Starting out a young shooter, who's left eye dominant. Got questions..

[Carsyn.22]

I haven't read all 6 pages but Cody nailed it right off and most of the responses that I did read have been great!

I personally have been down this road being fairly ambidextrous, I eat and write lefty but do most other things righty or ambi. The first time my Dad took me out to shoot his .22 he had me point at his nose and found to his surprise that I was right eye dominant (he thought I would shoot left because I write left). At that point he encouraged me to shoot right and it felt a bit weird at first but now I am glad he did. Since then I have gone back to relive and practice those early days by trying to shoot left and now can shoot both ways. I shoot a bit better righty and definitely faster, but that said just last fall I killed a buck with two lefty shots, cycled the bolt with my support hand, and I was ready for the follow up long before I had the shot even though it was close range fast action thick cover from behind me type of situation. Practice paid off and it felt pretty natural too.

My younger brother has astigmatism in his right eye (sees double of everything) so he has taught himself to shoot lefty with his righty bolt action and is doing well with that, he doesn't think he'll even bother with a lefty gun because he can stay on the scope and finger beside the trigger guard while working the action, he actually has grown to like it.

 

[antelopedundee]

Savage Axis LH in .243

 

[Opa-lopa]

I'm right handed, right eye dominant, but developed a serious vision problem 5 years ago that prevents me from shooting long guns right handed. IMO, teach them to shoot w/ dominant eye. Especially w/ youngsters, I think it's much easier to train them to shoot dominant eye. Early in my hunting career, I missed an opportunity at a bedded buck because I didn't want to take the shot left handed. Looks silly in retrospect, so do some drills occasionally w/ non-dominant eye.

 

[sheepdawg]

When I was in the corps..... I came into boot thinking I would shoot the pants off of most of the guys there because I grew up in a rural area and used BB guns and 22's way more than most of the guys in my platoon. Progressed to a 270 and did well with it on anything I hunted. Over half of the guys were from either Detroit or Flint Michigan. Rough bunch... many of them had the choice of prison or the corps... that is what they did back then. Bunch of city boys. Anyway, I am somewhat ambidextrous but generally right handed and I was shooting right handed. I thought shooting expert would be a gimme. First time we shot for score I came up short by a few points and I was decidedly disappointed and frustrated. 2 weeks before qualification we were each assigned a shooting coach. Mine was a corporal Tonn from Iowa and he was very happy to get a shooter from Minnesota as it was close to his home. When I expressed my disappointment to him the first thing he did was to check which of my eyes was dominant and lo and behold I was left eye dominant. He told me that we would switch to left immediately. I didn't think 2 weeks was enough time. Boy was I wrong and was he right. Next practice round I was firmly in the expert category. I progressed over the next week until I was in the 240 range. On qualification day I pushed a 242 but a friend of mine that had never even shot a rifle until he hit the corps pulled off a 248. That was like one lousy pulled shot. He was the battalion high shooter. So I can say that switching to shooting left handed was not a burden to me at all and it has kept me shooting well all of my life. I did the "shoot left with a right handed rifle for many years." I did not reach over I just took the rifle off of my shoulder enough that I could work the bolt with my right hand and it worked OK. Not capable of as fast of shooting as a normal shooter but made up for it in accuracy. When I finally decided to buy a left handed bolt it just felt so right. I have bought nothing but left bolts for many years now and I prefer it by far. Oh, BTW I can still shoot right handed but I have always had to close my left eye when doing so. Left handed... both eyes are open and that is a definite advantage. I won't shoot as well right handed but in a pinch I can hit OK doing it that way. I would say that it is a definite advantage to shoot with your dominant eye and that learning to use your off hand to do it properly is not a difficult thing to learn. I taught all of my kids.... 2 girls and 1 boy to do what comes naturally in light of the eye dominance. They all shoot very well. My oldest girl is a natural lefty and left eye dominant. She is a good shooter. The other kids are both right eye dominant and right handed. As an aside hitting a baseball was always easy for me and that is more than likely explained by the fact that I hit righty but my dominant left eye is out front getting a very good look at the ball all the way to the bat. By all means teach your children to use their dominant eye to shoot. Use of the off hand to control the rifle should come very quickly.
Tens

Thank you sir. It took me decades to learn about such a thing as left eye dominance. I never heard of it until I became a firearms instructor and went to range master school for my department and that was well into my 30s. I never thought about it for hitting a base ball. Thanks again.

 

[sheepdawg]

Sheepdog, I didn't see where you mentioned wether your son was left or right handed. My son is right handed bcouldn't hit the side of a barn when he first started shooting the pellet gun. Like others mentioned with their experiences, he was trying to look with his left eye while holding right handed.
Figured out he was left eye dominate and switched to the left side where he shot well but it still didn't "feel right " as he put it. He used a patch over his shooting glasses and learned to shoot right handed. He is 30 now and shoots everything right handed, even does PRS.

I believe shooting rifles should be based on holding the rifle in a way that feels natural to them first, (either left or right) and train that way with a patch. Eye dominance is not as important when shooting through a scope as it is with pistols or shotguns.

Thank you sir. My son is right handed but left eye dominant. I will have to do some more experimenting with him to determine his preference.

 

[sheepdawg]

I am greatly indebted for all of you taking the time to responding to this post. You have all offered some great tips and points that I had not considered.

I grew up in rural CA, the eastern sierra mountains, and my father was a three tours of combat Vietnam Vet who was a gun nut. We shot guns every free moment growing up, but for some reason, my younger brother could not shoot worth a d@mn. He would roll his head over the stock (weird) and he could not hit stationary targets. When it came to the shotgun, I don't think he ever hit a clay pidgeon. Being the older brother, I hazed the hell out of him. He eventually just quit shooting. To this day, he doesn't even own a firearm. I am pretty sure he hates firearms. When I went to range master school, I learned about left eye dominance, and immediately thought of my younger brother. I felt bad for all the hell I gave him. Needless to say, I was the @ssh0le big brother. A few years ago, I had him do a simple eye dominance test and low and behold, he was left eye dominant. I told him I was sorry for the decades of teasing him for his lack of shooting skill. Even offered to take him shooting. No surprise, he was not interested. He has raised four kids and they are all not shooters and they all live in the bay area of California. I learned my lesson the hard way and I do NOT want to have my son go though what my younger brother did. I want to keep it fun and hope that he learns to enjoy and respect firearms.

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

Sheepdawg: I am left eye and hand dominant, and only have 2 rifles with left-hand actions.
I find it little problem to operate the bolt of a right hand action. If you think it is hard to find rifles with
left hand actions, it is even harder to find a buyer for one. I rec you teach him to shoot a right hand action left handed.

 

[antelopedundee]

If a lefty fits him better and works for him then get him a lefty. There's no reason to make do with the wrong stuff when the right stuff is available.

 

[crystalgayleguy]

I shoot right handed guns left handed but have a few left handed guns shot a bow right handed throw right handed kick a football left footed

 

[antelopedundee]

I have all left hand rifles for me and things like the Ithaca 37 that can be converted to left hand safety. Some it doesn't matter like a lever action.. I'm left eye dominant because of "wandering" eye. I throw and bat from the left side. Write right handed.

 

[Stgraves260]

I am a father of two young boys, ages 11 and 8 and both are learning to shoot rifles and bows. My 11 year old is left eye dominant but the 8 year old is not. I was able to purchase them a left hand bow and right hand bow respectively, but it is hard as hell to find a left hand compact bolt action rifle. I am a die hard model 70 fan and winchester does not offer left handed rifles but they offer right handed actions in a compact. Should I train my left eye dominant son to shoot with his right eye? or should I just have him shoot left hand with a right hand rifle? A full size rifle's LOP is too long for him and 24" barrels are too heavy. The compact fit just right but I have no idea if I should just have him shoot the compact right handed rifle for 3 years and then pass it to his brother and get him a left handed full size rifle at that point? Would having a right handed rifle for 3 years and then switching to a left hand rifle effect his learning development? I am taking him antelope hunting next year year when he turns 12 and we are starting to shoot weekly to prepare him for the hunt. Any input would be appreciated.

Buy a Remington.

 

[antelopedundee]

Buy a Remington.

The 783 comes lefty in a few calibers.

 

[OutsideSeth]

I am left eye dominate, but right-handed and grew up being taught to shoot right-handed. I could shoot a scoped rifle sufficiently, but couldn't hit a wall with a shotgun. In my twenties, I re-trained myself to shoot left-handed and became a much better shooter all around.

Today I shoot shotguns/rifles left-handed and handguns right-handed, but feel comfortable ambidextrously with rifles and handguns. I'm still worthless on the right side with a shotgun.

I would encourage learning to shoot with your dominant eye. Muscle memory and coordination can be trained, but eye dominance will stay the same.