Eye dominance and shooting

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Let me first establish that I am right handed, and left eye dominant. I have heard that you should always shoot from that hand that is the same as you dominant eye, so I should, according to that theory, shoot left handed. Does this really matter? I understand that when shooting a long gun, it is much easier to align the closer eye to the sights, and because of this I have taught myself to be able to close my left eye and use my right(weak) eye when shooting my AR. I am getting better at this. I simply don't want to fire my AR left handed. It's awkward and the controls are not laid out properly(no I'm not gonna spend more $$ on a left handed AR).

But when it comes to pistol shooting, does eye dominance have any bearing? Since I can just shift the pistol an inch either way to align the sights to either eye. Does holding a pistol with a right handed grip but using your left eye have any natural negative effects on sight picture and aim? I can't think of a single reason why a straight line viewed from one eye would not be a straight line when viewed from the other eye. And yet, I have been told that it's wrong to use the opposite hand of your dominant eye.

Does eye dominance have any bearing on reflexive shooting? Like quickly bringing up a carbine or pistol and just point shooting it?

To be honest, I've never really heard a good explanation about the whole eye dominance concept. When we started BRM at Basic this summer, we did that test, and I was told I am left eye dominant. That's the first I heard of it. So I qualified shooting left handed with my M16. Same with the M9. But I only did that because that is what I was told to do. And now that I'm back, I shoot right handed but with my left eye, and my results are so-so. Not great shooting, but not terrible either. I'd prefer not to be stuck shooting left handed if I can avoid it. Is there some way to train oneself to naturally use the other eye?

 

[CTPistol]

Dont listen to anyone. shoot as you feel comfy and what works for you.

I shoot pistols right handed, left eye dominant
I shoot rifles right handed, right eye dominant
I shoot shotguns both eyes open

Long ago I tried amending this, it didnt work and I could not see any reason to fight comfort.

some of the internet sites (glocktalk example) will tell you that you are making a deadly tactical ninja error by not having both eyes open while shooting your way through the zombies while clearing you house each night, slicing pies with your $350 weapon mounted ninja light, all while fighting your way to your long gun.

But I just go with what feels right.

 

[blackhawk2000]

I crack up when people complain about AR's not being LH friendly. Put your thumb on the safety side of the rifle, and keep it there. Work the safety with the LH thumb. Piece of cake. Use your left hand trigger finger to work the bolt catch lever. Use your RH to drop the mag, and to seat fresh mag. Not quite as easy as a RH shooter, but easy enough. Finally use your RH to work the charging handle.

As far as eye dominance goes, I'm the same as you. I shoot all long guns LH, and pistol RH.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I did try shooting my M16(same an an AR) lefty all summer while at Basic. I didn't like it one bit.

 

[koja48]

I forced myself, after much practice to be left-eye dominant when shooting southpaw, right-eye when shooting from the weak side. Started when a guy gave this southpaw a right-handed bow when I was a kid.

 

[cnorman18]

dominant, schnominant

If you hit what you're aiming at, you're doing it right.

I can't imagine how it would make a difference with a handgun. The important thing is to line up the SIGHTS with the TARGET, whatever eye you use.

With a rifle, if you shoot right-handed, it's really clumsy to try to use your left eye. Seems to me it would mess with your accuracy and ability to handle the arm to try to shoot left-handed if you're not.

Shut your left eye. You are now right-eye dominant. What's the problem?

I once saw a rifle with a custom stock made for a right-handed shooter who used his left eye; it was deeply curved so he could lean his head WAY over and sight with his left--but this owner was blind in his right eye, so he didn't have a choice. Short of that, it seems like a lot of worry over something that's pretty easy to adjust to.

 

[davepool]

ctpistol is right, whatever you're comfotable with and gets you on target is right for you.I've had numerous experts offer suggestions on my unorthodox shooting style when i'm at the local ranges,but when they see my target groups are as good or better than thiers they shrug thier shoulders and walk away.

 

[nwilliams]

I'm in the same boat, I'm right handed and left eye dominant.

I shoot right handed style whether I'm shooting handgun, rifle or whatever. I'm pretty happy with my shooting skills, I can put the shots where I want them, so I have no desire to try and shoot left handed.

Of course when I shoot my handguns I squint or even close my right eye, when I shoot rifles I squint or close my left eye. So eye dominance doesn't really come into play in either case.

I know some schools of thought say that you should learn to shoot both eyes open for tactical advantage However I've had many instructors for both tactical and marksmanship training that have told me that is utter bs. I've never had an instructor who has said closing one eye is a bad habit or shooting with your left hand is better because you are left eye dominant. Personally I think if it ain't broke why fix it? If you're happy with the way you shoot just ignore everyone else's suggestions unless you believe it truly benefit you.

I can't imagine how it would make a difference with a handgun. The important thing is to line up the SIGHTS with the TARGET, whatever eye you use.

Actually I think it makes a huge difference when shooting a handgun to know which is your dominant eye. If you are left eye dominant and keep both eyes open you will generally push your shots to the left. Of course staying on your front sight will help even if you happen to keep both eyes open, but if I really want to make consistent one-hole groups I close my right and never take my left eye off the front sight, works for me at least. But again every shooter is an individual so do what feels and works best for you.

 

[Regolith]

I've heard that keeping both eyes open lessens fatigue in your viewing eye. But its not that big of a deal.

 

[cracked butt]

I'm going through this issue with my son.

He's right handed and left-eye dominant.

I tried to teach him to shoot left handed, but he'll have nothing of it- he wants to shift his head over the stock to see the sights with his left eye while shooting right handed. I finally put a piece of tape over the left lens of his shooting glasses and voila, he started hitting everything he was aiming at and everyone was happy again.

Wingshooting with a shotgun is an entirely different story. You need both eyes for depth perception, ie a wingshooter needs to learn to shoot with their dominant eye to reach their maximum proficiency.

 

[Linda]

I am cross dominate as well, right handed, left eyed. I have found when instructing CCW classes, that the majority of cross dominate people are the ladies.

I had an instructor (who also had our problem) spend 5 minutes with me a couple years ago. Made a world of difference. Stand in a weaver stance, right leg back, left toes pointed towards the target. Turn your head towards your right shoulder. Then look down the sights with your left eye. This will center the firearm to your body. Lean into a forward aggresive stance, to absorb the recoil. You will see a marked difference in your shooting and comfort.

When shooting in the isosceles position when cross dominate, you will be bringing the gun over to the left eye instead of centering it to your body.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous when someone says to just change your eye dominance. That's like telling a lefty to just become a righty.