Both Eyes Open?

[jchris102]

I was told years ago that you should shoot with both eyes open, but I was never told why. Maybe I can find the answer here, I did a search but didn't come up with much. I try but sometimes find it easier and much faster to close weak eye, especially re-aquiring the target after a shot.

 

[1987rx7guy]

IIRC its for greater field of vision. There are some youtube vids of army training that explain it well.

 

[Zak Smith]

Several reasons:

* natural wide field of view

* when you close one eye you add muscle strain in your face

* retain binocular vision

Basically all practical shooters shoot with both eyes open.

 

[CoRoMo]

Depth perception too.

I agree that after having shot one-eyed for a lifetime, it is hard to get the hang of it with iron sights.

 

[ArmedBear]

All of the above, and simply so you can see.

Close one eye. Block the bottom half of the other eye's field of vision, and then some.

Then open the closed eye.

Compare.

 

[nwilliams]

IMO it depends on what works best for the shooter.

I happen to have cross dominant vision so I am right handed and left eye dominant. I'm most consistent when I squint my right eye as I focus on the front sight. For people with balanced vision it tends to be easier for them to naturally shoot both eyes open. Remember that your natural point of aim falls over the eye that is most dominant, so in order compensate for this some shooters need to close or squint the non-dominant eye so that they don't see double. It's possible to train yourself to overcome eye dominance but it's not easy and takes time. When I first started out I had to close my right eye completely, now I can get by with just squinting my right eye.

 

[Mr. Bojangles]

It does feel kinda wierd at first shooting with both eyes open, but with practice it becomes natural and you will wonder how you ever shot with one eye closed.

 

[el gato]

Both Eyes Open

Survival

 

[rainbowbob]

If you have trouble (e.g., seeing double) pivot your head a few degrees so the aiming eye is over the sights. If you are left eye dominant - rotate your head to the right. Right eye dominant - to the left.

It is easier than it sounds.

 

[Butter]

As Mr. Bo said, it may take awhile, but it's worth it. You can "see" better and for me, though it took me a bit to get comfortable with it, I can actually hit better with both eyes open. Your dominant eye will pick up the front sight easily after you get used to doing this.

 

[Deanimator]

If you can, great.

I can't. For me, it's not worth the fight.

 

[Norinco982lover]

I just started with 2 eyes when I began shooting. It took some getting used to but now its natural (4 years shooting).

 

[jakemccoy]

I'm glad I found this suggestion shortly after I bought my first real gun a few years ago. It was easy for me to get accustomed to having both eyes open. Without the Internet, I'd be shooting with one eye closed. Let's have a moment of silence to honor the greatness of the Internet.

 

[thorazine]

Another vote for:

[X] Both eyes open!



Unless someone hands me a...

Super awesome .800 magnum triple power earth shatter deluxe model -- with full power loads.

Then it's -- both eyes closed!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I happen to have cross dominant vision so I am right handed and left eye dominant.

As I got older, I became far-sighted in my right (master) eye and near-sighted in the left eye. My shooting with iron sights began to deteriorate, and my pistol shooting went to hades. I re-trained myself to shoot a handgun with the left (non-master) eye, which shows the sights up sharply. I practiced shooting with both eyes open until I could automatically superimpose the vision of the sights on the target -- both in sharp focus.

 

[jchris102]

I came to the right place with my question thats for sure. I do appreciate the
comments, and the WHY. I well keep both eyes open. Unless that .800 shows up, Thanks Guys.

 

[ArmedBear]

I happen to have cross dominant vision so I am right handed and left eye dominant.

Me, too.

Training myself was more than well worth it. The longer you keep developing bad habits to compensate, the harder it will be to train them out.

 

[chris in va]

I used to shut one eye, but realized after a while it was making my other one squint and actually blurred the sight picture more than necessary.

I'm pretty sure you won't be closing one eye in a SD situation.

 

[doc2rn]

Here is a good example of a gun to shoot with both eyes closed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlFlXMHaSVQ

 

[DagoRed]

Cause it is what the cool guys do!

Really cool guys like Clint Eastwood just squint, but do it with both eyes open.

 

[NC-Mike]

I always shot with one eye and about a year ago I decided I wanted to keep them both open. It took about 2,000 rounds with my Ruger 22/45 to get comfortable with it.

After awhile I finally started having fun and shooting better but when I first started it was so bad and unnatural I had to force myself to continue. When I did rapid fire strings, the sight picture was doing kaleidescope type things and it was more than a little disturbing.

All good now, just have to stick with it.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I used to have a hard time finding the target with a scoped rifle. I would lose the target when switching from looking through my eyes to looking through the scope. Then I would wave the rifle around looking for the target through the scope.

When I started keeping both eyes open it got a lot easier. I keep my eyes open while looking at the target, then bring the rifle to my shoulder. Unless I am using more than 9x I can switch focus from one eye to the other while looking through the scope, so I never have to search for the target through the scope anymore.

 

[RobMoore]

There are definite advantages to both eyes open, IF you can do it. What it takes is an eye dominant enough over the other to work. I don't have that. My eyes are "neck and neck" in that race. I normally shoot right eyed, because I'm right handed. I sometimes shoot with my left eye when I'm shooting around the left side of an object.

When I shoot with both eyes open, I either have to focus on my target, which is bad because I don't get any feedback from the sights to tell me where I'm hitting (can't call the shot), or I see two targets and two sets of sights. I always close my left eye, even in simunition training.

Closing one eye hasn't kept me from getting Master in two divisions in IDPA, or A class in USPSA. Its not a "must do". If you can do it, great, if you can't, don't feel like it something you have to spend all your training time on.

 

[DMK]

Aside from seeing better, it is also less fatiguing and easier. I can't believe nobody mentioned this yet.

Right now, close one eye and try reading a couple threads that way. It gets tiring doesn't it? Not just your eyes, but your whole face.

There is no good reason to close one eye while shooting. There are lots of good reasons not to. You may have to work at unlearning bad habits, but it's worth it.

 

[Sgt.Sausage]

No can do for me. If I focus on the sights, I have 2 targets (seeing double). If I focus on the target, I see 4 sites (2 x front, 2 x rear).

How the heck does anyone get past that?

Am I weird or does everyone have this doubling when using both eyes?