Need advice on proper shooting style for LRH.

[Teri Anne]

I'm new to LRH recently I was listening to a podcast, and it was mentioned that when shooting have both eyes open. So wanting some input on what is the best way to shooting is it with one eye closed or with both eyes open?

OK, have to interject my two cents here. Both eyes open is for close combat with either a rifle or pistol, it relates to situational awareness about what is going on around you . When shooting a rifle at long range I've found that closing one eye so you can completely focus on either the front site or making sure that the parallax an focus of a scoped shot are correct. Having both eyes open when shooting a scope is counterproductive since your brain is trying to figure out which image it is receiving to believe. Both eyes close range combat, one eye otherwise.

 

[mulie]

WOW DID YOU RIP OPEN THAT CAN OF WORMS. As many are stating being able to truly call your shots is a big step towards success. It does take practice. Trigger control "THE SQUEEZE" a nice trigger does help. Just practice with a 22 cal. will help greatly. Clean your rifle barrel oh and Clean your rifle barrel. If you reload start determine best powder charge first low ES & DS don't worry about POI or speed. Then once your got the burn down good. Begin adjusting seating depth couple throu at a time. After this is done you could have a rifle at MOA most likely less and hopefully she has not band you to sleeping with the dog in the garage. If your lucky the bug won't bite to bad. If your like the most of us bummer man as it seems to never end. BUT I LOVE IT. Buddy took his longest shot this year at mule deer at 400 yards one and done. A very Happy Camper. Oh 7mm RUM. I believe it is what works for you one or both eyes you should, must be able to call cross hairs when the trigger breaks.

 

[Zen Archery]

If you are hitting your targets consistently with 1 or 2 eyes keep doing that.
I find it beneficial hunting both eyes open to watch post shot animal reaction or running direction.
But long range I am more consistent using 1 eyes.
Keep it practical. Keep it simple.

 

[Greyfox]

Only "one" eye is ever looking through the scope, but I find it faster and easier to bring full concentration to the crosshair of my scope eye if both eyes are open. Additionally, the advantage of shooting with both eyes open is if you need to make scope adjustments on a moving animal, checking the scope level, re-range, or getting a fix on the game after the shot, I find that head movement is kept to a minimum, and my full binocular vision recovers faster with both eyes open….Particularly with 70+ year old eyes.

 

[Pro2A]

I'm new to LRH recently I was listening to a podcast, and it was mentioned that when shooting have both eyes open. So wanting some input on what is the best way to shooting is it with one eye closed or with both eyes open?

Always shoot both eyes open for greater situational awareness. Learned importance of this when paid to hunt down range not being the only hunter. Works for toothed/clawed hunters as well.

 

[Oryx_Official]

I keep both eyes open for quick target acquisition and situational awareness. Sometimes the left eye closes before the shot if I feel the need.

 

[Bob Wright]

Both eyes if I just caught sight of a critter. Once I have it located/confirmed, I focus on the scoped eye only.
Fortunately I'm ambidextrous, so I can do the same on either side with any firearm.

 

[Teri Anne]

Well this is somewhat of a personal thing. When shooting a pistol in combat type training I keep both eyes open so that I can see what is going on around me. It's called, "Situational Awareness." One always wan't to know what is going on around them when in close quarters in a defensive situation. Rifle shooting is quite different, especially these days with optics and rifle scopes. I am not much for optics since they require batteries which have the inane ability to go dead at the most inopportune moment. For rifles one cannot beat iron sights like those on the M14 and M16 for accurate shooting. In the real live world these daze as a civilian one cannot beat the advantages of a quality rifle scope which for the most part requires one eye shooting primarily because the brain cannot compute the difference between the scoped eye and the bare eye which results in shooting errors. On the other hand one cannot properly compensate for scope parallax when shooting with a scope with both eyes open. As mentioned above when it comes to shooting I was taught to be able to shoot both rifle and pistol from either right or left hand positions. Shooting combat or competition, especially pistol...one who can shoot from either hand and either eye has a definite advantage over those who can only shoot from one side or the other. Shooting barricades is a piece of cake while maintaining maximum cover from either hand, especially when one can do it with both rifle and pistols. The challenge is to train yourself to be able to shoot either right or left handed and still be able to shoot accurately.

 

[P7M13]

All good advice, I'm going to assume you have checked out which eye is dominant, if right handed and trying to shoot that way with a dominant left eye will cause a big problem.

I can attest to that. Struggled with both eyes open for pistol and rifle until I started shooting exclusively left hand.

OK, have to interject my two cents here. Both eyes open is for close combat with either a rifle or pistol, it relates to situational awareness about what is going on around you .

Both eyes open shooting rifle has helped me in NOT shooting when a gust pops up as I'm applying pressure to the trigger. It took a lot of practice to be able to do so, but can now segregate the two images in my mind and process both simultaneously.
If only I could do the same with hearing - listen to my wife talk to me while I'm on the phone with someone.

 

[Teri Anne]

I can attest to that. Struggled with both eyes open for pistol and rifle until I started shooting exclusively left hand.

Both eyes open shooting rifle has helped me in NOT shooting when a gust pops up as I'm applying pressure to the trigger. It took a lot of practice to be able to do so, but can now segregate the two images in my mind and process both simultaneously.
If only I could do the same with hearing - listen to my wife talk to me while I'm on the phone with someone.

LOL...never been a wife per se, but do know what you are referring to. Never had a husband either so really know what you are talking about. Seeing the world with both eyes open as opposed to shooting with both eyes open are entirely different things.

 

[Danehunter]

If you use a scope above 3X then use only the "scope eye" and keep the other eye shut.

 

[Teri Anne]

As one can see from the variety of replies above that there is not really one correct way. What it boils down to is finding what works best for you and then practicing shooting that way until it becomes ingrained into your psyche and you can repeat it each and every time you pick up a rifle or pistol. One last thing, when shooting with a scope make sure that you automatically center your eye in the scope. If your eye is properly centered the reticle will be nice and dark as well as clear and centered in a perfectly round circle. Eye relief comes into play too. Pick up your rifle and get into a bench rest shooting position. Move your head a bit forward then aft from your normal shooting position. As you do this you will see the image you are looking increase and decrease as well as go in and out of focus with each movement. Move your eye left. right, up and down and you will see dark or unfocused areas at the edge of the view. What is causing this is that as you move your eyes from the exact center you will start to see the edge of the inner tube of the scope. Shooting in this situation and the bullet will miss wide in the opposite direction of the shadow. As we used to say in the Army, " Getting good at shooting requires hours and thousands of rounds sent over the berm."