• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Has anyone had to change your shooting hand?

MrK.

Or in this case shooting eye. I am a typical righty, buttstock on my right shoulder, right eye on the scope. I am left eye dominant however. I underwent cataract surgery back in February and the difference in my vision was amazing afterwards. A week ago Thursday I noticed vision in my right (scope) eye was suddenly blurry with several floaters. I got back into the eye Dr. Monday morning. He determined that I had a small tear in my retina. Apparently this is not to uncommon after eye surgery especially with patients who are getting long in the tooth. Urgent laser surgery to basically "glue" down the edges of the tear was prescribed to keep the retina from completely detaching. This was successfully done this past Thursday. Both the laser surgeon and my eye Dr. believe that the blurriness will eventually fade and it already has done so mostly. I have lost some peripheral vision at the bottom however. During the interim I couldn't help but wonder if the laser surgery failed to fix the tear or went completely awry how hard would it be to swap sides of the gun and shoot lefty. I know that some people have done it by choice because of eye dominance. Not sure if anyone decided to do when 67 years old though.

Oh and... having a laser shot into your eye a couple of hundred time hurts like hell.
 
I used to shoot high power with a guy who had to switch to his left eye and found iron sights that allowed him to use hios left eye and shoot right handed. Wouldn't think it would be hard to cantelever a scope to do the same.
 
I am left-handed, right eye dominant. I shoot a pistol left-handed and a rifle right-handed.

I had to change my pistol shooting eye from left to right while still shooting right-handed due to an eye health issue. It took some experimentation and practice, but I somewhat mastered the change enough that I can shoot on the average in the Sharpshooter skill area with an occasional Expert score.

Since I don't compete anymore, I am satisfied with this level of performance for informal recreational shooting in my late 70's with open sights shooting revolvers.

The most important element I discovered in this change over was finding the correct stance to produce a natural point of aim. If you don't master that, no amount of practice or equipment will yield good performance.
 
In process as we speak. When I was 7 my uncle noticed I was left eye dominant and switched me over to shoot left handed. Worked great. I shoot a long gun left handed, bow and pool left handed, otherwise right handed. 52 years later I had considerable scar damage in my left eye, from diabetes. Laser surgery didn't help so the drill and vacuum was used. That was about October. It still isn't very good, but I suppose it could have been worse....I'm pretty sure my left hand Matthew's will have to hit the road.

Most of my custom rifles are LH, and all of my rifles store boughten are RH. The urge to throw the shotgun up on the left side is pretty strong. Muscle memory I think....I'm going to put in a lot of trigger time this summer and hope something works out. I think repetition is about the only fix to this.

Sorry for the long rambling post...
 
I remember vaguely...... It might have been Medesha....... Checked the website and found a listing..... might be able to do the same for a scope.

 
Last edited:
MrK. said:
Or in this case shooting eye. I am a typical righty, buttstock on my right shoulder, right eye on the scope. I am left eye dominant however. I underwent cataract surgery back in February and the difference in my vision was amazing afterwards. A week ago Thursday I noticed vision in my right (scope) eye was suddenly blurry with several floaters. I got back into the eye Dr. Monday morning. He determined that I had a small tear in my retina. Apparently this is not to uncommon after eye surgery especially with patients who are getting long in the tooth. Urgent laser surgery to basically "glue" down the edges of the tear was prescribed to keep the retina from completely detaching. This was successfully done this past Thursday. Both the laser surgeon and my eye Dr. believe that the blurriness will eventually fade and it already has done so mostly. I have lost some peripheral vision at the bottom however. During the interim I couldn't help but wonder if the laser surgery failed to fix the tear or went completely awry how hard would it be to swap sides of the gun and shoot lefty. I know that some people have done it by choice because of eye dominance. Not sure if anyone decided to do when 67 years old though.

Oh and... having a laser shot into your eye a couple of hundred time hurts like hell.
Click to expand...
I've been going through a very similar thing since my cataract surgery back in September. In talking to the doctor before surgery, the goal to to see various distance, but may need reading glasses for very small print. Multifocal lenses were implanted. Apparently the wrong power lens's were implanted as I've got great vision for reading, but everything beyond 5 ft is not good . . . and I've got some double vision. After the recommended 3 month wait to let the eyes settle down and the brain to adjust, according to the doc, had some laser work to remove tissue (like scar tissue) from the edges of the lenses (all the laser work gave no pain, as the doc put numbing drops in the eyes). . .there was no issues regarding my retina. That was to help with the double vision (double vision being like looking at a streetlight post and one is very clear with another next to it looing more like a shadow). The distance between the two images gets further apart the further the distance. Since the laser treatment made things only marginally better, they had me try a contact lens in one eye to see if that helped with distance. It did and now I'm scheduled for Lasik surgery in two days for my dominate eye. They don't want to do the higher risk surgery to replace the wrong powered lenses if things can be corrected with Lasik. . .mainly because of my age (77) and having CLL (a form of leukemia that has been stable. . . . for now).

It's great to be able to read down to very small print without glasses and aiming with an hand gun is great where I can see the pistol sights really well. But looking through a scope isn't so clear, no matter how I adjust the ocular lens. So, I haven't been shooting my rifles much since the cataract surgery because of that frustration.

Since Lasik is only being done on my dominate eye (the right eye) to give me better far vision, I might leave the left eye alone for reading and shooting pistols. And hopefully the Lasik will solve the distance vision issue. I still think it's going to take some time to really sort it all out.
 
I practice shooting left handed once in a while, and it was mandatory on some 3 gun stages. It isn't my most stable shooting but with practice, I think I could do okay.
 
I had to go from left to right shooting a bow and right to left shooting a rifle due to a broken shoulder. Pretty easy adjustment but slow to feel comfortable doing either. Not an eye issue tho. It was only for one season but I now shoot right handed using my compound and returned to left handed with my traditional bows.
 
That eye surgery sounds miserable. I do not deal well with unusual discomfort and medical procedures and that would probably require some sedation to keep me in one piece.

I am right handed and left eye dominant.

I started shooting lefty a couple years ago simply to take advantage of my better left eye and to support the rifle offhand using my stronger right arm. Mine was not an urgent process. I’m happy I did change.

I suggest starting with a scope that has a generous eyebox, because it takes time to get comfortable sighting and struggling to find the eyebox is really distracting. Also don’t set your trigger too light because my left trigger finger just isn’t as coordinated and able to hold on a very light break without occasionally letting off the shot early.

My only rifle so far that has a true left hand action is a match air rifle. I have not had to cycle a bolt action left handed yet but I suspect that’s not a big deal.

The other basic for me is lining up the shot. Might as well figure out your most comfortable shooting position behind a bench, seated, standing, and then jot down your foot position, take mental note of how far you’re looking over your shoulder, etc.

David
 
I am right handed, left eye dominant. Worst part is my right eye strength is very weak and I almost use up all the ocular adjustment. I recently bought a L handed bolt rifle. I am going to try it and see how it does. I shoot my handguns right handed. Not too difficult w either eye, or both eyes open. But mostly, I am just shooting at short range, paper targets.
 
A cousin of mine was on the Marine Corps Rifle team after Korea until he retired in 1960. He fought 2 wars as a left handed shooter. The OIC of the rifle team told him that he would start shooting from the right side or he would no longer be on the team. In 1956 he earned his Distinguished Rifle Badge and 1957 he earned his Distinguished Pistol Badge.
 
I would urge anyone with cataract surgery that failed to perform to get another opinion from another knowledgeable source. I had both eyes done and both were successful. However for some reason, the left eye (none shooting eye) went sour after the 1-2nd followup visit. The doctor kept referring to retina folds and our last conversation was about scar tissue (which was an diagnosis from the right eye). I quit him and got all my records and went somewhere else who performed a yaw laser procedure and fixed the left eye. Another guy from the club has quit for some 4-5 years due to his shooting eye being screwed up. He has then had it fixed and back shooting again. Found out we had the same initial doctor. I don't think these guys are holding up to their end of the doctrine and just abandoning the patients. I guess they are learning from the auto dealerships service departments.
 
I'm afraid I am in this boat if I want to shoot this year, I had my right shoulder replaced5 weeks ago and even though it is progressing well the season starts in a month around here and I'm worried I will not be ready unless I switch sides.
 
52 years ago, I mangled my right hand in a sawmill mishap. There was no question that I would have to start shooting left-handed so, I did. There were a couple of surprises. It never occurred to me that my left shoulder would be sensitive to recoil. It was. It took a couple months to get to where I could shoot with both eyes open again.
Just after I had healed up pretty well, Remington came out with their left-hand 700. I figured to buy one right away but, when I tried one, I felt so awkward manipulating the bolt that I stayed with right-hand rifles.
While I was convalescing, the Workmans Comp Board asked what I wanted to do for work, going forward, since I would no longer be able to do manual labor. I said a machinist course would be nice. They said I wouldn't be able to do that since I was essentially one-handed. I taught myself and started gunsmithing professionally a couple of years later (it had been a hobby since I was fifteen). I became a journeyman machinist on my own as well.
About ten years after my injury, I damaged my left shoulder in a motorcycle crash. I was unable to switch back, so just had to wait it out. Today, I could shoot a rifle right-handed, with some difficulty, if I had to, but not a pistol. WH
 
MrK. said:
Or in this case shooting eye. I am a typical righty, buttstock on my right shoulder, right eye on the scope. I am left eye dominant however. I underwent cataract surgery back in February and the difference in my vision was amazing afterwards. A week ago Thursday I noticed vision in my right (scope) eye was suddenly blurry with several floaters. I got back into the eye Dr. Monday morning. He determined that I had a small tear in my retina. Apparently this is not to uncommon after eye surgery especially with patients who are getting long in the tooth. Urgent laser surgery to basically "glue" down the edges of the tear was prescribed to keep the retina from completely detaching. This was successfully done this past Thursday. Both the laser surgeon and my eye Dr. believe that the blurriness will eventually fade and it already has done so mostly. I have lost some peripheral vision at the bottom however. During the interim I couldn't help but wonder if the laser surgery failed to fix the tear or went completely awry how hard would it be to swap sides of the gun and shoot lefty. I know that some people have done it by choice because of eye dominance. Not sure if anyone decided to do when 67 years old though.

Oh and... having a laser shot into your eye a couple of hundred time hurts like hell.
Click to expand...
Two of the best LR bench shooters I know, one pretty young, due to similar problems had to switch. Sold their rifles, built new LH and just kept on winning. One of them was older than you when it happened. Its up to you.
 
1/2” riser blocks, JPROS 45 deg. offset bases. Standard tall rings.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2342.jpeg
    IMG_2342.jpeg
    476.8 KB · Views: 9
 
Albany Mountain said:
I would urge anyone with cataract surgery that failed to perform to get another opinion from another knowledgeable source. I had both eyes done and both were successful. However for some reason, the left eye (none shooting eye) went sour after the 1-2nd followup visit. The doctor kept referring to retina folds and our last conversation was about scar tissue (which was an diagnosis from the right eye). I quit him and got all my records and went somewhere else who performed a yaw laser procedure and fixed the left eye. Another guy from the club has quit for some 4-5 years due to his shooting eye being screwed up. He has then had it fixed and back shooting again. Found out we had the same initial doctor. I don't think these guys are holding up to their end of the doctrine and just abandoning the patients. I guess they are learning from the auto dealerships service departments.
Click to expand...
I actually did go to two other doctors and got their feedback after they examined my eyes extensively. While they didn't comment on the initial doctors work, their assessment of the problem was such that I sure wasn't going back to the doctor that performed the lens implants (putting in lenses of the wrong prescription/power). I guess the good news is with all the examination being done is that my eye's pressures and the retina's are in very good shape. I'll soon see how tomorrows Lasik treatment goes. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
164,918
Messages
2,186,660
Members
78,591
Latest member
Danpsl

Share This Page

Back
Top