Shooting with both eyes open

[sir_capt_bublinfearcin]

I have been firing sence i was 12 yrs old. About 2 yrs ago i got my first pistol. I have been a good shot with my rifle but a pistol seems to fell alot different. I was usually shoot with an eye shut, someone recommend that i start shoting with both eyes open and it would improve my shot. I would like to know if this is true and I would like to know some ways to do learn to shot with both eyes open.

 

[CoRoMo]

It can certainly help, but old habits die hard. Most shooters believe that this is proper technique, but some just can't get the hang of it and they continue to shoot very well with one eye.

One way you can begin is to put something on your shooting glasses to block the eye that you usually close. This will make it a bit more comfortable to keep that eye open. Use something totally opaque like electrical or masking tape, but every other range session or so, change the material to something that is less obscure; like Scotch Tape or a smear of Vaseline. Eventually, the goal is to be able to shoot with both eyes open, and it not be uncomfortable or bothersome at all.

 

[mcdonl]

And as many others say that the millitary (And others) still teach you to close your non dominant eye.

Personally, I struggled with both eyes open as I have some double vision issues. Granted, if I practiced enough I would get better at it and even resolve my issues perhaps. In theory it seems like both eyes open would be an advantage.

 

[J.Boyette]

It does not matter under range situations. So if you shoot matches, and just at the range who cares.

If you use a pistol / rifle for Self Defense (S.D.) its HUGE issue.

The point I want to leave you with is this, Why knock your field of view down by 50% deliberately?

During a S.D. situation, you will get hurt, you will have many things to work on, and with at that time. I will not limit myself just "because" and close one eye.

so with that, I will not train with just one eye.

John

 

[9mmepiphany]

I'm surprise you didn't learn to shoot your rifle with both eyes open...do you usually shoot with an mounted optic? Almost all Olympic shooters shoot their open sighted rifles with both eyes open as it reduces the strain of closing one eye...what they do is usually obscure their vision through the non-aiming eye with tape on their glasses.

Your closing an eye might be adding that same stress to your handgun shooting. I shoot with both eyes open, I just look through my dominate eye and ignore the image through my other eye

 

[Varob]

When I first started shooting pistols, I shot one eyed, then when I started shooting moving targets, I found keeping both eyes open greatly improved my accuracy and speed.

Maybe what someone told you is true. Give it a try.

 

[sir_capt_bublinfearcin]

Shooting with both eyes open does seem to a better way to shoot and I would not be against learning how. However, the few times i have practiced i get double vision on either the sights or the target. I did try one method where that didnt happen but I do not remember what I did.

As for why i didnt learn to shoot that way, well my grandfather was the one who taught me to shoot. He a former marine and thats how he showed me. I am not going to claim to be a great marksmen but when I shot with a rifle I hit generally where I am aiming. When I generally I mean with a grouping that is only roughly 4 to 6 inches at 150 to 200 ft. I almost always shot with just open sights. I dont practice that often anymore. When I did practice it was still not very often. I do want to improve my marksmenship, so any advice is appreciated.

 

[Chris Rhines]

Shooting with both eyes open is the better way to go, but it's something you have to practice at. In essence, you have to train your brain to ignore the double images caused by focusing on a close object.

-C

 

[Deanimator]

I've tried shooting handgun with both eyes open. It doesn't work for me so I've moved on.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I think this one is better suited to Handguns/General than S&T, since the OP discusses general aspects of handgun shooting. Moved...

lpl

 

[WNTFW]

Sir Capt,
The benefits of 2 eyes.
The 3 biggest reasons I cant think of off the top of my head are:
1 - Situational awareness, field of view & depth perception (which I lump together)
2 - Moving targets (shotgunning can prove this)
3 - Low Light - this is the easiest to prove if you have a condition when the lighting is marginal. 1 eye will produce spotty hits & 2 will give way more consistent hits.

I can take a while to break out of what you are used to. Dryfire, air rifle & .22lr help without breaking the bank. Sit there with a full brick of .22 and keep at it.

Being able to shoot either handed or either eye could come in handy in some dire situation. I at least know how bad I am at it.

I do find I revert to what works for me at the time. Sometimes I close my eye more, sometimes less.

 

[hogcowboy]

Are ya'll saying a person that shoots shotgun with both eyes open, should be able to shoot rifle and handgun with both open as well? Hasn't worked for me. Maybe I should try harder but I just can't seem to aim with both eyes open.

 

[9mmepiphany]

That is because you are trying to look through both eyes at the same time. Practice focusing with only your dominate eye

 

[john5036]

I can't speak to rifles as I'm not what I feel to be a proficient shooter of them yet. I can speak a little to pistols and what worked for me.

YMMV.

I deal with an interesting obstacle as I'm left-eye dominant, yet a right-handed shooter. The extra lean is something I don't wish to do either. Here's what I do to try and overcome, and yes, it's annoying at times, until I threw precision out, and focused instead on center-of-mass. CHL instructors, and other security types are saying that most SD situations are now beginning within 3-5yds. Precision is not quite the order of day if you train with that info in mind.

If you are going for precision, using the one-eye method is what comes natural. For SD, using two eyes is pretty important. Efficiency in that high stress is what will be the deciding factor of the outcome, the practice required to attain that efficiency will yield precision as a byproduct.

For SD, instead of using the sights at first try to aim using the gun's silhouette on paper. This is by no means an exercise in accuracy, as it is in just making sure the gun becomes an extension of your physical movement/objectives, without compromising your peripheral vision. It's safe to say that in a SD situation it'll be more than one shot getting off, and you probably won't have the time to line up your sights using a single eye to get that single shot you hope will resolve the situation. So to keep both eyes open, and aim, aim with the X in mind, but your goal is to hit within COM consistently.

Along with proper standing technique, grip, and trigger technique...

Practice, practice, practice, practice... the better groups will come on their own.

 

[Mudinyeri]

I grew up mainly shooting rifles and shotguns. Occasionally, I would shoot my dad's Single Six. In my late teens I purchased a Ruger .256 Magnum - purely a target gun.

My first exposure to shooting semi-automatic handguns was in the Army. Initially, I was taught to close my non-dominant eye. Later I went through some more advanced Army training that taught me to shoot with both eyes open. That was more than 25 years ago.

Today, I shoot self-defense range handguns exclusively with both eyes open. Whenever I try to shoot with my non-dominant eye closed, my groups are as good but they're consistently low and left.

I also shoot some competitive trap. Both eyes open.

I can't imagine attempting to shoot moving targets or perform active shooting drills with only one eye open.

 

[handgunner308]

i grew up shooting with one eye closed... the reason they say to open both eyes i think is because when you have that one eye shut too long u start to lose focus and get uncomfterble and vision starts to get blurry because your trying to keep the eye shutfor too long and it all messes up with your form.
both eyes open does no real change, your dominant eye will still take over, if your those shooters who are opposites meaning u shoot righty but is left eyed dominant then this will make accuracy worse i think since the alignment wont be right holding a gun right handed with a left eye being more dominant doing the aiming.
theres no real right way just how you feel is more comfterble. some ppl put tape over the weak eye on the saftey glasses but shoot with both eyes open, has the same effect of closing one eye but since your not trying to keep that eye closed your not getting uncomfterble and messed up with form trying to keep the eye closed.
try going both eyes open see if its better, try putting tape over the eye you normally close on your saftey glasses and keep both eyes open, try it all and see witch is best. normally guys at the range who gives these tips think they are right that there way of shooting is best but really they just have too big of a ego, just do what is most comfterble for you. dont let a range master boss u into doing it their way. all the time i get told by them all to do it their way but im like, my way is more comfterble for me just let me be gosh!
well it never hurts to try it their way but if it isnt working for you try somtin else or go back to what you were doing. just because a size 10 shoe fits you dosnt mean it will fit me, thats the idea im trying to get across here. just play with all the ideas here and learn from every idea and belief about how ppl think is best and manipulate it to work with you.

 

[Fastcast]

Switched to both eyes open years ago....It takes a little practice but once you figure it out (or your eyes figure it out) you'll never go back to one closed....IMO

 

[QUICK_DRAW_McGRAW]

rifle's and handguns both eyes open even with a scope.

 

[scandmx5]

i want to practice this next time i go to the range. i've always shot every gun the one-eyed way. i noticed yesterday at the range, after i shot my magazine load, i literally had to stand there and blink a few times and refocus to see exactly where my holes were. i'm wondering if it's my eyes or trying to focus with just one under that artificial light source.

 

[mcdonl]

Personally, I struggled with both eyes open as I have some double vision issues. Granted, if I practiced enough I would get better at it and even resolve my issues perhaps. In theory it seems like both eyes open would be an advantage.

So, how many of you find yourself thinking of THR posts while doing other things in life?

So, today I was at the eye doctors to get my checkup and to pick up some contacts again. We discussed this quite a bit, and it turns out my (early onset) of double vision is because one of my eyes tends to have a mind of it's own and does not come automatically to the same focal point as the other eye. She showed me a couple of excersizes like pencil pushups I can do to resolve this. She even indicated that bringing the gun up and focusing on the sights instead of a pencil may help more.

I will give this a try. Sunday, I am shooting pistol with both eyes open.

 

[hAkron]

The way I was able to do it was to first determine which wad my dominant eye. An easy way to do this is to find a fixed point 8 to 10 feet away, like a door knob or something. Hold your index finger straight up at arm's length and 'block' the fixed point with your finger, just do it quickly. Now close your left eye. Then open it and close your right eye. Whichever open eye has your finger closest to the fixed point is your dominant eye. Now that you have that established, get whichever Hand gun you have that has the easiest to see sights. Make sure it's unloaded then have somebody else also make sure it's unloaded, then check one more time that its unloaded. Find a good fixed point to aim at, even a penny taped to the wall works. With both eyes open hold the unloaded gun out in front of you like you are lining up a shot. Now slowly turn your head so only your dominant eye is able to focus on the sights. This is a great time to do some dry fire practice. After a few hours/days/whatever you can start bringing your head back to straight ahead. You WILL see two images of the target, but you should only see 1 image of the front sight and that is where you should be looking anyway. After doing that for a short time you will recognize which of the two images your dominant eye sees

 

[cfullgraf]

I understand that shooting with both eyes open is more desirable but I Have to shoot hand gun and rifle with one eye closed.

I shoot skeet with a small patch, actually a piece of frosted tape, covering my left eye and both eyes open. It allows me to pick up the target better then my left eye is obscured as I sight down the barrel.

 

[mes227]

I've always shot with both eyes open. A few years ago I had laser surgery and one eye is "set" at distance and the other close up so I don't need separate reading glasses. After a short time of getting used to this this "mono vision" felt and feels natural. But on the range I've been wondering lately if I should start closing my "near" eye and have been experimenting with it. The other challenge is that my strong hand is my right and my distance eye is my right, which means I have a bit of trouble focusing on or bringing into clear view the sights with my right eye, and can't possibly see the target with my left.

 

[JohnL]

The loss of monovision is forcing me to retrain myself.

I had monovision with contacts for about 15 years. When I learned to shoot handguns, shooting with both eyes open came naturally. It is how I looked at everything.

For a multitude of reasons, I have been changed to distance vision in both eyes for a while, if not permanently. I hadn't been to a range in years and my return was cut short when I found that my world was suddenly doubled.

Out of stubbornness, I refused to close an eye and concentrated on the blurry silhouette on the right. With the M&P, I at least stayed on center mass. With the S&W 66...I will be fine should a barn door ever break into my house.

I'm walking around the house with a pair of safety glasses with one lens vaselined. I sit around following the dog's laser with my eye.

Maybe it is time for Lasik.

 

[jiminhobesound]

Both eyes one eye

Shot my first pheasant at eight with a side by side, shot my first deer at eleven with a rem. 722 in .257 with open sights. Shotgun, because it was snapshooting, I think both eyes open. I could never get comfortable with a rifle, open sights or scope, with both eyes open. I shoot a handgun with both eyes open because I draw or raise the gun point and shoot. After initial sighting in of a defensive pistol I was taught to simulate a "combat" situation when practicing. While in the Navy they tried to get me to keep both eyes open with Garand, Thompson, Grease gun, riot gun and 1911. Only worked with the 1911 and I felt very uncomfortable with keeping both eyes open with the others.