One eyed shooter.

S

spthomas

New member
I was a right handed shooter for 40 years. Then I lost my right eye. So do I shoot right handed but only seeing with my left eye, or switch to left handed rifles?

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You're going to have to have your remaining eye behind the sights or you're not going to be able to hit anything.

Maybe you can get your head far enough over on the stock to get your left eye behind the sights. It might work for you, but it won't be ideal. Try it out and see.

Your other option is to shoot left-handed. You aren't constrained to only left-handed models-- right-handed rifles are often usable from the left side, albeit with some issues that need to be addressed or at least understood.
 
You will be more comfortable shooting left handed. It won't feel right for a while, but you will get used to it. Take your time and make sure you have the gun held properly. Again, it won't feel right, but you will get accustomed to shouldering the gun properly with practice. The technique will be the same, but your left hand will need to learn the feel of the trigger.

As in the rest of your life, you will adapt. Everything will take time to get used to. But it will become second nature with practice.
 
left-eyed

You should have little issues shooting a handgun after some practice.

I turn my head slightly to my right and my scores are the same as they used to be. I do find that it takes me a bit longer to "find" the sights before pulling the triggers.
 
You can shoot right handed, sighting with your left eye...along with a good cheek weld, using the Romanian PSL-54C in 7.62x54R, with a left offset mounted 4x rangefinder scope; similar to the Russian PSO-1. Though the scope does not have a reticle or parallax adjustment.
 
Learning to shoot “off hand” isn’t hard, it just takes some practice.
I very left handed, but ultimately got tired of shooting right handed rifles and some handguns eject shells into my face, so I learned to shoot right.
Lots more guns, particularly mil weapons, are available to shoot right handed was another reason.
Word of warning shooting a right handed semi left handed: make sure you know where the ejected casings are going. Eye protection is a must, as might be tight fitting shirt unless you like cartridge burns inside your shirt.
Really.
 
Hickok45 shoots right handed and left eyed. He does fairly well.
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With handguns held in the middle it isn't that hard. And if you close one eye, or put a patch over it you can shoot long guns pretty well with the non dominate eye. But if you only have one eye, it needs to be the one behind the sights.
 
Sorry to hear that.I lost mine when I was 16 50 years ago.Learn to shoot left handed that the best way.Couple other things.Some people with two eyes shoot with one eye closed but they can open the other eye at any time to see what going on before and after the shot you don't have that option any more so you have to be careful you don't develop the bad habit of lifting your head just as you shoot.Another thing it can be hard to use fiber optic sights if they are too bright you can't see past the front sight.Sight in sunlight target in shadows.For me rifle shooting with a scope was affected the least shotgun shooting the most.Good luck to you.
 
I was right handed and lost my right eye in a baseball injury when I was 15. If I wanted to hunt / shoot I had to learn to shoot left handed. It wasn't the easiest thing to do and took some time but it was doable. I shoot my bow and guns with my left hand and left eye. I do not use left handed rifles to shoot but I still shoot plenty well enough to be a hunter. Start practicing left would be suggestion.
 
My dad was right handed, left eye dominant. He shot handguns with his right hand, rifles and shotguns left handed. He was one of the best shooters I've ever known.
 
My dad was right-handed and left eye dominant. He didn't have any handguns but shot rifles and shotguns left-handed. I also shoot rifles and shotguns left-handed because my left eye is dominant. I shoot handguns right-handed (because I'm right-handed) but I aim with my left eye. I also shoot compound bows left-handed.
 
I am left handed but can not see out of my left eye. I could shoot an air gun or a twenty 22 but a shotgun and a 30-06 kicked the S### of of me. I learned to shoot right handed.
 
>I was a right handed shooter for 40 years. Then I lost my right eye. So do I shoot right handed but only seeing with my left eye, or switch to left handed rifles?<

I'm left handed left eye dominant. In the Marine boot camp they made me shoot right handed, and I scored expert.

A couple yrs ago I had a left eye retina problem which was operated on with a big improvement, but now my right eye is the sharper one. So I'm back to shooting both ways- left with an AR offhand quick shooting, right handed for long range bench shooting.

Everyday, do snap ins left handed, everyday, 10 times, 30 times per session, whatever. It'll come.
 
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I think thats what i have to do since thats the only eye I have. Do yiu think I need a left handed AR? I know boltactiona will be a ptoblem, but what about an QR since it seems a bit more ambidextrous.

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I lost my right eye when I was 16 learn to shoot left handed after some time it will feel natural.I have 4 ARs one left hand I like the left hand better but they cost a lot more harder to find.Right hand works.As far as bolt guns a right hand bolt is about as easy to use from the bench as a left hand but in the field a left hand is much nicer.If a right hand bolt is so great for leftys than a left hand bolt would be wonderful for right handed shooters.As far as the post telling you to keep both eyes open:confused:
 
>Do yiu think I need a left handed AR?<

No. In fact, even a left hand setup for the safety is of minimum advantage. You do need an AR with the ejection deflector if you don't like hot casings down your shirt. There are models that don't have those.

Get 1000 rds .22 LR ammo, go out and shoot the hell out of it, bench, offhand freehand, with a tree rest, fast shooting, slow shooting, paper targets, plates whatever.

Get a few hundred rds of 223 and do the same - you'll see.

Any scopes you use, you'll probably need to reset focus, and re-zero before you get into your re-training.
 
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Shoot lefty w/ an AR--get a couple uppers and you can hunt everything w/ one gun.

There used to be lefty ARs but have not seem them promoted lately. I dont think you need one, rightys will do fine for you.
 
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