Right handed left eye dominant

[AZShooter]

Kypatriot,

Perhaps your dominant eye is only marginally dominant? For many of us shooters there is a big difference in the dominance.

PeeWee69

I am left handed but shoot everything right handed due to right eye dominance. This is a tough call.

I believe that hunting would be the determining factor. I think most here will admit that shooting with both eyes open is an advantage in hunting situations whether it is a scoped rifle or even a shotgun. How well can you acquire game and shoot with your non dominant eye? Can you do it with both eyes open?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

As mentioned, shooting through a scope makes no difference. Shooting a bow for example makes a BIG difference.

Maybe once you get the view in the scope... not as easy to get your face in the right spot and your recoil tolerance will be different. A small cartridge like a 243 will be easier to twitch over on than a bigger cartridge like my 375h@h (in an 8# rifle). Scopes only make the actual aiming easier. You still have to have the mechanics in place or you are still out of luck.

 

[fmajor]

Ok I am right handed and left eye dominant . Up until recently I shot a right handed rifle .now I have one lefthanded rifle and it's taking some getting use to old habits die hard . Now here's my question since I do shoot left handed in your opinion does it make a difference in accuracy and ability to shoot better to shoot with the proper handed rifle ?

I'm not sure if my experience will be helpful, but.....

Like most of us here, I started shooting young. However, I'm *LEFT-handed*, but *RIGHT-eye* dominant.

I was "persuaded" to shoot *RIGHT handed* and it's worked out fine for me. However, LEFT-handed people usually do better at learning to use their opposite/right hand more so than right-handed people (most people are indeed right-handed).

My son is right-handed, but left-eye dominant so I am struggling with helping him improve his marksmanship (I don't have a lefty rifle) - it's a greater challenge, but his accuracy when using his left eye is sooo much better and easier to attain it more than overcomes the challenge of him learning to use his left hand for trigger control.

 

[65 GRENDEL]

I to am right handed but left eye dominate but I can shoot both a left handed or right handed rifle equally, assuming there's no thumbhole stock with oversized palmswell.
I am just a little faster with a left handed bolt gun with follow up shots but the truth is I'm an AR guy and I shoot nothing but right handed rifles.

 

[65 GRENDEL]

Kypatriot,

Perhaps your dominant eye is only marginally dominant? For many of us shooters there is a big difference in the dominance.

PeeWee69

I am left handed but shoot everything right handed due to right eye dominance. This is a tough call.

I believe that hunting would be the determining factor. I think most here will admit that shooting with both eyes open is an advantage in hunting situations whether it is a scoped rifle or even a shotgun. How well can you acquire game and shoot with your non dominant eye? Can you do it with both eyes open?

I can do this with my red dots and 1-4-20 scopes but I can't with anything with more magnification.

 

[Shoot 708]

My oldest daughter is RH but VERY left eye dominant. Very difficult for her to acquire any sight picture with her right eye. We got her her own LH 22 and trained shooting lefty. She shoots lefty great with our RH hunting rifles, just slow running the bolt so you hope for a 1 shot kill, like this years 320 yd mule deer. Her mom is the same RH but left eye dominant. Mom just has to close her left eye and shoots good RH, right eye. Our experience shows there can be a big difference in how strong a dominant eye can be.

 

[WildRose]

I've shot lefthanded since I was around 6 when I was 20 something I tried shooting right handed both eyes open, left eye closed , and even tried a patch over left eye . But when I did that I could never get a good sight picture with or without a scope . So I just stuck with shooting lefthanded

Trying to break 14 years of muscle memory and physical training is very difficult. That is why you had trouble, not because of eye dominance.

 

[PEEWEE69]

Thanks for all the input guys
Correct me if I'm wrong but from advice and information I've got as long as it's comfortable for me shooting a right or left hand rifle shouldn't hurt accuracy shooting lefthanded

 

[Mike 338]

Ok I am right handed and left eye dominant . Up until recently I shot a right handed rifle .now I have one lefthanded rifle and it's taking some getting use to old habits die hard . Now here's my question since I do shoot left handed in your opinion does it make a difference in accuracy and ability to shoot better to shoot with the proper handed rifle ?

Lots of guys shoot a right handed rifle off their left side and they do just fine. I doubt it makes any difference on the first shot however if your standing up and shooting, you need to toss the rifle up in the air a little bit to to cycle the action and that slows down the follow up shot because you come off the rifle a little bit. Shooting prone, spent cases coming out in front of your face really isn't any problem but cycling the bolt in front of your face is a little awkward and you could pop yourself in the mouth if your hand slips off the bolt.

If your hunting, I doubt it matters much. For competition, you'll probably need a left handed rifle. Either way, just do it the same every time and you'll get so used to it that you won't be able to do it the other way. Old habits are easy to break. Just break them.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Right handed and VERY left eye dominant here. I shoot everything RH; pistol, shotgun, rifles, archery, you name it and do it with both eyes open. But when I use a camera, a spotting scope or anything similar, I put that up to my left eye naturally. When I played baseball and golf (also a long time ago) I could hit the ball from either side. I was more accurate from the right side but hit the long ball from the left side in both games. In the 70's, when I was taught to shoot, it was right handed (Iron sights) because my uncle said so and that wasn't questioned.

Now, a lot of years later, I've tried to tried to move over to the south side of the gunstock, just to give it a try based on all that has been said and written. It is completely foreign to me as I felt like I was learning to walk or write again. The only plus I found was that I could clearly see the bubble level and the ACI without lifting my head from the stock. Most likely a cruel trick the eyes play when one gets a bit older.

lesson learned: It ain't broke and it don't need fixin'... for me anyway. and in all the activities mentioned, practice was key.

Pete

 

[The Oregonian]

I agree - if starting out, use dominant eye to make things easier, but if muscle memory has taken hold, don't change it.

 

[KYpatriot]

Ok maybe I was underestimating the degree to which some people are eye dominant. I shoot everything right handed, but use my left eye for pistol aiming. Which doesn't matter of course for pistol. The only time I have noticed cross dominance bring a factor is shotgun shooting, where both eyes open is critical and the target is in focus and the sights are peripheral. In that kind of shooting it is very possible to get crossed up because either eye can be used to aim and you aren't assured of being " in plane" with the target because your focus is on the target instead of the front sight like it is ( or should be) in handgun shooting. But any shooting where the front sight is in sharp focus, like iron sight rifle or handgun, or with a scope where the retical is in focus, eye dominance should be irrelevant. I certainly would not advocate shooting weak side with anything where you use sights just because of eye dominance, only shotgun. Even then, the top shotgun shooters simply handcap the dominant eye if they are cross dominant with a piece of scotch tape or special shooting glasses with a dot on it, instead of shooting weak side.

Of course, weak side shooting is a good skill to practice anyway.

 

[WildRose]

Ok maybe I was underestimating the degree to which some people are eye dominant. I shoot everything right handed, but use my left eye for pistol aiming. Which doesn't matter of course for pistol. The only time I have noticed cross dominance bring a factor is shotgun shooting, where both eyes open is critical and the target is in focus and the sights are peripheral. In that kind of shooting it is very possible to get crossed up because either eye can be used to aim and you aren't assured of being " in plane" with the target because your focus is on the target instead of the front sight like it is ( or should be) in handgun shooting. But any shooting where the front sight is in sharp focus, like iron sight rifle or handgun, or with a scope where the retical is in focus, eye dominance should be irrelevant. I certainly would not advocate shooting weak side with anything where you use sights just because of eye dominance, only shotgun. Even then, the top shotgun shooters simply handcap the dominant eye if they are cross dominant with a piece of scotch tape or special shooting glasses with a dot on it, instead of shooting weak side.

Of course, weak side shooting is a good skill to practice anyway.

You don't need to keep both eyes open to shoot well with a shotgun.

As you come up keep them open, as you come onto the target close your off eye and you will be just fine.

I've shot this way my entire life and I very rarely miss.

 

[justgoto]

Thanks for all the input guys
Correct me if I'm wrong but from advice and information I've got as long as it's comfortable for me shooting a right or left hand rifle shouldn't hurt accuracy shooting lefthanded

Correct.