Eye Dominance

I'm a righty all the way but some wise NRA instructor figured out I was left eye dominant when I was 12 years old and had me switch sides. I am so grateful. Today I can't even hold a rifle or shotgun right handed, feels totally strange. Anyway when I started shooting the shotgun, I could keep both eyes open and I became a fairly good shot. Shooting with the non-dominant eye is not recommended except if you are truly cross dominant. Test the kid for dominance and let him shoot on the dominant side. Forcing a person to be something they are not will not equal success.

Thanx, Russ

Red Cent said:

Who knows a proper test to detect dominant eye?

Click to expand...

Not sure if you are serious here or not (and not sure what B.......T means)....

But here's a simple test.....

hold a piece of paper with a hole in it (or make a hole between your two hands) and hold this out at arms length in front of you. Spot an object through the center of the hole with both eyes open.... now close the left eye... if the object in the hole moves dramatically in your "sight", you are left eye dominant.... if the object stays in the center of the hole, you are right eye dominant.... if you have any questions, or just for fun, try closing the other eye....

I hope that makes sense..... if in fact you were being serious...

I've got a 17 y/o girl, who just recently wanted to learn to shoot. She is the same way, right handed, left eye dominent. She picked up her handgun, a pink walther P22 and hit 190 out of 200 shots at the range shooting right handed and aiming with left eye!

Simple test for eye dominance, pick a distant object with both eyes open and point a finger at it. Close one eye and then the other, which ever eye allows the finger to stay on object is the dominant eye, the other eye will move it off target.

I am RH but LE, had a Remington CDL 700 left hand bolt rifle once, but found it awkward to use. The only LH rifle I own now is a flintlock rifle, but also have several RH ones, I can shoot all LH with no bother to me.
I was 17 when I went into the army back in the 1950s, instructors tried to get me to qualify RH with the M-1, which didn't work out worth a damn. I was allowed to go LH and shot expert.

I am serious. Step outside of our circle and few people know about this dominance thing. I once had a nurse assistant argue me that the condition does not exist.
And that is two good ways of testing eye dominance. I stumbled on another. Many, many moons ago, I picked up a recurve (bare bow) and thought I would teach my self archery. I could not figure out why I constantly shot to the right about a foot or so at twenty yards. Now, I knew I was left eye dominant but when you shoot barebow/instinctve your sight picture is almost like taking a picture. I thought nature would take care of me. My picture was about a foot to the right.

Cross dominant using the bow is very difficult. The only way I could do that successfully is shooting right and patching my left eye. I needed the strength of my right arm to pull the bow string but I couldn't sight unless I patched my good eye. Rifle shooting is different, your strong arm can support the rifle better so it's not an issue.

Thanx, Russ

Has anyone experimented with holding the pistol at a 45 degree angle(towards the dom eye)? I read an article once that suggested it, and it really helps me to see both sights clearly, but i've never actually shot the gun like this. (it just seems wrong, only a step away from a "gangsta" hold")


I am left eye dom/right handed - easiest way to tell (as has already been said) is to point at an object, covering it with the tip of your finger & close one eye then the other, whichever one is still covering the target is the dom eye.

Check out this Video (this guy is a great shooter btw)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lRAZjtLRf0

You can work around cross eye dominance with a pistol or even a rifle, but this kid might just want to shoot a shotgun one day. Closing his dominant left eye isn't going to work then. If he is truly left eye dominant, teach him to shoot left handed.

While I am right hand/right eye dominant I trained myself to shoot left/left. Anyone can train to overcome cross domination.

I am right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot long guns lefty and handguns right handed (stronger right side and more dexterous in my right hand make drawing and operating easier). What more expensive firearms does he need? Semi-autos are easily operated lefty. Really only bolt guns would be affected by this. There are plenty of lefty bolt guns made savage and a some others to satisfy his need. Some platforms are actually easier to run lefty. For example the Kalashnikov is much nicer to operate lefty than right handed.

I'm extremely left eye dominant, but right handed. I shoot left handed but recently got a AK romanian side folder, doing a lot of dry-firing practice wih it on my right shoulder before I take it to the range and embarass myself.