Shooting with both eyes open?

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juicy256

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Hey guys just had a question about shooting with both eyes open? I recently had nerve damage to my left eye which prevents me from closing my left eye to aim, do any of you guys shoot with both eyes open I have tried changing to left handed shooting but it just feels so unnatural. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot
 
sometimes i do. i've not put enough rounds down range doing it to tell if it has a positive or negative effect on accuracy.

i have also been told by some very knowledgeable experienced shooters that thats the way they shoot. it seems to work very very well for them.
 
I shoot with both eyes open but use a blinder on the left side. A piece of scotch tape (the frosted type) on your glasses will work.
 
maynard said:
I shoot with both eyes open but use a blinder on the left side. A piece of scotch tape (the frosted type) on your glasses will work.
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So do I, but I use a Gehmann blinder.

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Clips onto the safety glasses, and flips up when full vision's required. No need to bother with tape. $26 + postage from a target shooting supplier in Gatineau.
 
I keep both open when using optics, however I don't when using irons. Anyone have any good ways to train using irons with both eyes open? (Without any sort of patch...)
 
"Shooting" is a very all-inclusive expression. But. yeah most of the time, it is to your advantage to shoot with both eyes open. Bullseye shooters tend to use some translucent material to obscure their vision of the non-aiming eye, so that they so not develop strain by squinting that eye shut. Since bullseyes tend to be in the same spot, match after match, target acquisition is not an issue for those who shoot them. Not being an accomplished shotgunner, I can't tell you what works best for them, but I expect having both eyes open allows you to see both your target, and to sense the presence of your barrel.

Scope uses benefit from keeping both eyes open, as it enables you to find the target with you non-aiming eye, while acquiring the scope's aiming point with the other. Not sure what the iron sight rifle guys do , but googling David Tubb will probably find you the words of a master at that game.

Good luck, and keep both eyes open!
 
Helps with eyestrain, too. I found I got tired quicker when closing one eye.

I used to close one eye, then went to a tape blinder, then for the past year or so started to go with nothing at all. Don't know if it got easier because I got "better" or just because I am older with worsening eyesight, lol.
 
SwifTst, just dry practice with the gun out there, and practice staring at the front sight. Sooner or later your brain will discard the false image offerd by your non-aiming eye, and you just won't see it anymore. Takes time, but the advantage is that it trains you to concentrate on the front sight, to the exclusion of all else. You will sense the rear sights, whatever they are, and the bullseye, "A" zone, "B" zone, whatever will just be a blur, as they should be.

Oh, and to get even more focused, just see the very top of the front sight.
 
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I am reading a book on snipers and how they are trained. They usually keep both eyes open to reduce eyestrain and to maintain situational awareness.
 
If your dominant eye is your right, you may be able to shoot with both eyes open without too much retraining.

If your left eye is dominant it may be more difficult but likely still doable depending on the degree of dominance. The human body can adapt to a lot of things.

Find out which eye is dominant and go from there.

My eye dominance matches my handedness but I only I only keep both open when shooting shotgun.
 
ykkid said:
SwifTst, just dry practice with the gun out there, and practice staring at the front sight. Sooner or later your brain will discard the false image offerd by your non-aiming eye, and you just won't see it anymore. Takes time, but the advantage is that it trains you to concentrate on the front sight, to the exclusion of all else. You will sense the rear sights, whatever they are, and the bullseye, "A" zone, "B" zone, whatever will just be a blur, as they should be.

Oh, and to get even more focused, just see the very top of the front sight.
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Thank you; very helpful.

With a handgun it's no problem. However with a rifle it's going to take time.
 
I too use a blinder when shooting. To make my blinder we cut a strip out of a plastic milk jug and attatched it to a headband with velcro. With lots of practice I did get to where I could shoot with peep sights with both eyes open without needing the blinder.
 
A red dot scope will allow you to use both eyes, I have an Aim Point on my 10/22 and with both eyes open the scope body kind off disappears or fades away and all you see is the red dot.
 
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