Left Eye Dominant And Right-Handed

O

OleEd

New member
I have this problem. I am having problems with bullseye accuracy firing the old way of one-handed with my 22 pistol for bbulseye tgt shooting. This has become a very pronounced problem recently when starting to fire again after a 20 yrs of children and bass fishing and no shooting but for quail and deer.

I discovered this when going shooting with my cousin on a vacation to WA state 2 yrs ago. This guy is heavy into shooting as I used to be. My shots were constantly on the far left side of the tgt at 20 yds. Starting my 24 yr tour in the military (1960 - 1984) as an 18 yr old the Marine Drill Sgt gave me my M1 and being right-handed I shot and did very well but avg with the 45. Must of been the left eye dom. thing as I look back on it.

I have to constantly remind myself when shooting but fairly easy to do with the weaver stance. My groups are tight and on tgt. Problem is the psn for bullseye tgt and am seeking some suggestions to accomodate this eye problem. The farther out I shoot (50 yds so far) I don't have enough windage to compensate for this problem. I am wanting to start bullseye and smallbore Silhouette shooting. I really do need and am seeking some suggestions to accomodate this eye problem.

Thank you in advance for you suggestions.
 
OleEd,

I too have the same issue with being right handed / left eye dominant. I use three different methods to overcome the problem.

1.) Turn your head slightly to the right to align your left eye with the sights.

OR

2.) Hold the pistol on a slight angle (about 20-30 degrees ) to the left so your left eye is lined up with the sights.

OR

3.) Learn to shoot left handed (not as difficult as you may think). I do spend a fair amount of time on the computer at work so one thing that I did to help in making the transition was to switch the "mouse" over to the left side and change the mouse controls to left hand operation in the "control panel" mouse file. I felt like I was a bit retarded for the first hour or so but soon became quite adept at left hand operation.

Good luck
 
Modifed Weaver Stance= Cure

I have the same problem, and agree with the above post. If you keep both eyes open as many instructors advocate you end up seeing double which is very confusing. This is one reason I'm not big on instructors.
What works for me is to tuck chin into the Rt. joint of the shoulder/bicep which forces the Rt. eye to close. It's solid, and is similiar to shooting a rifle.
Many will condem this, but it works for me. Best, Lyle
 
Another cross-dominant here!

What works for me is to tuck chin into the Rt. joint of the shoulder/bicep which forces the Rt. eye to close. It's solid, and is similiar to shooting a rifle.
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I call it the "cheekweld Weaver" and yes, it works great. But it doesn't facilitate movement in a fight so you also have to know and use the more aggressive forward-tilting Weaver variants too.

For a long time I too couldn't do both-eyes-shooting. The Goshen Hexsite completely cures the problem because you're target-focused instead of front-sight-focused. You still get a ghost image of the sight off to the side but it's easy to ignore as it's obviously "wrong". I suspect a red dot would work too, but Hexsites don't have (or need) that distracting dot, nor do they have or need batteries, wires, glass or very much bulk...they're completely practical in standard holsters on typical defense-sized guns:

http://www.goshen-hexsite.com/index2.htm
 
My eye doctor said I am left eye dominant, and I agree. But, I've always shot right handed. I shot expert in the military with M16A1 and with 45 ACP. I've always been a good shot. I suggest you put a patch on your left shooting glasses lense and see if that helps.
 
Sir, I am right-handed and left-eye dominant as well. This caused issues for me in the Army. They tried to teach me lefty shooting, but I am not Anything lefty and fought that scenario.

What works for me is I learned to squint my left eye shut. This solves the problem for me whether I am shooting a shotgun, rifle, or handgun. I had to learn how to do this, as squinting my right eye has always been easy while I was always unable to duplicate with my left eye. Before I learned to squint my left eye shut, I would dip my hat as one example to 'trick' my eyes into seeing correctly.
 
bill's advice is good also. a patch will do the job too, and that's what I did at the very beginning of my army days. I then learned that the eye doesn't need to be completely covered; the rim of a hat over your prorifeal vision on the left eye will do the trick. Once I learned to squint left eye due to habit it all became a mute point.
 
im going thru this for the last several months. my eye dominance has changed from right to left.

i have altered my stance, and a small tilt of the gun helps some too.
 
I'm not sure why this is a problem. I'm this way as well and never noticed a problem, even one-handed, with handguns. With a rifle I just use my right eye.
 
When I'm firing a handgun, my right eye automatically closes as I aim. I suspect I have adopted this over the years as the fix for my cross-dominance, though many other valid suggestions have been said here. Naturally, you need to find out what works best for you. I have yet to try the translucent stickers on the shooting glasses, which help greatly with depth perception.
 
I/m right handed and can't close my left eye. I can't see how this makes ANY difference at all shooting a "pistol". A long gun or bow is another story.

The first time I took my wife shooting she was on the paper every shot. The last two GUYS I'd taken missed the paper a LOT.

I asked her, "which eye are you closing when you shoot?" She said "Both." :D
 
I/m right handed and can't close my left eye. I can't see how this makes ANY difference at all shooting a "pistol". A long gun or bow is another story.
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SPINDRIFT,

The left eye closing thing is a lot of times harder for the right-hander who is left-eye dominant. I am sure this varies between persons, but I had the same issue. Eventually, I was able to squint the left-eye shut from practice. It is still more awkward with my left eye to do it. It doesn't make as much of a difference with a pistol. In fact, I never really even worried about it until when we would shoot at work I would try the left-eye deal like I do when I qualify on the m16 just for the heck of it. I would think that it Would help the OP if he is target shooting. Just a couple of weeks ago I was aiming my gp100 ruger revolver and I left both eyes open and then squinted my left eye shut. The trajectory and/or the vision changes. It is more accurate for me to squint my left-eye shut. With an m16 or henry rifle it makes all the difference because I am left-eye dominant; with the handgun its not as big of a deal though it does make a difference. Being righty and left eye dominant is probably a reason why I am not a better shooter too. I get the job done, but not as perfect as I would if I didn't have to worry about the eye stuff(my right eye isn't open all the way when I shut my left eye because it isn't natural for me //on the flip side like my wife: many lefties can't close their right eye easily like I can since I am righty). Sometimes I need to break between shots because of the uncomfortableness, sweat, whatever(not with a handgun, but my sight can go blurry quicker when squinting my left eye for a rifle // rifle shooters can probably atest to the fact that if you are positioned correctly it helps many people to stay in the exact position between shots; I don't have that luxury every time).
 
This is a very common problem and I suffer from the same problem, pistols I bring up to my left eye, i dont tilt my head, the gun should work for me, not the other way around. For long guns I have no choise to use my non dominant eye.
 
one other thing which is probably obvious to most shooters(or at least people with opposite eye dominances than their shooting hands):

I can't even aim a rifle close to correctly due to vision problems without doing the hat trick on my left eye(see my other post- very good trick if you wear a hat or kevlar), squinting my left eye shut, or using an eye patch which I did in my shooting infancy days.
 
Move the back leg to bring the sights over and shoot with both eyes open. No squinting, tape, Chapstick or anything else is required. Certainly no tucking your head into your arm.
 
I also have the same problem, which effected me early on

Try this

HALF squint your left eye and shoot with your right eye and right handed

This will force your right eye to take the dominant position and also
give you a bit of needed depth perception for your sight picture
(Lacking from the FULL squint)

I couldnt shoot skeet at all
 
Im right eye dominant and left handed, so I began shooting pistols right handed and found there are some advantages to doing so. The trigger finger on my right hand is much more sensitive, particularly with revolvers and has done me well.
 
I/m right handed and can't close my left eye. I can't see how this makes ANY difference at all shooting a "pistol". A long gun or bow is another story.
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well for me i have almost 25 years shooting a handgun right handed/right eyed.
now that i am suddenly "left eyed" i am struggling to shoot accurately again.
 
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