Shooting for the blind....

[BigBlock]

My 4 legged body guard passed away last week, so I'm buying some guns. I used to shoot a lot of high power BB guns when I was a kid, but haven't tried to aim anything for several years. I'm right handed and left eyed, and I also have worse vision in my dominant eye than the other. (20/30 and 20/40) I know I'm going to need lots of practice to be any good...and the question is, how should I practice?

Should I shoot left handed and use my dominant eye? Or right handed and use the eye with better vision? Naturally I automatically go right handed/right eyed whenever I pick up a rifle, if I try to hold it left handed it doesn't feel right.

Also, I've read about shooting with both eyes open, but when I try that I can't see the front sight at all...just kind of a smudge where it should be. Am I doing something wrong, or is this something I just can't do?

Maybe I should just get a laser...

 

[323D3F3C!7$]

Well according to a manual I was reading by the army, they suggest shooting lefty if you are left eye dominant. Of course this was a sniper manual so I'm not sure if it's applicable or not. Number one suggestion though, buy some glasses

 

[harvester of sorrow]

Shooting handguns with cross dominance isn't an issue at all. Just shoot with your strong hand and turn your head to allow your dominant eye to line up the sights. If you're shooting a rifle with iron sights, I would recommend shooting left handed to accomodate that eye, but if you just can't do that, a red dot sight would allow you to keep both eyes open.

 

[SoCalShooter]

My suggestion is get a shotgun, load it with 00 buck and you got nothing to worry about.

 

[Safety First]

I am right handed and continue to shoot pistols right handed but aim with my left eye, it really is not a problem to do so....rifle shooting is a horse of another color. good luck....

 

[1911 guy]

Two eyes, shotguns and focus.

Use two eyes. If you ever need to fire a shot in self defense, you're going to have tunnel vision anyway. Why handicap your vision even further? Train correctly now.

I'll discuss focus now instead of later. When the front sight is blurry, the target is likey in focus for you. You need to switch your focus to the front sight. The target is much bigger, not going anywhere on a shooting range and your eyes will center the front sight in the "blurr" with just a little effort.

Now shotguns. They may pose a problem for you, being cross dominant. A handgun may indeed be your better bet for several reasons. Among those reasons is the accuracy required to use one effectively. The "point in the general direction" thing is false. At Self defense distances, your pattern won't be much bigger than bore diameter. Look at the bore of a shotgun, about .7" for a 12ga. Now look down your hallway. It's not much bigger down there, either.

 

[2TransAms]

Your vision shouldn't be an issue...wear contacts. My right eye is 20/80 and my left eye is 20/90. I test better than 20/20 in both eyes when I wear my contacts. Can't help ya with the dominant eye thing though.

 

[2TransAms]

I know I'm going to need lots of practice to be any good...

That's true no matter how your eyes are.

...and the question is, how should I practice?

Take a basic course to learn proper technique. Then pester the old coots with 1911s and old revolvers. They'll have a thing or two to show ya.