I shoot right, had lasik done years ago but then I scratched my right eye bad and basically unrepairable. I'd like to try to learn to shoot lefty so I'd have good vision. When I spot w only one eye open I get blurry vision from squinting I guess, always have. I can shoot both eyes open righty. So far I can seem to close my right and keep my left open without covering it with my hand but then first blink its open again. Was thinking the shooting glasses with right side blurred? Any ideas?
Eye dominance, switching righty to lefty
- Thread starter robbor
- Start date
I shoot with both eyes open. I feel it is better because I can see things better. I can watch through my scope with my left eye and watch flags with my right. Also when hunting I can pull up the gun and the scope is on target. Matt
praveen
Administrator
I had to go through a similar thing in 2015 for a few matches. What I discovered was that I had to 'reset' my eyes after taking every shot otherwise the strain would be too much to shoot properly. However, as time passed I did start to get used to it. If you can shoot with both eyes open (with or without shooting glasses with one side dark), that would indeed be the best.
I made the switch a few years ago and never looked back. I am severely left eye dominate and shot everything right handed therefore I was forced to close my left eye. That led to a lot of eye fatigue and uncertainty about what I could really do with no eye problems. Well one day I just decided to make the switch and it was the best decision ever. No more eye fatigue, I shoot just as well, clear sight picture, can shoot one eye open or both eyes open, and all my old right handed bad habits were gone. One thing I can tell you is that once you make the switch, stay committed.
BountyHunter
Gold $$ Contributor
this will work and the brain automatically compensates to the other eye.
As a left eye dominant left handed person, I pretty much grew up ambidextrous only because it is a right handed world. I shoot a bow left handed, and a rifle left handed, however when I started shooting bullseye many moons ago, i found I could shoot equally well with either right or left hands. When shooting my first league, i had to choose a hand and stick with it, and for a reason that escapes me to this day, I choose right handed.
To resolve the eyestrain, I keep my left eye open, but block my left eye with a hinged black circle that clips to my left lense of my glasses. with both eyes open, my right eye get the attention it needs from my brain, and my scores are much improved over using my left eye, and eyestrain is minimal.
You can make the switch, just do it
MQ1
Infrequent Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
my right eye is becoming weaker so I have to increase my eyeglass magnification. My left eye is pretty good. I am considering left hand bolt gun for less dialing on scope rear diopter. target shooting mainly. And I am left eye dominant. Your thoughts?
Up until I was 25 years old, I shot right handed. I was right eye dominant and solidly right handed. I don't mind saying, I was a damn fine shot! In January 1975 I suffered a fairly serious injury to my right hand (sawmill related) which rendered it virtually useless for many years, so when I got out of the hospital in late March, I started shooting left-handed. There were two things which became immediately apparent. First, it was going to take a little time to get my eyes to work right. Second, my left shoulder was recoil sensitive! I put aside the hard kickers and stuck to the 22 and 6mm for a while. I shot a lot and by fall I was finally starting to think left handed and my eyes were working fairly well. I never have reached the point that my left eye is truly dominant but they are roughly equal. I shoot with both eyes open and see with both. If shooting with iron sights, I do better if I blur the right eye. I felt like my left eye might have been gaining ground a few years back but cataract surgery seemed to mess that up and my eyes are back to a balanced rivalry! I never did get as good as I was when I was right handed, but then I have never been that young again either!
I think it was in 1976 that Remington brought out the left handed version of the 700. I though this was excellent timing and rushed into town to have a look. It felt good enough when I shouldered it, but I was so awkward when I tried working the bolt, I thought it was likely I might put my eye out with my thumb! To this day, I have never owned a left-handed rifle. I came close a few years back but didn't do it.
Interestingly enough, in about 1999, I think, I built a 6BR (on a Model 70) for an old friend and, to test it, I entered my first "F" class match. The stock featured a right handed stock which was unusable left handed. By this time, my right hand, though misshapen and compromised, at least had a somewhat functional trigger finger. I shot that day right handed and was first at the end of the day. Of course, this was firing off a bipod and not having to really hold the rifle normally. I wisely skipped the second day so as to not spoil the moment! Today, I continue to shoot off the left shoulder and am comfortable with it. As far as eye dominance is concerned, I just don't worry about it. 75 year old eyes kind of suck anyway! WH
I think it was in 1976 that Remington brought out the left handed version of the 700. I though this was excellent timing and rushed into town to have a look. It felt good enough when I shouldered it, but I was so awkward when I tried working the bolt, I thought it was likely I might put my eye out with my thumb! To this day, I have never owned a left-handed rifle. I came close a few years back but didn't do it.
Interestingly enough, in about 1999, I think, I built a 6BR (on a Model 70) for an old friend and, to test it, I entered my first "F" class match. The stock featured a right handed stock which was unusable left handed. By this time, my right hand, though misshapen and compromised, at least had a somewhat functional trigger finger. I shot that day right handed and was first at the end of the day. Of course, this was firing off a bipod and not having to really hold the rifle normally. I wisely skipped the second day so as to not spoil the moment! Today, I continue to shoot off the left shoulder and am comfortable with it. As far as eye dominance is concerned, I just don't worry about it. 75 year old eyes kind of suck anyway! WH
Forum Boss
Administrator
What Firearms are you shooting, and what disciplines?
I am right-handed, but left-eye dominant. For pistol shooting I simply tilt the gun a little bit counter-clockwise to the left. Works fine.
For trap shotgun shooting I had to learn to shoot lefty shoulder.
With scoped rifles which i shoot right-handed my brain would adjust with right eye looking. But with your injury you should consider shooting lefty or with a scope mount that moves the entire optic over to the left. This has been covered in the Bulletin.
I am right-handed, but left-eye dominant. For pistol shooting I simply tilt the gun a little bit counter-clockwise to the left. Works fine.
For trap shotgun shooting I had to learn to shoot lefty shoulder.
With scoped rifles which i shoot right-handed my brain would adjust with right eye looking. But with your injury you should consider shooting lefty or with a scope mount that moves the entire optic over to the left. This has been covered in the Bulletin.
Toms
Silver $$ Contributor
Make a blinder from milk carton or ice cream carton. Pear shaped with opening in small side to attach to eye piece. It will let the light in and won't cause eyes to fatigue unlike a black blinder. Hope this helps. Toms.
Black or White depends on the major color of your target and the ambient light...you want it to be as equal as possible. Your eyes will let you know which is best for the given situation.
MQ1
I shoot right handed, but am left eye dominant. So you can see the problem with that...
I retrained myself to shoot with both eyes open about 20 years ago, because there's no way I'm shooting left handed.
Both eyes open also has its advantages. Glad I made the switch.
I retrained myself to shoot with both eyes open about 20 years ago, because there's no way I'm shooting left handed.
Both eyes open also has its advantages. Glad I made the switch.
One Eye Pete
Gold $$ Contributor
I’m a hopelessly right handed person, there isn’t too much that I can do well lefty. When I was a teenager I used to shoot a BB gun. One day I held the gun up and couldn’t see the bead at the end of the barrel with my right eye. The diagnosis was keratoconus. Since that time and even after a cornea transplant I have been pretty much legally blind in my right eye.
Fortunately that didn’t stop me from shooting. Today in my 70s I’m still a decent shot. I shoot mostly club level F-Class matches and I have been able to achieve a long and mid range high master rating. I tried every possible method of shooting a rifle right handed using my left eye and found a pretty simple solution that works really well. Almost all of my rifles have an adjustable cheek piece. What I do is remove the cheek piece itself and attach a flat plate to the adjustable cheek piece hardware. Then I mount my scope using high or extra high rings. This allows me to rest my chin on the middle of the plate and line my left eye up with the scope. I adjust the height of the plate so that I have to raise my chin ever so slightly from the plate and take the weight of my head off the gun as I pull the trigger. The other advantage to this method is that when waiting between shots for the wind or whatever it reduces neck fatigue. The use of an adjustable but plate also helps me tailor the rifle to my shooting style.
If you ask me whether or not I shoot both eyes open or not I guess my answer would be it really doesn’t make a difference to me. At one point I used to put a patch over my right eye but I got away from that practice. What does matter is that I have to make sure the upper part of the left lens in my shooting glasses doesn’t get smudged or it makes it look like my scope fogged up.
Below is a picture of two of my target rifles as I have them set up for shooting righty using my left eye.
Fortunately that didn’t stop me from shooting. Today in my 70s I’m still a decent shot. I shoot mostly club level F-Class matches and I have been able to achieve a long and mid range high master rating. I tried every possible method of shooting a rifle right handed using my left eye and found a pretty simple solution that works really well. Almost all of my rifles have an adjustable cheek piece. What I do is remove the cheek piece itself and attach a flat plate to the adjustable cheek piece hardware. Then I mount my scope using high or extra high rings. This allows me to rest my chin on the middle of the plate and line my left eye up with the scope. I adjust the height of the plate so that I have to raise my chin ever so slightly from the plate and take the weight of my head off the gun as I pull the trigger. The other advantage to this method is that when waiting between shots for the wind or whatever it reduces neck fatigue. The use of an adjustable but plate also helps me tailor the rifle to my shooting style.
If you ask me whether or not I shoot both eyes open or not I guess my answer would be it really doesn’t make a difference to me. At one point I used to put a patch over my right eye but I got away from that practice. What does matter is that I have to make sure the upper part of the left lens in my shooting glasses doesn’t get smudged or it makes it look like my scope fogged up.
Below is a picture of two of my target rifles as I have them set up for shooting righty using my left eye.
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hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
well i have alot in common with you. Im 68 and have always had eye problems. Had cataract surgery prob 8 years ago but still have kerataconus in my right (shooting eye
Its interesting you say cornea transplant did not help much. I can see the dot pretty well in a 32x and up NF scope still but there are times i lose it. It helps that i know where its at also with a reticle like the NP2dd and the heavier outter crosshairs. I wore gas permeable contacts for years before the cataract surgery. didnt really need them for my left eye after cataract surgery and have used a soft lense in my right eye which helps some. Irons with a rifle i can see a little using dollar store readers. with pistol i can shift my head a little and easily use my left eye. Thanks for the info. I will try some form of your method.
Hello,
I dont know if this will apply in you case but I will tell you what happened to me. I got hit in my right eye with a piece of pvc pipe. It caused my dominate eye to switch to my left eye unknown to me. I went to the eye doctor and he checked my eyes as my right eye had a flat spot where the pipe had hit it. That caused a mirror image like when your camera is not quit in focus. My eye doctor didnt know what to do. He sent me home and called me the next day and asked me to come back in. He put a contact lens in my eye with no precription and told me to blink a couple of times. When I blinked they eye cleared right up the split image went away. The contact lens once filled with tear filled the void of the flat spot went away. Might be worth a try.
Mark
I am like you right handed but very much left eye dominate due to severe astigmatism in my right eye. I taught myself to shoot lefty. Not easy not cheap a bit slow to pick up the target but it works
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