Right Handed/Left Eye Dominant Discussion

[lusciousXspot]

Any advice from anyone with this "unique" issue? Or maybe it's not that unique??

I'm right handed and very left eye dominant. When I shoot archery I shoot left handed. When I shoot trap I shoot right handed. Pistol-right handed. I have always shot F-Class right handed. Keeping my dominant eye closed during shooting is difficult for the duration needed for F-Class. I would put paper inside the lens of my eyewear to give me some relief-this worked but looked dumb. :-/

Today while dry firing in the living room my "coach/hubby" mentioned trying to shoot left handed. So I swapped everything around tonight on my first night out this year (that's another story) and did surprisingly well. Had to remind myself a few times why I was doing it "wrong" and stuck with it.

Just curious if anyone else has a better idea(s) or has been down this road before.

It was really nice being able to keep both of my eyes open during my quest for X's.

 

[hoverp]

Never squint!, always use some sort of vision block for the off eye. Squinting is bad juju for long periods.

Some use scotch tape on the off eye lens, others like me use a Highpower hat with a moveable blinder to sit in front of the off eye.

I , like you , am right handed and very left eye dominant, but I have never made the switch. Too unnatural for me. I shoot longbows right handed as well. Howard Hill was right handed and left eye dominant.

 

[Beau]

Eye dominance is a matter of degree. You will just have to figure out what works for you.

 

[TheBlueEyedBear]

I took the plunge years ago when learning to shoot trap. My mentor suggested switching to left-handed shooting after he determined I couldn't shoot well at all right-handed. Since the switch I did very well. Don't know if that was a result of the switch or from shooting 4 nights a week.

Now that I am in to rifle shooting and have some expensive rifles, I have them built in the right-handed configuration. If you decide to sell, the right-handed gun is much easier to sell; for the obvious reason. I use the RB/LP/bottom eject or Right eject configurations.

If you are truly left-eye-dominant I would switch now and get accustomed to the differences. In no time it will be second nature to you.

Good luck and good shooting.

 

[WillinDenver]

Same here, right Handed/Left Eye Dominant, but I've went another step. I had really bad vision, pop bottle glasses all my life, even in the military. Six years ago had lasik surgery. I had my right eye set to close, I can read little bitty print, and my left eye set to distance. It was called "mono surgery". My brain corrects for the difference. I love it, after being blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other eye for over 50 years.

I shoot my rifles right handed, both eyes open. I can see my target with my left eye and close up through the scope with my right eye. People don't believe me, I don't care, it's really cool. My scopes are adjusted a little off for most other people but it works for me.

The only problem I have is safety glasses, I have to ware them when I do things around the house, trim the grass, reload, hammer a nail. I don't mind at all.

Will

 

[BoydAllen]

I am right handed and left eyed, and shoot left handed, except with a pistol, but even though the pistol in in my right hand, It is pretty well centered on my body, because what little pistol shooting I do is two handed, and I am still sighting with my left eye. For any kind of rifle shooting where I do not have to support the rifle with my right hand, I prefer to use a rifle with an action that is anything but left bolt and port, preferring either a right right for varmint shooting (rested) or a left right for benchrest competition, where groups may require fast shooting while a condition holds. I am not a big fan of shooting using ones non dominant eye, with the other eye blocked, except where a shooter is so strongly handed that shooting from the other shoulder is too difficult. I am also not much in favor of buying guns that do not fit so that they will be easier to resell. I would rather invest in what fits me, and just keep it, rebarreling as needed.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

Luscious:
Have hubby buy all new left handed rifles for you. It's easier to train yourself to handle everything left handed than it is to struggle with shooting with the wrong eye.

Also, I don't think the "problem" is as unique as you think.

 

[tome]

different ..but the same..i lost most of the vision in my right eye..20/200 is whats left..after monkeying around with bent stocks..drop cut stocks..with none really working out well..if i was going to stay with the shooting sports,i had to make the switch and shoot left hand with my good eye ( 20/20 )..this was for both rifle and shotgun..learning to shoot shotgun lh and becoming competitive was by far the hardest..a lot of shells and a lot of practice. shooting a rifle amounted to practise and mussel memory mounting and working the different actions..instinctively ..as i did right handed..how did it work out..i don't think i'm as good with a shotgun as i was right handed..a round of 25 at skeet or trap is a cause to celebrate..with a rifle..as good or better than i was rh..i'm pleased with the results..this was the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in the late 60's..after all these years i find myself ambidextrous and almost as strong with my left arm as my right..a blessing in disguise

 

[Johnboy]

the only thing that comes to mine for me is to just put tape or black out the left lens of your safety glass.I too have the same deal as you but have no problem shooting right handed when shooting a rifel.I just shoot with both eyes open letting the left eye see what it wants to see.( scoped rifel only )when I shoot a pistol I had to close the left eye.now after taking a CWP class and taking a simple test to show me that I was left eyed dominant with my right hand.now I can shoot my pistol with both eyes open.all I do is that I push my pistol more to my left side.by doing this my left eye takes over and allowing me to use both eyes open.

sorry if I couldn't give out much for your rifel shooting.but hoped that what I learned for shooting a pistol with both eyes open did help.

 

[DaveWhite]

Same situation with me. the biggest hassle traditionally has been the limited offerings of firearms for left handers. I have always used a blinder on iron sights and scopes to force my right eye to work without closing off the left master eye. may explain my lackluster performance over the years...

I suppose if I had had access to a left-handed Anschutz as a junior, I would probably be shooting as a southpaw to this day. Instead I am still using blinders on my scopes (irons went away with the middle age onset of prespiopia (sp?).

good luck with that!

 

[fr3db3ar]

I'm sure it's harder when you're used to doing it one way. I noticed right away that my niece was left eye dominent when she was trying to wrap her head over top of the comb

So I just switched her right over to left handed and she shoots like a pro right away with few bad habits.

She can easily centerpunch a clay @ 100 with my 223. She kept that as a trophy

 

[Forum Boss]

I'm strongly left-eye dominant, but right-handed. I converted to shooting lefty for shotgun. For pistol, I tilt the handgun a bit to the left with a two-hand hold and it works fine. With scoped rifles, I shoot right-handed. I find my right eye takes over immediately and completely once there is an optic. My brain automatically shifts over to the side with the circle of light. Don't even think about it. Same thing with peep sights. With blade sights on an old military rifle I do have problems.

 

[necchi]

Found out my son was cross dominate early on.
(I've been training him to be a shooter since 5)
I let him switch back-n-forth for awhile hopeing he'd find his zone right handed.
It Never happened.
Then we focused directly on left hand shooting over his dominate eye and everything came together nicely. He's a teenager now who's focus is more towards things that use gasoline and perfume than shooting, but he's got quite a pile of ribbons and trophies from when shooting was the game.

Pistol shooting is different, with your extended hand the brain takes over and moves the gun over to the left eye, not a problem.
Bird hunting with shotgun worked out really well, I'm right and he's left, we can cover a field in harmony.

I'd recommend changing over to shooting left handed, it's your natural position for aiming and will result in a much improved score and accuracy.

To be honest I've never understood the need for "left handed" bolt action rifles, if anything it's almost more natural to work the right side bolt with the right hand when the butt is on the left shoulder,

 

[K22]

I'm left handed - right eye dominant.

Rifle shooting has been no problem for me, I shoot right handed (weak hand) using the right eye (dominant eye). This feels natural to me and I shoot the best in this position.

Pistol shooting is another matter - At one time I was a distinguished expert bulleye pistol shooter. I shot left handed - left eyed but had to cover my right eye or I'd be distracted with double vision from the right eye. I was competitive using my non dominant eye - could I have done better with the right hand - maybe but I choose to stay with what was comfortable for me.

I not longer shoot competitive pistol due to other phyiscal problems but I still shoot a lot of practical pistol using two hands mainly for recreation, self defense and hunting applications. I totally agree with those posters who stated you should not squint - this induces strain and a whole host of other problems for hunting applications. I still shoot using my dominant hand (left) but I've switched to my dominant eye (right). This allows me to shoot without squinting and without covering one eye. It's obviously not the ideal situation but I shoot reasonable well and it's very comfortable for me. But my shooting now is direction towards more practical applications rather than competitive ones.

What ever route you decide to go I would recommend that you select a position that feels natural / comfortable. For competition, covering one eye is not issue and could solve your problem. This is the usual fix for cross dominant competitive shooters. I know at least one pistol shooter who was cross dominant and retrained himself to shoot with his weak hand. It took a lot of practice and training and he eventually master it and became a very competitive shooter. So it can be done.

 

[lusciousXspot]

Thanks everyone for the great information. I think I'm on the right track now. Luckily the rifle I'm shooting is trued Remington short action bedded into a McMillian Tooley MBR stock with hart 1-8" twist barrel(yes, I had to ask the hubby for ALL the details). Luckily it's able to be shot right or left handed, so I can't talk the hubby into a new one yet. This one is also pink and pretty so I'm kinda partial to it.

 

[lusciousXspot]

Here she is all pretty on the 600 yard line last night.

 

[mattri]

My wife is right handed, left eye dominant. With her not being interested in learning to shoot left handed we found the simplest answer to be an eye patch. Lot's of "pirate shooter" jokes but it works quite well. Off the bench it is simple enough, and she has even gotten so used to it that it doesn't affect her hunting. Walking around it's flipped up, then flipped over the dominant eye in a motion not unlike flipping off the safety. It may sound silly, but it works for us.

 

[fr3db3ar]

Not silly at all Mattri, a good solution is one that works for you.

RRrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Sully2]

My father who was the First Sargent ( he actually was) had blindness of the cornea in his right eye....yet shot an M1 rifle right handed!!!??? Beats me how the hell he did it...but i saw him at Perry do it more than once.?????????

 

[JThorsby]

My brother was LE dominant, too. He always shot right handed until one day we were deer hunting, he pulled up and shot a big doe - left handed. After that he just shot lefty, did real well, He had to operate the bolt right-handed, it just didn't feel proper with a left-sided action.