleyes: ) and ull have it in no time flat.

Regards and Semper Fi!
-L7

[10-Ring]

It took me a while to teach myself to shoot w/ both eyes open...but it just seems so natural now.
All basics apply and in the long run, you will be better off! Persistence & patience will prevail :D Have fun!

[hotpig]

The Police Academy that I attended taught both eyes open only. Closing an eye earned extra push ups.

[RecoilRob]

This will get me flamed...no doubt...but, I always focus on the target with both eyes open.

If you are practicing to shoot tiny groups in paper, then it is OK to focus on the front sight.

If you are practicing to defend yourself against an armed threat, you are better off focusing ON THE THREAT...because that IS what you will do when and if the time comes.

Actually, both sights fuzzy and the target clearly focused CAN be pretty accurate. With practice. JMO.

[Geronimo45]

I practice with both eyes shut and "use the force" to aim. :evil:

[wuchak]

I'll second what Rob said above. I think it's good to practice using no sights (point shooting) for close range out to about 20 ft, using the front sight only (almost point shooting but you have a fraction of a second to glance at the front sight for alignment) with the focus still on the target from 20 ft to 50 ft, and regular aimed fire using both sights with focus on the front sight beyond 50ft. This difference in sighting is the reason why most defensive revolvers come with only a shallow groove in the top strap and a front sight. Goes to target quickly and is not really meant for fine target shooting. It's also why the adjustable sights are often referred to as target sights. The three dot sights or the xssights where you just dot the eye are, in my opinion, the best type of sights for defensive handguns because they allow focus to remain on the target and still allow for excellent rapid aiming with sights.

I should also add that I'm a huge fan of lasers for defensive handguns. Puts the sight on the target and allows aimed shots from positions where use of the regular sights would be impossible.

[hexidismal]

I always TRY to shoot with both eyes open these days, and have been doing so for a few years. Every so often though I catch myself slipping into closing one eye just for a couple shots till I notice it.. I'm not even sure why it happens , its just an old bad habit that pops up occasionally.

In regards to what recoilrob and wuchak mentioned above, I agree. Most of the time I practice with the standard focus on the front sight, but that's because I'm typicaly only practicing to hit the paper at significant distances. I do also put time into practicing with no sights and target focus, specifically for defensive situations which might require it. Generally at no more than 15 ft.

[ChickenHawk]

I'm surprised this thread hasn't attracted more attention.

I would encourage you to search the forum. There have been several threads with the exact same title and many opinions.

I started shooting both eyes open about two years ago. I shoot every week 100-200 rounds. It took me a month or two for it to seem natural to shoot this way. Obviously, my peripheral vision is greatly enhanced by not closing an eye and I can shoot much longer with greater comfort since I am not 'squinting' the whole time. My shooting accuracy has increased; probably due to the lack of fatigue.

Keep at it until you get used to it. It is well worth the effort to master.

Stay safe,
ChickenHawk

[DogBonz]

When shooting with both eyes open, your main focus shoul be on the fron sight.

[COLDONE]

I was taught to keep both front and rear sights in focus. I was drilled for a while on this and it works awesome. I can still hear that old timers voice, " And you keep those f'n sights aligned!"

[AndyC]

This will get me flamed...no doubt...but, I always focus on the target with both eyes open.

If you are practicing to shoot tiny groups in paper, then it is OK to focus on the front sight.

If you are practicing to defend yourself against an armed threat, you are better off focusing ON THE THREAT...because that IS what you will do when and if the time comes.

Actually, both sights fuzzy and the target clearly focused CAN be pretty accurate. With practice. JMO.
Same here - I doubt anyone who's seen me shoot would say I'm inaccurate ;)

[Nail Shooter]

Quote:
*
RecoilRob
Senior Member
*
If you are practicing to shoot tiny groups in paper, then it is OK to focus on the front sight.

If you are practicing to defend yourself against an armed threat, you are better off focusing ON THE THREAT...because that IS what you will do when and if the time comes.

Actually, both sights fuzzy and the target clearly focused CAN be pretty accurate. With practice. JMO. Quote

Pretty much how I do it, but use both eyes only at a max distance of about 7yds. Don't really look for the sights, but line up the top of the slide on the target and do double and triple taps.

NS

*

[S&Wfan]

Double and triple taps are great for the shooter of high cap autos . . . as long as (hopefully) no innocent bystanders are around and you've got enough ammo to take care of the problem.

I agree that if the SHTF most folks will be tunnel-visioned on the perp too!

I recommend everyone learning to point shoot. For shooters of Smith revolvers, a K-frame .22 like a 617 makes a really cheap way to master this technique . . . for it will require thousands of shots. In time though, the S&W revolver shooter can do quite well in action revolver matches at fairly close distances without doing any more than just pointing.

For the auto shooter, ditto on the .22 practice gun . . . in the same grip angle as your auto (such as a .22 slide and conversion for a 1911 shooter).


OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS?

Practice one handed w/ BOTH hands until proficient with either . . . for there's no guarantee your "strong" hand will be usable for the duration of the gunfight.

Practice shooting using a patch over your dominant eye so you can learn to shoot well with your non-dominant eye. Again . . . there's no guarantee you won't lose sight in your best eye before the threat is over (shattered glass, chips of wall from debris of the other guy's bullet hitting near your face, etc.).

Practice shooting while crouching, while moving left, right, forward and backwards.

Practice shooting from the hip and from the low ready positions by point shooting.

Practice sprinting 100 yards, then picking up your gun (the safest way to do this) on a shooting bench and try to hit small targets quickly and accurately spread out 10-25 yards in front of you.


That all being said, in competition matches, a shooter better learn to acquire a great front sight "picture" quickly and consistently . . . if they want to win.

Sure, games are games . . . but if the mortal game happens . . . the discipline of good grip, sight picture, and mental focus forged from thousands of rounds fired in practice AND in competition will make the difference MOST times!

(again . . . we've all seen matches where a terrible shooter gets "lucky" every once in a while)!

[jad0110]

One thing I noticed at first while learning to shoot with both eyes open is that for a while you will probably see a double image of the target. Can make you a little nauseous at first, but eventually your brain will learn to interpret the image correctly and the double image problem will disappear.

[greener]

Closing one eye can cause the pupil of the open eye to dilate slightly, decreasing the ability to focus. Other tricks for getting into it: translucent tape over the lense of the shooting glasses for the non-dominant eye; if you see double and are right-eye dominant, shoot at the target on the left. I've found that if I have difficulty focusing on the front sight, then a slow wink of the non-dominant eye will do the trick.

I switched from one-eye to two eyes a couple of months ago when I started using a tactical sight. Think my accuracy has improved slightly. Hard to tells when you measure your groups in barns.