Shoot both eyes open vs focus on front sight?

O

Overkill777

New member
I hear that you should shoot with both eyes open so you have a wider field of view. I also hear that you should focus on the front sight post rather than the target. I have always closed my non dominant eye and focused hard on the front sight. Now I am trying to train myself to shoot with both eyes open and I am finding that I can't do both. With both eyes open I automatically focus on the target. Is this normal, if so which way do you shoot?
 
Shoot both eyes open vs focus on front sight?
Click to expand...

YES!!!;)

All defensive shooting is a trade off between speed and accuracy. You need to balance the two for the shot/shots at hand.

Up close under 3 yards, I don't use the sights at all. Get as much extension as you can get without putting the gun up for grabs and focus on the threat. This is the "natural" reaction to an unexpected up close threat anyway, so it works well.

From 3yds to about 7yds, I tend to look through the sights at the tgt. This allows some degree of sight alignment and still allows mostly tgt focus..

As distance to the tgt increases more precision is needed, therefore more focus must be given to the sights. The good news is that in defensive encounters longer distances usually allow more time. A harder focus, including closing the support side eye, should be done to make hits at those longer (25yd+) shots

So, the answer to the original question is....Yes
 
I shoot with both eyes open and focus on the front sight. It will take you a while to adjust to doing that but work on it while dry firing. It will quickly seem natural. You will only have a real problem if you are right handed but left eye dominate.
 
Long ago, I found that while focusing on the front sight, a gray squirrel on the trunk of a large oak became invisible. Therefore, I focus on the target with both eyes open. If you shoot enough that way, the brain learns to adapt (muscle memory). For the most part, I have no problem centering a blurry front sight in the center of a blurry rear sight on a crisp target and shooting good scores.

One plus: I now need reading glasses and that hasn't really affected my shooting.

The only time I've had a problem shooting like that, was with a S&W 651. The slot in the rear blade was too narrow, allowing the blurry front sight to easily plug it up or blend in. At first, I thought the gun couldn't shoot worth a darn. However, focusing on the front sight (allowing me to distinguish between the two sights), gave good groups.

I can shoot good both ways, but default to focusing on the target.
 
The real question is "What are you shooting for?". If it's self defense then practice at seven yards and under with both eyes open. If you are trying to shoot competitively I have found that my accuracy suffers greatly with both eyes open, and I have sincerely tried it a lot. I just can't pull off a five inch group at 25 yards off hand with both eyes open. It just doesn't allow for sufficient front sight focus and concentration. I don't believe shooting with both eyes open gives a person an advantage other than a wider field of vision in a defensive situation. (Maybe eye fatigue)
So if you are trying to tighten your groups, close the eye. If center of body mass groups at seven yards at super speed is your goal, shoot with both eyes open.
Remember I'm speaking handguns here in the handgun forum. Rifles and shotguns are completely different.
 
Last edited:
However, I don't preach what I practice...

When I teach (friends and family), I tell them to focus on the front sight with both eyes open. If they have a hard time doing that, I allow them to close one eye. If they still have a hard time, I check if they are cross-eye dominant. If they are, I give up and switch them to a laser (let's keep this fun).
 
Last edited:
Remember I'm speaking handguns here in the handgun forum. Rifles and shotguns are completely different.
Click to expand...

I understand shotguns being completely different. But I'm not sure what's different about rifles, other than being easier. I shoot them both the same way.
 
Rifles, shotguns and pistols are all the same. The acceptable sight picture for the level of speed and accuracy you want is what you need. The sights themselves and the target may alter what is and what is not acceptable.

A fiber optic with a wide rear notch allows a different "sight" focus than a filled rear notch with a flat black post.

When your mechanics have become engrained through practice and dryfire, less sight focus is needed for a given level of speed and accuracy. Better shooters use a much higher percentage of target focus than novice shooters should use.

I never recommend closing an eye. It distorts and diminishes focus as well as FOV. There are several methods to use, some better than others, to keep the focus on the sights (or target) with the desired eye.
 
overkill777 said:
With both eyes open I automatically focus on the target. Is this normal, if so which way do you shoot?
Click to expand...
I shoot with both eyes open and I focus on the front sight. The only reason you are focusing on the target is that you are focusing on the target.
 
It just takes practice. At home in your spare time, make sure your pistol is clear and do some dry fire practice. With both eyes open find your target, then align your sights, practice transitioning your focus from your rear sight, to your front sight, to the target, back to the front sight and then apply pressure to the trigger with a crystal clear front sight over a blurry target.
 
If you can shoot both eyes open, or learn to shoot both eyes open without a major effort, then do it.

It's not always simple to do. If you're cross-dominant or have weak dominance, shooting with both eyes open may not work well for you. These issues can be addressed, but sometimes it's not easy.
 
I try to practice techniques that I think would be most efficacious in a self-defense scenario so I do pretty much what Sharkbite does.

I used to shoot with one eye closed but now I nearly always shoot with both eyes open. I could probably do a little better at distance (>15yds) with one eye closed but I don't think that is what I would want to be doing while attacked.

At short distances (<15 yds) I generally focus on the target. I still try to obtain a sight picture although I will probably start to work on aiming just using a flash sight picture, or just the alignment of the slide top for aim.

At distances greater than 12-15 yds to get any decent accuracy I pretty much find I need to focus on the front sight so that is what I do.
 
If I point shoot' one handed, both eyes are open. When the gun comes up into an 'aiming' stance (either one- or both-hands), I tend to close the off eye, because of a significant difference in visual acuity. My left, dominant, eye is extremely near-sighted, while the right eye has good distance vision.
 
I am right-handed, left eye dominant, but not by much. If I focus on the front sight, I see two targets. If I focus on the target, I see two front sights. I currently close my left eye if I want to hit the target. So, am I doing something wrong?
 
Close one eye and try to focus on anything...
Focusing your eyes is getting the intersection of the individual eyes orientation at he same point in space. Like regulating a double rifle. With one eye you don't need to focus.
I think there is an ophthalmologist around here somewhere...

Both eyes open. Head level, not crooked over to the side.
 
If you can - shoot with both eyes open.... / gives you better definition, better peripheral vision and better depth perception....and always focus on the front sight ( not the target ).
 
I focus on the front sight, if I want to make good* hits.
My split times average 1/4 to 1/3 second (depending on pistol) with carry ammo given the restriction that both 1st and 2nd shot hit a 6 inch circle at 6 - 7 yards.
 
So I ran 250 rounds through, of which all but 10 were at 7 yards, tilting my head up to focus better. Near the end of the 250, I just couldn't focus regardless, but overall my groups and placement of those groups were better. It wasn't quite a fair test of the effect of seeing through the bottom of the glasses, as at the same time I was changing my grip so that I had to pull the trigger with the finger pad instead of the first joint, but as my grip firmed up and I got better at holding the focused sights steady, I saw a noticeable improvement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top