aim with one eye or both eyes open

[stealthmode]

how does everybody aim? i always use one eye. i only target shoot and am interested in defensive pistol shooting and some guy i talked to said he uses both eyes and i want opinions on the subject.

thanks

[JuniorG]

I aim with one eye tho I have tried point shooting with both eyes open with mixed results but only with handguns. All my rifles have scopes so its one eye aiming with those.
When I was younger I had a .22 rifle I shot so much I could just point shoot and hit anything at .22 LR range. I finally took the rear site off and believe it or not, once I got it off and out of the way I actually shot better with that old .22 tho I doubt I could still shoot it as well today as it has been many years since that rifle has seen the range and my eyes aint as good as they used to be.

I guess one would have to decide how they want to shoot and then practice, practice, practice.

[OF]

It depends on the shot for me. At shorter ranges (<15 or 20 yards) I shoot with both eyes open. At longer ranges I start to squint a bit.

- Gabe

[HSMITH]

You NEED both eyes open. You will shoot better in ALL disciplines including scoped rifles even.

[WhoKnowsWho]

It's taken some practice but I shoot quite well now with both eyes open. At longer distances, it's not too bad either. Though using a rifle, I close the other eye, that is still taking some practice.

[Lennyjoe]

Both eyes open.

[mondocomputerman]

I shoot all my guns with one eye open. I haven't shot nearly as many rounds as others on here though.

[Black Snowman]

I used to shoot one eye and now I still shoot with one eye but with both eyes open and I do much better, particularly when shooting quickly, like the bowling pin shoots I used to do. There will be a rough transition period but once you've worked through it you'll be noticably more comfortable and accurate when shooting.

[DrAmazon]

Both open, but a couple of layers of "satin"scotch tape over the left eye to keep it from trying to focus.

[bountyhunter]

Both eyes open, looking "through the sights" in line with the dominat eye with my eyes both focused on the target (sights are slightly blurry).

[stealthmode]

thanks for the replies and i will give both eyes a try and see how i do.

[waktasz]

I used to shoot one eye open but after I got my .22 with reflex sight I got used to having 2 eyes open. Now I shoot all handguns 2 eyes open.

[4v50 Gary]

Greater peripheral vision and with it situational awareness.

[SnakeEater]

Like most have said, it is generally a better idea to use both eyes. That being said I understand that some people cannot do this no matter how much they practice it.

[Justin]

I shoot with both eyes open. If I'm shooting Bullseye I'll put a piece of tape on the glasses over my left eye.

[Wildalaska]

I shoot my best groups by closing both eyes. Then when I get to the target, I poke three holes real fast close together with a pencil.

WildtightgroupAlaska

[jeff-10]

I shoot with both. Always have for whatever reason, its the way I was taught. Probably because my father does also.

[denfoote]

God gave you two eyes. Why not use them!!

[ExtremeDooty]

I'm trying to learn to shoot with both eyes open with little success so far. :what:
If anyone has any pointers to share, I would like to hear them. Or is it just one of those practise, practise, practise things?

[themic]

not the most intuitive thing in the world to shoot both eyes, extremedooty.

try bringing up the gun and aiming with one eye, then while holding it there, open the weak eye too. you need to be comfortable with the fact that there are two sight pictures going on.

i switched to two-eye shooting trap, and i did it by doing what i just said, and most of the time i would squint my left eye alot so it was still open but it din't see as well as the right eye. oever a few weeks, i let that squint let up a bit.

that being said, i continue to focus on target, not sights. i lose a tiny bit in overall accuracy, but i'm comfortable with my acquisition and shot placement. i think it would be weird for me now to shoot with just one eye, focusing on the front sight.

[Hal]

God gave you two eyes. Why not use them!! 'cause right after he gave me two, he went and broke one ;)

One open/two open doesn't matter to me cause only one works.

[bountyhunter]

I'm trying to learn to shoot with both eyes open with little success so far. Put pieces of scotch tape on the wall in your TV room (across where you can see them) with a small black circle on each. The tape isn't mandatory, but your wife won't like you drawing black circles on the walls.

Look at the black dot and focus both eyes on it. Point your finger (or use an unloaded gun) and slowly raise it into line of sight keeping focus on the black dot. You will see two gun images. One will be "sighting down the barrel" and the other will be slightly off to the side. The guns (and sights) will be slightly blurry because you are focused on the dot.

The gun will naturally go into line with your dominant eye. With practice, this sight picture will become totally natural. You will be able to aligne the gun accurately seeing the blurry sights as your focus is on the target. This method is called "indirect sighting". Your brain will also ignore the second gun image off to the side. When using indirect sighting, you should see a "transparent" sight image over the target.

Some people who do not have a well defined eye dominance may not be able to do this.

[ExtremeDooty]

Thanks, BountyHunter. I'll give that a try and let you know how it works out.

[guylknee]

I am still pretty new to handguns. Bought a gun and been to the range 3 or 4 times. And I having been shooting at the range using just my right eye and doing well enough to qualify for carry conceal.

But, then I heard I should be using both eyes. So, I started trying to sight with both eyes open and I had the worst time because sometimes I would look at the front site and align with rear sight with my dominant eye fairly easily. But, other times my left eye would be the only one that would be able to align the rear site with the front.

Here is what I think was going wrong, when I was sighting with just my right (left eye closed) I naturally held my gun lower than eye height so I tilting my head down and to the right to aim.

So, when I was trying to aim with both eyes open I was doing the same thing which brought my left eye closer to the gun and my right eye (dominant) further away from the gun which made it harder for my right eye to do the job asked of it.

Finally, the point of this tale. I found if I tilt my head down and to the left my left eye is taken further away from and below the gun's sites and my right picks up the sites of the gun with much greater ease.

Now, a question. Is turning my head to the left an acceptable practice or does proper sighting require that you look at the gun with your head facing straight forward? :rolleyes:

[Majic]

Both eyes open usually. At low light or night then use just one eye. You will still have vision if the flash blinds you for a few seconds.

[Zach S]

Both eyes open, unless I'm firing longarms from the correct shoulder (I normally shoot them wrong-handed).

[Janitor]

Both eyes, most of the time. Sometimes, lighting and distance (like > 70 yards) are such that I need to squint the off (left) eye, but normally not at all.

All my rifles have scopes so its one eye aiming with those.
Once I was out deer hunting from a ground blind in a blizzard. At one point in the morning, I heard an animal breaking through the brush uphill to my right. It was a large buck, running full speed down the hill and about to cross my firing lane at a right angle, at only about 15-20 yards from me.

Quickly shouldered my 7mm only to realize that my zoom scope had been left at 9X from checking zero the evening before - all I saw in the scope was brown.

Did I mention that the buck was moving fast?

Anyway - I shoot both eyes open. It allowed me to quickly acquire the target as needed.

FWIW - it turns out that 7mm Rem Mag is pretty effective at 15-20 yards too. :)

[DirksterG30]

Left eye open and right eye closed - I'm right-handed but left-eye dominant.

[torpid]

What- no love for both eyes closed?

:confused:

[Janitor]

:D

[Borachon]

Both eyes shut.





This mirrors both my natural tendency toward excessive panic, and the reality that if someone attacks me at home after dark, I won't be able to see squat in a dark house.



Edit:
Next time Torpid, I'll read ALL the threads before posting...not just the first one. :D

[Spieler]

I used to shoot with only my dominant eye open but now I shoot with both eyes open.

[ChickenHawk]

It takes some getting used to, but I am a MUCH better shot since I started shooting with both eyes open. Much more comfortable too!

Cheers,
ChickenHawk

[bountyhunter]

Same here. About ten years back my eyes strted twitching at random and squinting my eye made it a lot worse. Once I started shooting with two eyes, everything got easier.

[eclipse1]

for defensive shooting, two eyes open. the field of vision will be wider and if we close the other eye for too long a time, blurry vision will result

[ChickenHawk]

No offense to anyone (really!) but it concerns me a bit when I see people posting, "For defensive shooting I do this, but for target I do that".

You are what you practice!

If you squint at the range because you like your targets to be a bit prettier then you can bet you'll squint any time you raise your gun.

I have actually found that forcing myself to shoot both-eyes-open all the time made me a better overall shooter. I go to the range (at least) once a week and shoot (minimum of) 100 rounds. It took a few months of this before I found both-eyes-open to be totally natural and saw my accuracy IMPROVE over squinting one eye. But it was worth it.

Cheers,
ChickenHawk

[Bob79]

You should shoot with both eyes open. Especially if its for self defense purposes.

I suppose if you're hunting and need to close one eye its OK. Also if you're cross eye dominant you can't really shoot with both eyes open very well.

[Berg01]

HSMITH said;

You NEED both eyes open. You will shoot better in ALL disciplines including scoped rifles even.

Amen, Brother to that statement! This particularly applies to any of the clay target games.

[orangeninja]

I use the both eyes open technique with ALL handguns out to about 50 feet...I squint a bit at 75 feet but both eyes are still open. I think you'll find you are much faster and more accurate this way.

With a rifle I shoot with both eyes open if scoped...you are more relaxed and not distorting the image or stressing your eyes this way...if using irons, I use one eye.

Shotgun is both eyes at close range (self defense) and one eye for hunting.

[Carl N. Brown]

Both eyes open.
Also, shooting rifle at 100 yards right handed:
with target viewed with left eye, sight picture with
right eye superimposed on target (left eye is near
20-20 right eye is badly nearsighted: with left eye
focused on target, right eye is focused on
front blade). Sounds screwy but works.

[Therapydude]

I'm right hand/eye dominant, but when I shoot a handgun, I use my left eye (keeping both eyes open). I've tried using my right eye with both eyes open, but it just doesn't work for me. Guess I rotate my head to the right, making my left eye closer to the gun. Anyone else use their non-dominant eye with both eyes open?

[Zach S]

Also if you're cross eye dominant you can't really shoot with both eyes open very well.
Depends. For pistols, I dont think its a big deal (I'm right handed/left eyed). For longarms, it was a problem, until I switched shoulders. I shoot longarms much better lefthanded, I have ever since I tried it.

Therapydude, maybe your left eye is dominant while shooting a pistol, yet your right eye while shooting a longarm. I've heard of it before, exactly twice. Counting this time...