Cross eye dominance and ARs

Some will disagree but I just close one eye.

No, if the scope is sighted in correctly?

Which ever eye, or whoever's eye looks through it will hit pretty much were it is looking.

Different people shooting it might notice ver minor changes in POI because each person holds the rifle differently.

But if you sight it in, it should shoot where you are looking.

rc

After mounting it, I'm realizing I either have to use my non-dominant eye, or learn to shoot right handed.

Click to expand...

I generally recommend cross-eye dominant folks learn to shoot with the non-dominant hand for long guns. If you're a new shooter, the issue of muscle memory shouldn't really exist, and non-dominant hand strength isn't a problem with long guns. You can train your hands. Eyes, not so much.

Also, most firearms are obviously designed around the right handed majority, so learning to shoot right handed (especially rifles) will have other minor benefits.

Having said that, as you continue to practice and train, learning to use either hand or eye with any type of firearm is a good idea

I'm cross eye dominant, and just learned to shoot with my less dominant hand. I found early on that putting a scope in front of my non dominant eye, and trying to force it led to strange issue where my focus would pop back and forth between eyes, and gave me eye strain. Much easier to just switch hands.

I too am left handed and right eye dominant. I found shooting rifles with my right hand was very easy to pick up and didn't take long at all.
For handguns I shoot left handed but hold in front of my right eye. It was the best compromise for me.
With the AR give it a try I don't think you will find it difficult if you give it some time.

I have run into this with students, and the best solution has always been to learn to fire with the other hand. It has also been the answer they didn't want to hear. When precision and other tasks are required like judging distance with the mil dot rifle scope in sniper training, this is the only thing that would work. I have seen people "learn the switch" while in sniper training and pass. I have also seen people who learned the switch who wil fire their handguns well with the non-dominate side but use the rifle with the dominate side. We called these people "croseyed dominate".

solman said:

I too am left handed and right eye dominant. I found shooting rifles with my right hand was very easy to pick up and didn't take long at all.
For handguns I shoot left handed but hold in front of my right eye. It was the best compromise for me.
With the AR give it a try I don't think you will find it difficult if you give it some time.

Click to expand...

I do the same, though I'm right-handed and strongly left-eye dominant. Long guns lefty, handguns righty. I won my division at the local handgun match last week so it works well enough for the small time.

One of the first things we check in the NRA classes is eye dominance. There are ways to work around being cross-dominant and shooting with the weak eye but it's infinitely better to shoot with the stronger eye especially for iron sights and shotguns. It even affects shooting with optics, which many deny. I'm right-handed and left eye dominant. I grew up shooting right handed my whole life and just closed one eye. It works ok for some things, but not for shotgun. I switched to shooting shotguns left handed a couple of years ago. It only took a couple of rounds of trap before it felt totally natural. I've started shooting rifles left-handed, especially my iron-sights guns, and that's improved my shooting with those also. Even with the scoped rifles, I've been able to start shooting left-handed (if the stock will allow it without discomfort) and it's much easier to do it with both eyes open. Lots less eye-strain and everything is much easier to see.

I think you should definitely learn to shoot it right handed. You'll pick up the proper muscle memory very quickly.

Matt

I am left handed, right eye dom. Qualified expert regularly with an M16A1 in the Army (1980's). I closed one eye. Still shoot rifles to this day that way. Giddy up.

+1. Left handed and right eye dominant. In taught myself to shoot right handed purely for the fact of firearm availability (I would perish if I couldn't get a LH 1911 ). I only learned about cross-eye dominance when my wife was having zero success with hitting clays, and then when we told me that the sights felt off to the right, then happened upon it on the net and put 2 and 2 together.

She shoots with one eye closed.

I generally recommend cross-eye dominant folks learn to shoot with the non-dominant hand for long guns. If you're a new shooter, the issue of muscle memory shouldn't really exist, and non-dominant hand strength isn't a problem with long guns. You can train your hands. Eyes, not so much.

Click to expand...

I wonder about this. I am right handed and left eye dominant, and I shoot both handguns and long guns right handed, and I use my right eye. And I've never had any problems whatsoever.

Maybe this is because I started shooting on a Browning T bolt .22 when I was five years old, and being right handed and not knowing a single thing about eye dominance, just naturally shot it right handed. When I got my first BB gun, I shot it right handed also. I used to close my left eye back then, but I stopped doing that around the age of ten when my Dad noticed I was doing it and got me to stop. But I didn't change hands or eyes. I didn't even find out I was left eye dominant until I was almost thirty years old, but I saw no point in changing anything about the way I'd been shooting for a quarter century already, especially since I was doing it better than most people. I always shot perfect or near perfect scores in the army with my M16A2, and on the police department where I work now with the various handguns I've been issued. The only time I use my left eye is when I have to shoot pistols with my weak hand. Being left eye dominant, it's easy and natural for me to shoot using the left eye if I'm using my left hand. The rest of the time, it's all with the right. I've never really understood all the trouble that people say they have with cross dominance, because I've honestly never had any. Maybe I'm closer to the eyeball equivalent of being ambidextrous than most people, but I doubt it.

So I don't think it's the case that you can't train yourself to use your non-dominant eye, and use it quite well. It may just take longer. But given that the vast majority of rifles and shotguns out there are really more right hand friendly, I'm glad I never switched to shoot long guns left handed.

I would encourage you to learn to shoot long guns right handed.
I am left eye dominant and right handed.

I can switch to right if I have too, but shooting long guns left handed is much more natural for me.
I believe that the dominant eye should determine how you shoot long guns.

Maybe I'm closer to the eyeball equivalent of being ambidextrous than most people, but I doubt it.

Click to expand...

Some of us are able to force dominance temporarily to the weak eye. I am naturally right/right, luckily, but when training left handed, I do this. Problem is, at least for me, it's lost as soon as I look away.

I wouldn't see an issue with a red dot or a 1 power scope using the non dominant eye. I've been doing just that for many years. When using a higher power scope, I close my left eye. Shouldn't be hard to learn for a new shooter who doesn't have years of practice doing it "wrong."

Billy Shears said:

Maybe I'm closer to the eyeball equivalent of being ambidextrous than most people, but I doubt it.

Click to expand...

I'm similar but if I switch eyes (and sides), the eye not "blocked" by the sight takes over and don't see the sight.

For skeet, I'd patch the off eye so that I could see with both eyes except when actually looking down the barrel.

For rifle and handgun, I close the off eye. I never played any action games with rifle and hand gun the targets moved relative to the shooter so it worked adequately well.

It is better to have both eyes open. I never was patient enough to retrain myself except for skeet.

Some people can "make it work", I guess it depends on the task, how much you are willing to work at the change (if you elect to go that way), and what results will satisfy you. I'm not cross eyed dominant or left handed, so I don't pretend to understand what they have to deal with. I will only say that in precision work as a former sniper and instructor (where marksmanship is one of many required skills) the currently held belief among experts is to get the gun in the hand of the dominant side or fail. As an aside, I know a man who is/was cross-eyed-dominant, and didn't find out until after he served 15 years in law enforcement following 4 years in the USMC. The craziest thing is that it took so long to discover. He got a new holster after he learned the switch, and he says his scores and overall performance went up.

Back 50 years ago (1965), I entered kindergarten as a "lefty". I didn't know until years later I was right-eye dominant. Of course, back "in-the-day", if you were a lefty, you were a wrongy, and the schools made absolute certain to "correct" you, because the world is "right-handed" AKA "righty". No, I am not joking.

So, my compelled evolution resulted in the Supt of Schools driving to the elementary school to paddle my behind on day-one of school for resisting indoctrination. It kinda-sorta took effect. But, my nature to persist, exceeded his will to continue the paddle. Ask my wife of 31 years. I am one strong-headed human. She uses alternative descriptions.

By age 7, I was fully into martial arts, which focused on ambidextrous skill development. Now in 2016, having achieved 36 years as a martial arts instructor, and at at a mere age 55, I continue fully ambidextrous. I guess even public mis-education can't beat the left out of you. Oh yeah, and I went on to become a middle school/high school principal, and later a graduate professor of education.

As I see it, I just pull triggers, left-handed, or right-handed. It makes zero difference to me. And to think, the school tried to beat it out of me. In closing, my Grandma Lumbert graduated from "County Normal" in 1917 (present day Central Michigan University). She frequently told my mother, "Doris, you'll beat-in two devils, for every one devil you try to beat out of a child. Let the child be who he is".

My take, you can modify what you do, but you cannot modify what you are by nature. Ask your parents about your first years. Were you a lefty, or a righty? Did the school try to evolve you? No, I'm not joking. And for what it's worth, I agree with my Grandma Lumbert about those devils.

Geno (Lefty, righty, kinda-sorta both and neither)

I am RH and left eye dominate. It is way easier to shoot RH as it's a RH world.

Even if you purchase those "lefty" AR15 uppers...the lowers are not LH.

Especially since you said that you are a new shooter.

Geno- my dad's all confused-handed like that. He started off lefty but got beat into a righty. So he's right handed now (eating, writting, shooting) except he throws things lefty. Craziest thing I ever saw. I have no idea what his eye dominance is- he only bird hunts with a shotgun but he was in the army. As far as "lefty" guns, this is my thought (as a righty):

1. About 1.4 million people currently serve in the US mil
2. About 11% of the population are lefties- therefore, it can be deduced that about 154,000 lefties currently serve in the US mil.
3. The US mil has every type of weapon system in its inventory, from handguns to heavy MGs and shoulder fired anti tank weapons
4. Not a single one of these weapons are designed for lefties, with 2 exception- the M9 pistol has ambi safety/decocker and the mag release can be set up for lefty or righty use- even though they all eject to the right. The US mil is kind enough to provide lefties with lefty holsters, tho. The new M110 sniper rifle also has ambi controls- but ejects right. Even grenades are right handed- lefties have to hold them upside down cause the pin only comes out in 1 direction.
5. This 11% of the military functions just as efficiently as the rest of us (even though they look weird operating the bolt action sniper rifles lefty, and they actually look scary when they are using hand grenades). Therefore, I question the "need" for lefty civilian firearms. But then, I'm a righty, so maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.

It's a crazy world, isn't it?!

Geno

Some people can "make it work", I guess it depends on the task, how much you are willing to work at the change (if you elect to go that way), and what results will satisfy you. I'm not cross eyed dominant or left handed, so I don't pretend to understand what they have to deal with. I will only say that in precision work as a former sniper and instructor (where marksmanship is one of many required skills) the currently held belief among experts is to get the gun in the hand of the dominant side or fail.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much about what the experts say. That's not to say disregard them entirely, and do anything you want, don't misunderstand. But it's worth remembering that what the experts were teaching not so long ago, no one is teaching anymore. I've been through a number of advanced training programs, and I've done better than average in all of them. I've been the best in the class in a few of them. Given this, no instructor has come up to me to tell me I'm doing it wrong, and I shoot mostly with the non-dominant eye. If you can do this, do it. If you can't use the other one. Find what works best for you. As Bruce Lee used to say, be flexible, don't be bound by "correct" classical forms.

You have to reach a certain level of proficiency for this to apply. You have to know, understand, and respect the rules before you can break them. But if you have reached that level and can do it, then do it. Do what works best for you.

As an aside, I know a man who is/was cross-eyed-dominant, and didn't find out until after he served 15 years in law enforcement following 4 years in the USMC. The craziest thing is that it took so long to discover. He got a new holster after he learned the switch, and he says his scores and overall performance went up.

Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why would this be necessary? It's easy for a shooter using a pistol to use the dominant hand and dominant eye, no matter which eye that is. I don't do it, but I know plenty of people who do -- and they all shoot pistols with the strong hand and long guns from the opposite side. You just turn your head slightly to bring the opposite side eye into line with the sights. It's easy. Why would you need to change to shooting with the weak hand, and then spend countless additional hours of practice becoming as proficient with your weak hand as you are with your strong?