left eye doninant question

[thorstenson1030]

Ordering a AI AE Mklll and have always shot both guns archery rt handed. I was Hoyt Pro Staff for years and now taking up shooting rifles for long range 100, 300, 600 and hopefully 1000 yards.
I understand as with archery it takes allot of time at the range and good trigger control.
Now the question I'm left eye dominate. Should I stay shooting right hand or get a left hand rifle and start there. I understand archery is a different sport but I did shoot a slider with scope out to 90 meters.
Being new this may sound like a stupid question so bare with me...thanks

 

[cb_tikka]

left eye doninant question

I'm right-handed and shoot right-handed rifles left-handed. I'm also left eyed dominant. Easy to shoot both ways. Shoot whatever is more comfortable/accurate

 

[Sig Marine]

When I work with new shotgun shooters (trap) that are left eye dominant and right handed, I offer the option of changing to shoot left handed or closing the dominant eye. Each person is different but most will close the left eye or wear glasses and black out the left lens.

 

[idahoorion]

Thorstenson,

I feel your pain, I switched to the left side at 15, cause wingshooting I could not look down the barrel. archery, shooting sights I could and do right handed. shooting instinctive no way. I think you'll be ok being right as most close their off eye anyway. and your trigger finger is trained, (assuming you shoot a release). Right guns are easier to find and easier to sell. There may be some advantages to shooting with both eye open but I don't think it's major.

Good luck
Idahoorion

 

[thorstenson1030]

Thanks for the imput. And Idahoorion funny you mentioned finger control. I shoot a release but no trigger but I know what you mean. I shoot a back tention release and by rotating my romboid muscle its a surprise when the release fires. This way we don't grab the bow.....lol

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Put a piece of scotch tape over the left eye on your shooting glasses. You will be able to shoot with both eyes open.

 

[idahoorion]

hey they make release triggers for shotgun flinchers........just mod one for a rifle action lol.

 

[Herd Thinner]

I am left eye dominate and left handed but before I knew what it meant to be left eye dominate I was handed a gun in my right hand. That being said I have trained my weak eye when shooting rifles to become dominate. I shoot both eyed open. This was accomplished by slightly closing the left eye. This will weaken it and the right eye picks up the slack. Over time it becomes natural. To pick up the reticle. No closing needed. Handgun is a different animal. I shoot both eyes open right handed but use my left eye.

 

[hahco]

I am left eye dominant and right handed. My dad was wise enough to start me shooting left-handed as a kid. I've never regretted it, even though I prefer shooting a right-handed bolt gun left-handed now.

I started out shooting archery right handed. switched at around 13-14 yrs old, it became much easier for me left-handed, using my dominant eye.

 

[USMC SgtMaj]

I'm left eye dom but very right handed, I shoot rh and have trained thousands of Marine recruits to shoot the same with very high percentages. Sight picture and sight alignment is the same regardless of which eye you use so for me, dexterity and natural coordination far outweigh the dominant eye argument especially if you start shooting pistols competitively. I'm sure there might be a few out there that switch hit but I've never seen one.

 

[thorstenson1030]

Thanks to everyone and you've let me make the decision to go right handed.
I'm looking forword to ordering my rifle next week and working at being the best I can be.
I've done the best research with my budget and with all I have to get meaning rifle, scope and rings, bore guide and rod, and for now factofy ammo as hand loads will be in my future but thats something to look forwad to and another topic. Again thanks

 

[Dynamic Response]

Ideally you should always shoot with your dominant eye. However if you already mastered shooting opposite then stick with it. Shooting with non dominant eye can me mastered but if you where new to shooting then I would say try shooting with dominant eye first. If you can't get used to it then focus on retraining your eye. Like covering it up completely when you shoot.

 

[jakelly]

I am also RH, but left eye dominant. I shoot long guns LH and I think the eye is harder to train than finger. You can make your body do one thing one way, but your brain is constantly pulling in information the way it's accustomed. I only shoot pistols dual wielding so that's a nonissue.

I actually shoot pistols RH right eye, but if I were to get serious about pistol shooting I would try LH

 

[pizfiz]

I am left eye dominate right handed. Always shot left handed with right hand rifles. Finally got the funds to build my dream rifle and went with a Short Action Customs lefty. Going forward I will never use another builder nor will I ever buy right handed rifles - FACT!

 

[majohnson2]

As another left handed shooter that uses right handed equipment. It takes a bit of work to get things going, but a little diligence you can make it work. Spend the time effort to learn to shoot with both eyes open, pays off in the end. I did it when I was involved in trap shooting, it hurt my average for while however down the road it paid in spades.

 

[mrsnorkel99]

I am left eyed dominate also. And always had right handed rifles. I shoot pistol right handed and the bow right handed.i love shooting my mitary rifles that are right handed but wish bolt was on my left.But when i had a rifle built i had a left hand built by mark @ Short Action Customs. You wont be disapointed if u hold out to find a left hand rifle. I know its harder to come buy. Either way do what is best for you.

 

[Assault116]

If you've managed to master it with Archery equipment, you should be fine with a scoped rifle. I can shoot either way with a scoped rifle but not a chance in hell with a bow or shotgun, because i've always shot both eyes open with everything and a scope forces the issue.

 

[Dark Angel]

To all 'left eye dominate', I feel for you. Didn't even know the term when I entered the Army. Just shot the way I knew how. Some 'brilliant' DI, taped my left eye to make me shoot
right handed. Finally, told my platoon Sgt.,that I stood a better chance of hitting the target by throwing my rifle. He and a Range Officer concurred, starting shoot left eye, finally
qualified. Not many left hand guns, learned to adapt, learned to work the bolt with left hand while holding rifle in place with right. Auto-loaders are a different matter, wear a hat or cap pulled
down as not to get a hot piece of brass in my face. Funny thing; neither platoon Sgt. or range officer had ever encountered the situation, or so they said. So, don't confuse yourself, if you are left eye dominate, shoot that way, use the rifle you can make consistent hits with and to hell with anyone that tries to make you change.

 

[djskit]

Another lefty eye, right hander checking in - I shoot all right handed - I only discovered my cross eye dominance after shooting for 15 years when I first took some professional instruction.

Precision rifle - I have a novel solution for that - I set my occular scope cap hinge at 10 o'clock and set it at 180 degrees open - it perfectly obscures my left eye - closing the left eye for long periods of time behind the rifle is not a good option.

Pistol - I just squint my left eye a bit

Shotgun - I use one of those fiber optic beads that can only be seen by the right eye - they have a bit of a tube and a lens that accomplishes this.

 

[steinmaster]

I'm right-handed and shoot right-handed rifles left-handed. I'm also left eyed dominant. Easy to shoot both ways. Shoot whatever is more comfortable/accurate

I'm the same way. Most of my rifles are right-handed (and I shoot them left handed) since I cannot get the models I like in left-hand. I find shooting a right hand bolt left handed from a bench or prone is easier than shooting a left hand rifle. I can see and load the chamber easier. The problem arises when I shoot it off-hand. I have to cross over the rifle and scope with my left hand to cycle the bolt. I'm not able to keep the scope on target when cycling the bolt. It has not been a major problem with me yet.

 

[kybro62]

Left eye dominant, right handed. Started shooting RH bolt rifle from the left side once I figured out I was left eye dominant. Obviously not bad shooting from the bench, but it's a real pain in the ass when trying to cycle the bolt off hand when trying to take a follow up shot on a deer. That made my decision to easy to switch to a LH rifle. Have never considered going back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AK Sgt Maj]

My older daughter is right handed, left eye dominant, and has a hard time focusing her right eye. I set up her rifle with Holder see thru mounts and took a little off the stock, and she puts the rifle up to fire right handed, but is looking thru the scope with her left eye. Been doing that for about 25 years and it has always worked for her.

 

[Aimsmall55]

I'm left eye dominant with a rifle and a shot gun, but right handed at baseball, writing, ect. Shoot a bow right handed and obviously with my right eye....... Weird , I know. Things I like about shooting a right handed rifle left handed is bolt manipulation!! Comes in handy especially while making deer drives!! I'm able to bolt and shoot w/o my trigger finger ever having to get totally readjusted and the rifle never leaves my shoulder, thereby speeding up follow up shots. Honestly , if somebody gave a left handed rifle and I was trying to bolt and shoot on the fly, I'd be lost completely and utterly. Guess it all comes down to muscle memory

 

[TCH]

Left eye dominant, very much right handed. I've always shot right handed both pistols and rifles. First 20+ years I aimed with my left eye, little weird head position compared to "normal" - especially when shooting with a scope. Did pass all the army marksman tests with flying colors though.

Then later on when shooting pistol club matches for couple of years I noticed I had a slight disadvantage and didn't get high enough points compared to my competitors. Didn't believe they were just better, suspected that my eyes might be the problem as the head position is seriously difficult when shooting one handed. So, I started to experiment and placed a card or a tape over the lense of my left eye shooting glass and started to aim with my right eye (both eyes open). Things got easier and my scores improved, even won some club competitions. Then I learned to squint my left eye a bit, right until its picture comes little hazy, my right eye takes over and I can shoot right eyed with no problem. The key is not to completely close the left eye but just squint it enought to make the right eye temporarely the dominant one. This is especially handy if shooting without shooting glasses.

 

[BWB]

I'm another one that is Left Eye dominant but shoot rifles and shot guns right handed and both eyes open. I shoot my bow completely left handed (father switched me at a young age, but kept me shooting rifles right handed - yeah NO IDEA). Anyway, I've pretty much trained my right eye to be dominant when shooting. Every so often I will have an issue picking something up in the scope and just squint my left eye a little to pick up target and then open again and I'm fine. That doesn't happen very often. I shoot shotgun pretty well both eyes open and haven't noticed an issue.

I really feel you will get used to however you choose to shoot. I'm glad I'm shooting right handed rifles for reasons already pointed out above.

 

[s002wjh]

either close lefteye or block left eye with type etc or shoot left hand. i'm left eye domin, i just close my left eye when shooting scope rifle. red dot is different story.

 

[Hilmisson]

I am right handed and always closed my left eye when I shot scoped rifles. Then later I started shooting pistols and when a friend of mine told me to practice shooting with both eyes open I found out that I was left eye dominant. Somehow I actually managed to train myself to be right eye dominant (took a while). I'm not sure if this is something that is supposed to be impossible but I did it.
I'm sure a bunch of people will doubt this so if someone has another explanation by all means explain.

 

[TCH]

I took a gun and consciously thought of what happens when I take an aim with iron sights. When I start my left eye still tries to dominate but if I squint it for tiny amount of time it gives up the domination to my right eye. I can then open it and aim with 2 eyes but right eye is the dominating one. So, it seems I have learned over the years to aim with right eye and I don't need to squint my left more than a fraction of a second to enable this.