Becoming a left handed shooter because of left eye dominance

Samson23 said:
My eyesight has been poor ever since I was a kid. I have prisms in my glasses that help them coordinate better, but even still, my right eye is very weak. When shooting, this presents as a kind of doubling at distance with both eyes open, and quick fatigue/blurring in the right eye when closing the left eye. Thus, even with a holo sight on my Tavor, I often end up closing or half-closing my left eye until inevitably I have to take a break from right eye fatigue.

I was out yesterday shooting with a friend and finally got frustrated enough with my quickly failing accuracy that I decided to try shooting left handed. After a few minutes of teaching the left side of my body what to do, I was stunned. The sight picture was not only shockingly clear, but identical with both eyes open or the right eye closed, with no fatigue. It felt like I was seeing through a new pair of eyes. I'm going to take the Tavor back to the range to re-sight it in left-handed and see what the differences are, and believe I have no choice now but to start shooting rifles left handed.

I'd like to hear what other right handed folks with severe left eye dominance and/or right eye weakness have done. Cheers.
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I have the exact same issue, and I'm also thinking of switching to left, I'm already shooting my pistols with my left eye.
 
im left eye dominance, right handed.....so over the last 6 months ive been trying/wanting to become %100 left handed...

i've been working on my left handed shooting... i hold the rifle naturally left handed, it doesnt feel weird, im not chicken winging or anything....I feel get a better sight picture, and im not too shabby with mag changes...i still naturally reach for the rifle with my right hand (trying to pick it up to shoulder it right handed) thats my issue...but habbits can be broken

i still shoot handguns better right handed (but use my left eye to aim)....shotguns is another issue, doesnt seem natural to pump with my right hand...but its a scattergun and i shoot with both eyes open anyways so theres no real reason to be left handed with it verses the real need to be a lefty with a rifle
 
Samson23 said:
Thanks for the feedback guys.


Do you mean you shoot right handed because of being right eye dominant?
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Yes.

You can drill yourself into using the weak hand, but you cannot drill the non-dominant eye into the dominant eye. The "weak hand" is physical and can be trained, but you cannot train the dominance of an eye.

Any physical postures can be drilled by repetition. Genetic stuff, that you cannot change.
 
I'm positive I can get used to a left handed posture. What I'm unsure about is whether I should also sling left handed, and swap the hardware (charging handle on the right, left handed bolt with brass ejecting out the left, etc) or keep the hardware right handed.
 
See if you can get access to either an IPSC range on your own for a few hours, or perhaps an open range that allows you to use multiple ports (probably when it's dead). I can tell you, with enough practise, you should be able to fire left handed with both eyes open. The problem is it might cost many hours of range time and a few $100 in ammunition but I assure you it can be done. I would suggest starting with handgun first and work your way up the chain through rifle and shotgun for better conditioning. As well, I would suggest using regular iron sights first - not the red-dots, just to help with the orientation. Leave the sling adjustment and other accessory fixes until last.

If an IPSC range is impossible to access or too far away, dare I say a semi-auto Crossman BB gun is a good (and cheap) way to start. Please ensure it is legal to discharge a pellet-gun within your own city limits.

Greentips's recommendation on strengthening your left hand grip is excellent. It works. Perhaps stop by a Walmart and pick up a small Russian kettlebell. There's plenty of exercises that will help you strengthen your grip and forearm quickly, just to help you along.

Good luck.

jim
 
Yes your only real option is to teach yourself to shoot rifles left handed. I'm doing that just now for the same reason, right handed but left eye dominant. You'll be surprised how fast you pick it up, I know I was. In fact I shot a match today left handed and (aside from numerous catastrophic mag problems) I shot pretty fast.

And look at it as a benefit, I spent many years shooting righty and am fairly proficient at it, some day soon I'll be able to match that with my left side and will no longer have a "strong side/support side", just two "strong sides".
 
Congratulations on 'adapting'. Anything to keep you shooting longer and better is a good thing in my books.

Cheers,

L
 
just keep both eyes open. i am left eye dominant and shooat right handed in ipsc with all firearms. i use my left eye for handgun, and right eye for rifle without issue.
 
maurice said:
just keep both eyes open. i am left eye dominant and shooat right handed in ipsc with all firearms. i use my left eye for handgun, and right eye for rifle without issue.
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As stated in my original post, this doesn't work for me when shooting right handed. I get too much doubling because the right eye wants to take over due to its proximity to the sights.
 
Samson23 said:
I see in your sig you're looking for a lefty tavor bolt. Any specific reason? I didn't have any issues with ejected brass hitting me when I shot mine left handed.
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Im a pretty big guy, so I hunker over it pretty good. Got a lefty bolt coming from north sylva now, should probably change my sig.

Also the hotter ammo, specifically the 5.56 ejects forward to the 1 to 2 oclock position and is no problem, however I only have federal .223 at the moment. Might try some norc. See my other thread: Tavor Brass Catcher, Lefty bolts, and 5.56.
 
I recall taking my Hunters Safety Course fifteen years ago, and the instrucor had us hold up our finger and then close our eyes alternately, which showed us which eye was dominant. (The finger doesn't move for the dominant eye). It is a very useful exercise which I feel is a must for any shooter.
 
I'm the same way, in fact I switched to shooting left in basketball and shot percentage skyrocketed. you have little choice but to shoot left. your eye fatigue will really change.
 
I'm unsure what to do with the issue of eye dominance. I naturally shoot left (predominantly shotgun/trap shooting so far) but apparently I'm right eye dominant. Trying to shoot right is a quite unnatural feeling. I'm not sure if I should keep trying to shoot right or if you can learn to shoot naturally with the left....

This is the only issue that's shown up so far in my limited shooting experience that has my a little down on it.
 
Merck said:
I'm unsure what to do with the issue of eye dominance. I naturally shoot left (predominantly shotgun/trap shooting so far) but apparently I'm right eye dominant. Trying to shoot right is a quite unnatural feeling. I'm not sure if I should keep trying to shoot right or if you can learn to shoot naturally with the left....

This is the only issue that's shown up so far in my limited shooting experience that has my a little down on it.
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THe one solution is to use a red dot sight on the shotgun. There is no better combo than to have your weak eye imposing the red dot over the target while your good eye has a clean line of sight. This is truly the benefit of the red dot sights and they really are perfect for us who are 'cross eyed'
 
dizzy said:
THe one solution is to use a red dot sight on the shotgun. There is no better combo than to have your weak eye imposing the red dot over the target while your good eye has a clean line of sight. This is truly the benefit of the red dot sights and they really are perfect for us who are 'cross eyed'
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I disagree. The whole reason I posted this thread was because I get shadowing/doubling with a red dot when my weak eye is the primary eye aligned with the dot.
 
Yup, maybe mine is quite severe but if I shoot both eyes open with the red dot in front of my weak eye my dominant eye takes over and all I see is down the length of the gun.

Merk, sure it feels unnatural but if you're new to shooting which it sounds like then, and you're still learning, then learn the right way. 20 odd years ago someone handed me a BB gun and said "go at it" and I chose what felt natural, I wish I'd been brought up shooing with my dominant eye because it's been a bit of a process fighting a lifetime of muscle memory from shooting the "wrong" way.

I've even started using my camera differently now, using my dominant (left) eye through the viewfinder and am finding that eye fatigue has all but disappeared.
 
Today was an exciting day!

After deciding I should have been born a lefty, I hit TSE to re-zero my Tavor. I had previously zeroed at embarrassingly short range because my right eye would fatigue and double so quickly, especially at range. It made outdoor distance shooting a piss poor experience, what with the Tavor's significant height over bore (shooting into space, pretty much).

I spent 2.5 hours and a very careful 200ish rounds, and managed to sight in my Eotech unmagnified at 50m, which ended up being a couple inches low at 25m. I shot left handed the entire time, with both eyes open, and experienced no fatigue, doubling, or other BS that could get in the way of an incredibly fun time. For someone who has gotten used to poor eyesight getting in the way, it felt like a revelation.

Now the big decision is whether or not to convert my Tavor to left handed operation (purchase left-handed bolt, remove barrel, swap charging handle, etc). In the 200ish rounds I shot, I only took a couple brass on the chin and it was hardly anything to cry about. Everything ejected mostly at 1-2 o'clock.

Anyway, if you've been thinking of switching because your hand-sided eye is a POS, just do it. Its like being given a new set of eyes.
 
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