odd problem while intoducing wife to ar platform

[thefamcnaj]

So my wife is an avid handgun shooter, and shoots quite well, of coarse all thanks to me j/k.
However she's never shown intrest in shooting long guns. But today as I was loading up my things to go to the out door rifle range the wife said, "hey I would like to come today". Suprised to hear this I said sure come along.
After I was done plinking with my little .22 remington I got out my ar. I had put three mags through it and upon loading the fourth mag. she ask to shoot it. I said of coarse.
So I went through all the saftey stuff with her and how to aquire a correct sight picture.
So she sat down behind the gun and I noticed right away she was not comfortable. She kept saying I can't get the front post lined up in the rear sight. I also noticed she was holding her cheek on the but stock weird(weapon unloaded). The gun was shouldered on her right shoulder as she is right handed, but she was wanting to use her left eye. I said no hun you use your right eye and make a good cheek weld and look down the sights.
She replied,"this is how I shoot hand guns, right handed but look through sights with my left eye". I didn't know this at all the whole time we have been shooting togeather. She can't close her left eye and keep her right eye open.
Is there anything I can tell her, or tips I can give her? I've never seen this before. If she really wants to get into the ar's, is she going to have to learn to shoot it left handed? When she tried keeping both eyes open she said she can't focus. She never shot as she got frustrated, and I feel bad because I couldn't help out as I didn't know what to tell her. I think it would be nice to have her on the rifle range having fun like we do on the pistol range but it was a no go for today.
Thanks for any input guys, I told her I would seek opinions from the highroaders.

 

[Tex4426]

Cover her left eye with something when she shoots
Try shooting left handed or keep trying to learn the normal way

That's all I got

 

[M1key]

learn to shoot from the left side

or learn to shoot right-eyed

or mount an optic (easier either way)

try a left-handed AR like a Stag

M

 

[B!ngo]

I'd go with shooting from the left shoulder (as recommended above). As a lefty (eye and hand), it is a lot easier to shoot with the left eye and right hand then try to change dominant eye.

 

[Kernel]

eyepatch

 

[BemidjiDweller]

Put a piece of scotch tape over her left lens of her safety glasses. Doesn't have to be a big piece, just a little square one will do.

 

[briansmithwins]

See if shooting left handed or training her right eye works better.

Optics are going to be easier to train her right eye on as everything will be in the same focal plane.

BSW

 

[Dr.Rob]

Do a search on 'left eye dominant' here.

 

[hardluk1]

Put a red dot on it and she can learn to see the dot and still have an enjoyable outting. I have been right handed and left eyed for decades. Any kind of optic sight helps to see the target clearly. Check out meullers new 1-4 dot scope to0. You might like it.

 

[CraigC]

First thing you need to do is determine whether she really is left eye dominant.

 

[thefamcnaj]

Thanks for all the responces so far guys.
I'm wanting to get an optic, just haven't had the chance. I'm wondering how an optic will help because she's not getting a good cheek weld. Its hard to describe, but its almost like shes wanting to turn her head so her left eye can look down the sights.
Last night she put the gun up to her left shoulder, and she could get the sight picture like I explained but she said she didn't know if she could control the rifle because it didn't feel "secure" being held left handed.
I do have a friend with a left handed stag, that would be glad to let her shoot it, if she could get the hang of it, and feel comfortable with it in her left hand.

 

[jmr40]

She is clearly left eye dominate. It is not at all unusual for right handed people to be left eye dominate. My brother has the same issue. He struggled at being able to hit anything when he was younger until we figured out the probem. After he mastered shooting left handed he became an exellent shot.

I do have a friend with a left handed stag, that would be glad to let her shoot it, if she could get the hang of it, and feel comfortable with it in her left hand.

As long as your rifle has a brass deflector it should be no problem. My brother shoots only right handed guns including AR's, bolt rifles and 870 shotguns with zero issues. There will be a learning curve where she may struggle for a while. I'd suggest several hundred rounds through a 22 to get the basics down first.

 

[CraigC]

She is clearly left eye dominate.

How do you figure that??? There's nothing "clear" about it. Lots of folks pick up a gun for the first time and don't know which eyeball to use. Some people just can't close one eye. It could just as easily be a bad habit.

 

[Odd Job]

Maybe try a reflex red dot and have her shoot with both eyes open.

 

[thefamcnaj]

I'd suggest several hundred rounds through a 22 to get the basics down first

.
Thats sound advice, I have an old small remington scoremaster .22 thats a pleasure to shoot.

It could just as easily be a bad habit.

Thats very true. I'm thinking patching her left, while shooting a rifle would be good, but I don't want to make her feel dumb and turn her off as I'm excited in the fact she has intrest in the long guns.
The scotch tape as mentioned above seems like a good idea. I'll run some things by her when she gets home, so we can have a game plan for the week end when I go back.

 

[DANNY-L]

The way I have always determinded dominance is to extend your arms forward and with your thumbs and forefingers form a diamond,slowly bring the diamond to your face and it will naturally draw to your dominant eye.

 

[mortablunt]

Get her to try shooting it lefty.

 

[benzy2]

I would listen to the advice about blocking the left eye if the problem truly is that she can't close the left without the right shutting. Many position shooters keep both eyes open and put a blinder in front of the non-sight eye. This can be as simple as the comment above to put a translucent piece of tape over the shooting glasses or you can mount a device to the rifle that blocks the off eye. These foam blocks can be seen here or here.

 

[68wj]

Since she doesn't have AR experience, if the is left eye dominant, she should learn to shoot it left handed. It won't feel any more awkward than shooting with the wrong eye, and she will become more proficient.

1st step, confirm dominance.

 

[C'Thulhu]

Shoot left handed. I had the same problem for a while, but once I switched to left handed everying improved.

 

[tundraotto]

unless she is left handed I would not switch sides....eye dominance is a training issue....having brass in your face and the controls on the wrong side in most guns is a pain. JMHO - thats how I dealt with it, and I can shoot pretty good with my non-dominant eye.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Cross-eye dominance is fairly common, and it seems moreso with females.

Generally, I encourage retraining the eye. It is easier to do for most people. If they can't, then there's only one option. But while shooting weak hand is good training for those of us who are dedicated, it is not pleasant for most casual shooters.

Try the patch. If she thinks it looks silly, remind her that most everyone at the range will understand why without having to ask. With any luck, she'll eventually be able to transition between left and right by simply momentarily focusing with the eye she desires to use. It took me some time, but with a quick blink, I can force my weak eye to focus naturally (I wasn't cross-eye dominant, just felt it might be useful).

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I'm left-eye dominant but do everything right-handed and aim with right eye. It just felt instantly natural to me, and I learned to focus using the non-dominant eye, both eyes open.
Let her shoot the way she feels comfortable. She'll eventually find a method that suits her well.

 

[Elkins45]

I'm left eye dominant and I can't even imagine how hard and unnatural it would be to train myself to shoot right handed.

 

[highpower]

I had the opposite problem, I am left handed and my right eye is my dominant eye. I always shot a rifle right handed, but never really thought about the fact that I moved a handgun (shooting left handed) across my body so I could use the sights.

Those who think that you can somehow train yourself to use your non dominate eye to shoot have no idea how hard that will be. It is really no big deal to shoot a rifle left handed, tons of people do it all the time.

I wound up teaching myself to shoot handguns right handed after acquiring a Colt 1911. Back then there really wasn't any ambidextrous controls available, so it was just easier to retrain myself.