Shooting rifle with two eyes open

drmitchgibson · Aug 18, 2011

So I was talking with Steve at CHA, and he pitched a nice red dot at me. Which steered things to shooting a rifle or shotgun with both eyes open. I've found this to be extremely difficult in comparison to learning to shoot a pistol the same way. In fact, I can barely do it with any consistency with my AR, and can't get it down at all with my shotgun. Yet. Is there something to do that helps, or is it just lots of practice?
I'm strong side dominant with respect to hands/eyes.

benjamin-benjamin · Aug 18, 2011

i could never ever do it normally, so i put tape over one eye.. only way i can do it.. a couple of my buddies are the same way..

Spiff · Aug 18, 2011

Focus on the target with the shotgun. Rifle takes a little more getting used to.

I've heard of lots of folks using tape on the left lens of their glasses. Eventually they're able to take the tape off.

taymoor · Aug 18, 2011

Benjamin and I both have to use tape, except I use a 3/4'' x 3/4'' (or maybe smaller) piece of tape on my weak eye and he covers the whole left lens up with tape.

jtischauser · Aug 19, 2011

It took me about 10-20 hours of dry fire starting with one eye closed then squinting and or blinking the left eye to get the right eye to take over. It's different for everyone kinda like the ability to switch hit in baseball. Some guys, like me, can go both ways. Some guys need a little help.

LuckyDucky · Aug 19, 2011

What are the advantages to shooting with both eyes open?
-Wider field of view
-depth perception

Those are 2 things I can think of.

When I shoot the really close targets, I will have both eyes open but I find it hard to do if the targets are further than a few yards

jtischauser · Aug 19, 2011

2 eyes are better than 1!!!

Corey · Aug 19, 2011

In long range shooting (tactical rifle) the guys I have shot with shoot both eyes open I have never seen a guy with tape or a patch. There is a reason why but i cannot remember. Shots vary from 400 to 1000 all targets are typically 1-2 MOA.

taymoor · Aug 19, 2011

LuckyDucky (Spencer) said:
What are the advantages to shooting with both eyes open?
-Wider field of view
-depth perception

Those are 2 things I can think of.

When I shoot the really close targets, I will have both eyes open but I find it hard to do if the targets are further than a few yards

There is another reason. Because your eye muscles work bilaterally they become strained together. So, when you close your weak eye it becomes strained from staying closed which, in turn, strains your strong eye.

LStevens · Aug 19, 2011

I've done the tape thing before but I start seeing it more and more as I try to ignore it. Eye doc says I do not have a dominant eye. Both are equal.

Jesse, I'm disappointed. "Some guys, like me, can go both ways. Some guys need a little help." Does the wife know? Is it Taymoor? I know he has that exotic thing going for him...

KurtM · Aug 19, 2011

N.T.G.D (not to go dick) ....but if you don't have a dominant eye why would you ever have had to use tape? I...like you, don't have a dominant eye and I usually switch eyes when I switch sides for strong hand/weakhand drills with all 3 guns. Matter of fact I shot a round of skeet with the Skeet Master Pinto off the right side AND the left side with the same score ...21 birds each time. Never in my life have I had to "tape" "dim" or "squint", I just choose which eye to look out of. IF you have had to use tape...you have a dominant eye, and thats no lie! Kurt "iguana vision" Miller.

Spiff · Aug 19, 2011

Corey said:
In long range shooting (tactical rifle) the guys I have shot with shoot both eyes open I have never seen a guy with tape or a patch. There is a reason why but i cannot remember. Shots vary from 400 to 1000 all targets are typically 1-2 MOA.

It's common to see folks using a blinder in hi-power.

sparks40 · Aug 19, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
It took me about 10-20 hours of dry fire starting with one eye closed then squinting and or blinking the left eye to get the right eye to take over. It's different for everyone kinda like the ability to switch hit in baseball. Some guys, like me, can go both ways. Some guys need a little help.

Sean M told me that if you need help going both ways then you should join the Navy!

LStevens · Aug 19, 2011

KurtM said:
N.T.G.D (not to go dick) ....but if you don't have a dominant eye why would you ever have had to use tape? I...like you, don't have a dominant eye and I usually switch eyes when I switch sides for strong hand/weakhand drills with all 3 guns. Matter of fact I shot a round of skeet with the Skeet Master Pinto off the right side AND the left side with the same score ...21 birds each time. Never in my life have I had to "tape" "dim" or "squint", I just choose which eye to look out of. IF you have had to use tape...you have a dominant eye, and thats no lie! Kurt "iguana vision" Miller.

True, I have an abby normal brain. I can bring a rifle (or pistol) up and 80% of the time I'm good to go. Next thing I know I see two set of sight and have to mentally pick the left set. May be its a tumor! When I did use the tape, my brain would start to fixate on the tape. It works that way when my glasses are dirty also. Maybe I'm OCD.

jtischauser · Aug 20, 2011

I'm pretty sure Kurt can see out of his ears too. His stache has sonar as well.

bigbrowndog · Aug 20, 2011

Closing one eye also causes the other eye to close slightly, due to the "bilateral" movement. The term I am more familiar with is sympathetic movement, which is why when we have an eye injury we will cover both eyes to keep the uninjured one from causing the injured one to move. So if you close one eye you are also closing the other one,...........slightly!!

both open allows faster transitions, wider field of view, and stops those questions about "why you have tape on your glasses"

Trapr

LuckyDucky · Aug 21, 2011

http://www.trijicon-...com/aiming.htm l

I googled a bit and the trijicon BAC is apparently a new take on the Occluded Eye concept

dennishoddy · Aug 21, 2011

I'm just gonna say I'm ambidextrous, not both ways

. I throw left, and write with the right hand. I typically shoot with both eyes open, as a life long bird hunter, I can keep the whole covey in sight while taking shots. Its getting harder to do though with these bifocals.

I was at the range this weekend helping a unit of the Army Reserve for weapons training, and saw one of our members that is a 1K yard shooter at Camp Perry that had glasses on with one lens red, and the other clear. I didn't have time to ask why.
Anybody know about this? He shoots left handed.

LuckyDucky · Aug 21, 2011

I found this interesting quote on another forum...

You can use the back of a pistol as an OEG for quick closeup work.

Rather than looking at the sights, look at the target THROUGH the back of the pistol. Of course there's no red dot, but the outline/silhouette of the slide frames the target and you can see the target through that silhouette. Very fast and surprisingly accurate.

Has anyone ever tried this while shooting? I haven't but I just now tried it aiming at things in my room... Since I'm looking past the gun, I see 2 guns on both sides of the target and I guess you just line the target up in the middle... Would be interesting to try!

kaiserb · Aug 22, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
It took me about 10-20 hours of dry fire starting with one eye closed then squinting and or blinking the left eye to get the right eye to take over. It's different for everyone kinda like the ability to switch hit in baseball. Some guys, like me, can go both ways. Some guys need a little help.

Same here. The tip I heard a year or so ago was to practice dry fire with both eyes open in front of the TV. The motion in the background really helps set your dominant eye to focus and the non-dominant eye to relax during a sight picture.