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Both eyes open.

Is it possible for eye dominance to switch? I used to be right, shot with both eye's open.. After a few yrs I got where I couldnt shoot with both eye's open anymore. Then after playing around I found my left eye is dominate.. I'm so used to trying to look down the sights with my right eye, but if I do that now I cant hit a thing. If I go to my left I hit dead on every time.. I'm not used to it, so it takes time to find my sights. If I close one eye ( I can do both equally well ) I have no trouble at all.. Open eye's I can only use my left eye, and I shoot with my right hand ( being as I'm right handed )..

My dominate eye is not very dominate. I have to blink my left eye sometimes to reacquire a good focus on my front site.

Left-handed, left eye dominant. Coming from rifle/hunting background, I always (I think) close my right eye, never really thought about it. Am I hearing that I should work towards keeping both eyes open?

SlowDave wrote:Left-handed, left eye dominant. Coming from rifle/hunting background, I always (I think) close my right eye, never really thought about it. Am I hearing that I should work towards keeping both eyes open?

SlowDave,
I have always shot with one eye closed, after listening to the GunTalkRadio show, I tried it with both eyes, it took some taking to train the eyes, it was like looking at those pictures when you see nothing.. then after staring you see a picture ..

But, now I shoot right on target, I've only been shooting 20 yards, but wow what a difference.. I have a Ruger LCP, waiting on my CHL..

BAT

Crossfire wrote:Both of the Crossfires are cross-dominant (I guess that's appropriate, right?) Marty is right hand /left eye, and I am left hand /right eye.

Wouldn't ya just know it?

I'm right-eye dominant, right handed; keep both eyes open with handguns and any red-dot type optics. Generally close the left eye if using a standard, refractive scope with a fixed relief.

Both eyes, but my brain keeps wanting to close the left eye (I am right handed). I gotta keep practicing.

Well, it kind of depends on what I am shooting for. When practicing combat shooting, I almost always use both eyes open. When practicing for precision bulls eye shooting, I usually close my left eye (right handed and right eyed dominant).

When training officers, I have used the eye patch trick to show them how eye dominance works. We usually teach both eyes open for pistols, but the cross dominance comes up with rifles and sometimes with shotguns. And, the eye patch over the eye that is opposite the control works then (left eye blocked for right handed shooters, etc). I have found that with long guns, more people seem to instinctively want to close one eye and cross dominant shooters have the most problems doing so.

Right handed, right eye dominant, both eyes open.

It took a little practice to use a scope both eyes open, but it helps you acquire the target faster and and allows you a greater field of view.

Crossfire wrote:Canting the gun to bring it to the correct eye, and slightly moving the head to line up the eye to the gun are both ways of compensating for this.

Left-eyed / right-handed here, and this is what I do.

I extend my right arm across my body (towards my left shoulder) and tuck my chin into my right shoulder. This allows me to keep both eyes open (more realistic and practical for an emergency situation) and naturally aim with my left eye. The right tricep feels stretched similarly to the way my left arm feels in a golf backswing. After a few trips to the range, this is very comfortable and feels natural. Another benefit is that I'm presenting a smaller profile to my assailant as my stand almost resembles a baseball batter with an "open stance" focused on the pitcher.

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Keith B wrote:My nephew just got out of basic in the Air Force. He can't close one eye. He could shoot fine with both open, but the rules say they have to shoot with one eye. They ended up doing the pirate thing on him and putting a patch over one eye so he was shooting per their guidelines. He scored 47 out of 50.

As a side note, his Dad is cross-eye dominant and they allowed him to shoot that way when he went through basic years ago (probably just depends on the range master and TI.)

As AFCop stated earlier, there is no requirement in the Air Force to shoot with one eye; however, your nephew may have been told that for the purposes of the class. That is too bad. They will do the pirate thing, especially in basic training, due to the sheer numbers of people coming through and the fact that shooing while in BMT is actually considered "familiarization" and not "qualification". If they shoot a qualification score it counts as a qualification but the trainees are not held back if they don't qualifiy. As a matter of fact, the requirement to "pass" the weapons portion of BMT is to only get one, that's right ONE, round down range. As the Air Force has in the last few years become more "combat ready" minded, things are changing but this is still the case with firearms as of now. As of now, it is the resonsibility of the Combat Arms section at the individuals first duty station to ensure weapons qualifications. Hopefully, this will be changed soon but as of now, this is how it's done.

For those of you that don't know my history, I was an Air Force Security Forces member for most of my career then I went to Air Force Basic Military Training to be a Military Training Instructor (MTI)until I retired last October.