# Shooting...left eye dominant yet right handed



## V (25 Mar 2007)

It seems that I am kind of a mutant.  I am left eye dominant yet right handed... Some say this would only effect my shooting if I were using iron sights.  I do have a tendency to shoot left, but I attributed this to snatching the trigger a little.  The question I guess if there are any mutants out there that have a problem with shooting, and or strategies that compensate.  I will say this though firing a handgun with my left hand seems to be working in my favour.  

  Cheers,

  V


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## blacktriangle (25 Mar 2007)

I am similar to you, right handed yet left eye dominant. Some weapons favour right handed shooters, so you can either teach yourself to shoot right or figure out how to do it best left. If you're in the CF, talk to a qualified instructor, they may have some suggestions for you...

I personally find I favour shooting left, but find it hard to carry out weapon drills from that position  :-[


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## PMedMoe (25 Mar 2007)

I'm the same way, but I just shoot right-handed.  Too old to change now.....


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## GAP (25 Mar 2007)

I, because of damage to my right eye when I was young, learned to shoot right-handed, but using my left eye. The USMC "politely" told me I "would" learn to shoot left handed.....end of story.


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## Bane (25 Mar 2007)

I'm left handed and shoot left handed generally (With the C-7 this gives you the odd shell hitting your helmet and you get the acidic smoke from the rounds in your eyes every now and again)  I used to do all my drill right handed and I can shoot pretty well right handed too. Try learning both and see which works better, I found being able to shoot decently both ways was really handy in CQB stuff, it also allows you to use certain types of cover better at times. 

If you are really brave you could watch the movie Fire Birds and do what Nick Cage does in that movie to fix your problem...but I'd rather cut out one eye than watch that aweful thing again.


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## kas (25 Mar 2007)

I'm the same way. I experimented with shooting left- and right-handed during BMQ and eventually settled on shooting left-handed. Seems to have worked out for me since I passed the personal weapons handling test first try, despite having never fired a weapon in my life before BMQ.

Smith2-0 raises a good point though; it takes a bit of ingenuity to do certain weapons drills that way. I found the function test to be the real pain, since it is rather tricky to re-cock your weapon with your right hand will keeping the trigger depressed with the left...

Oh, make sure you get your helmet straps sorted out properly if you're going to be firing left-handed too.

kas.


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## missionessential (26 Mar 2007)

For those of you that are right handed and left eye dominant, it all comes down to practice. When using long guns you are forced to use your right eye when shooting right handed, and your left eye when shooting left. Anything other than this is physically impossible. With ENOUGH practice one can become equally proficient at shooting with both hands. Handguns are a different animal. It is common for cross eye dominant shooters to easily sight the weapon by simply turning their head slightly in order to align the sights.

In my civvi job we are required to qualify on all of our weapons shooting from both the strong side and support side


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## X Royal (26 Mar 2007)

I am in the same situation. Here are 2 solutions that have worked for me.
1st: Just close your left eye before you fire.
2nd: If wearing  glasses a small piece of tape or soap mark in the middle of the left lens. Experiment with size (just large enough that your right eye becomes the dominate one).


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## gate_guard (26 Mar 2007)

I'm also left eye dominant but a right handed shot. For rifles, I've just taught myself to use my right eye and I've had no issues whatsoever, at this point, all my drills are too far ingrained to switch to shooting left handed anyways. When it comes to handgun shooting, I find myself naturally gravitating towards using my left eye shooting right handed but can also shoot left handed without much of a difference. Don't worry about it too much, you'll find its not that hard to adjust. Obviously you'll either have to train to shoot left handed or train aiming with your right eye, figure out which ones more comfortable and keep practicing.


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## V (30 Mar 2007)

Thank you for all of your input.  It's nice to know I'm not alone.  

  Cheers

V


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## tree hugger (30 Mar 2007)

Has anyone considered having lefty weapons in the CF?  It would've made my life a little easier...

I suck either way though... :threat:


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## Nfld Sapper (30 Mar 2007)

tree hugger said:
			
		

> Has anyone considered having lefty weapons in the CF?  It would've made my life a little easier...
> 
> I suck either way though... :threat:




Come on that would make way too much sense. Besides that means us instructors would have to teach the weapons drills twice. One for the "normal" folks and one for the you southpaws  ;D


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## tree hugger (30 Mar 2007)

Or, we could all learn left-handed...

All the instructor would have to say is "Do the opposite of what I'm doing"...too easy!


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## missionessential (31 Mar 2007)

People put way too much emphasis on doing things only one way.   :

Shooting both left and right handed is a skill every soldier should have, IMO. Especially in the current operational environment. It makes sense to make good use of cover / concealment and still be able to engage your target effectively.

With practice, it is a skill that can be developed. :threat:


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## Penny (31 Mar 2007)

:threat: I Guess I'm in the "right-hand-left-eye mutant club" (LOL) so no,  you are not alone.  Judging by the posts this club seems to have more than a few members.  Prior to joining my father taught me to shoot from the left so I could go hunting with him.  When I joined the Grenadiers in 1989 I was taught to shoot from the right.  Since then I have been trying to switch back and forth to build skill for shooting from both sides, and since I really enjoy riflry that has not been a problem - I'm always eager to spend more time on the range.  As for rifle IA and stoppage drills - a Sargent gave me great advice which was to always do the drills on the right. So far this has been working well for me.  I will be sure to keep an eye on this thread for comments from those of you who are longer in the tooth.   
Cheers.
Penny


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## KevinB (31 Mar 2007)

Instead of switching sides in shooting barriers etc you are better off moving the weapon to the other side of the body and keeping the same hands.
  Its unusual intially but much faster to transition from side to side.


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## BDTyre (2 Apr 2007)

I'm left handed, left eye dominant, and I shoot right handed with my right eye.  I tried shooting with my left, but it was awkward and my instructors told me I was not comfortable doing that so either shoot with my right eye, or shoot left handed.  Since I'd practiced all the drills right handed, and didn't think the range was a good place to be messing around, I switched to my right eye.  I still scored highly on my PWT 1.


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## Gunnerlove (3 Apr 2007)

I learned to shoot with both hands and both eyes. Practice makes perfect. Focusing on a specific method of shooting limits our ability to deal with 
"problems" . Funny thing is that at 14 I was loading autos one handed and jacking the action off of my heel. Then I joined the CF and everything became "By the book" with all the crap and bitching that that entailed. Left handed?right handed? how about you shoot he F***ing target. The more time I spend with the CF the more I appreciate shooting with my father, and the less I care what the military wants me to do on the range. 

When loading out of the right side of my vest I switch to shooting left handed, when shooting off of bipods I shoot left handed so I manipulate the bolt and brace with my right hand. If you do it enough everything will seem natural.


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## BDTyre (3 Apr 2007)

I can definitely see the advantage to shooting ambidextrous.  Its something I probably should start practicing given the opportunity.


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## V (26 May 2007)

The gunfighter program really has emphasized the problem with being cross eyed because of shooting with both eyes open.  I was shown a trick from another X man soldier... was to keep the left eye shut until you can aline the right eye on the sight and than open the left.  This seems to be working with a great deal of practice.  However, that being said, the initial start of the both eyes open shooting really emphasized the left eye dominance problem.     

Does being a cross eyed shooter effect sight alignment, and if so does that mean switching from right to left eye effect sight alignment.

V


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## Greymatters (26 May 2007)

Hello, my name is GreyMatter, and I am a also left-dominant eye/hand but raised right-handed.  

I have a disturbing image of everyone sitting in a circle of chairs...


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## Blindspot (27 May 2007)

I head somewhere (I think it was Dr. Oz  ;D) that the norm is one side handed, other side dominant eye. Try this out:

1. Grab a piece of paper or cardboard and poke a hole through it with a pencil.
2. Hold the paper up a couple feet from your face and focus on an object across the room through the hole with both eyes open.
3. Keeping the paper stationary, cover one eye with your hand. If the object shifts out of view through the hole, this is your weaker eye. (The eye that retains a visual on the object is your dominant eye)


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## Greymatters (27 May 2007)

No... I dont think so...  

The norm is for everyone to do things right handed, so unless someone spots your actually left-orientated, most lefties learn to do things the right-handed way.  

Prejudice! We've been marginalized!


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## armchair_throwaway (28 May 2007)

When most people focus on an object close to their face (say a thumb), they tend to go cross eyed. For me, I also see double when I have my thumb at arms length looking at a far away object. I can also change which eye I'm using at will without covering it up (so I won't see double) when my thumb is out. Does that mean both my eyes are dominant or ambi ocular (from google)? If someone here has the same or similar condition, how does it affect your shooting?


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## Jarnhamar (4 Jul 2009)

I've always had problems doing the whole gunfighter shoot with both eyes open stuff.

I just found out I'm a left-eye dominate, right handed shooter. 
I think that's what makes getting the correct sight alignment hard for myself and others in the same boat.

Does anyone have any tricks or ideas on how to work around this?  
As far as pistol shooting goes (I have a harder time both eyes open with a pistol than rifle) I've considered just starting to use a pistol left handed but that might be a bit extreme?


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## George Wallace (4 Jul 2009)

Ummmmm.   We've done this Left Eye Dominant thing before.


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## Jarnhamar (4 Jul 2009)

Crap I totally missed that thank you very much!


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## muskrat89 (4 Jul 2009)

In Arizona, you are allowed to hunt big game starting at 10 (supervised by an adult). My daughter drew a javelina tag so I bought her a .223 single-shot rifle. Until this year, she had been trying to shoot a .22 with no success. She "claimed" she couldn't close her left eye properly (she's right handed). Several shooting sessions (pellet gun and .22) had ended with both of us very frustrated.

When I took her to the range before hunting season, I tried a different tack - I just let her shoot left-handed. She put her first 20 rounds into a 3-inch group at 100 yards. Prior to that, it would have been unusual for her to get all of her rounds on the paper. For now, I'll let her stick with that.


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## Fishbone Jones (4 Jul 2009)

My wife has this problem and we just drifted the sights on her guns so she could use her right eye. Works fine for her.


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## GAP (4 Jul 2009)

> When I took her to the range before hunting season, I tried a different tack - I just let her shoot left-handed.



That's exactly what the Marine Corps did to me, only......in not so nice a way....


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## blacktriangle (4 Jul 2009)

Flawed Design said:
			
		

> I've always had problems doing the whole gunfighter shoot with both eyes open stuff.
> 
> I just found out I'm a left-eye dominate, right handed shooter.
> I think that's what makes getting the correct sight alignment hard for myself and others in the same boat.
> ...



I'm in the same situation and aside from my first range ever, I have always used my left as the control hand for both rifles and pistols. As for pistols, I just find it is easier to use my left hand as that is the hand that naturally reaches for a holster during transition.


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## nickinguelph (10 Jul 2009)

LOL
Never thought much about this, till I read this thread, and oh boy I am a mutant too!  Right handed, shoot rifles left handed and pistols right....  I am such a weirdo!


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## Kat Stevens (10 Jul 2009)

Not really, I'm left eyed, shoot left handed.  My right hand is basically useless for anything requiring even minimum coordination.  I bat, golf (poorly), and play hockey, all right handed.


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## ex-Sup (10 Jul 2009)

Wow, there are more people with this issue than I thought. I am fairly proficient shooting right handed (though I could certainly use some refresher time at the range) but I think I need to spend some time shooting left handed. I'm pretty good with my left hand (not quite ambidextrous) so this might work for me. I know that when I hunt, I need to make a conscious effort to keep my left eye closed (contrary to the rule of keeping both eyes open with a shotgun). I will get excited, forget and wonder why the hell I missed...duh! I know that the only thing that will be a pain is that I hunt a lot with my Dad's 1952 Mossberg bolt .410; great gun, but working that bolt left handed will be awkward. Oh well, maybe I can pretend I'm the sniper from SPR  ;D


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## Kat Stevens (10 Jul 2009)

I find bolt guns are pretty easy to work left-handed, but I was taught by a lefty (my dad) since I was kid.


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## ex-Sup (10 Jul 2009)

Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> I find bolt guns are pretty easy to work left-handed


It's a pretty decent gun, but the bolt is a bit like a Mauser, so it takes a bit of effort to work it. Also, chambering shotgun shells isn't as smooth as rifle cartridges (as you can imagine). Definitely no camparison to my No.1, Mk III


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## Bass ackwards (11 Jul 2009)

ex-Sup said:
			
		

> Wow, there are more people with this issue than I thought.



You can add me to the passenger list of that boat as well: right-handed but left eye dominant. Plus the added bonus of having poor vision in my left eye (something like 20-200). 
I had a hard time learning how to close my left eye (to this day, even so much as winking with my left -as opposed to right- eye feels odd) but I've always been reasonably proficient shooting right-handed. 

V's original post stated that he was told shooting right with a dominant left eye would cause problems with open sights. I never had that problem until my eyesight started going.

I admit to not having tried any shooting at all with both eyes open, though.


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## ex-Sup (13 Jul 2009)

Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> I find bolt guns are pretty easy to work left-handed


I went through the effort of taking a picture, then I found a picture on the net...thank you Google (also found a site that sells parts  ;D). 
http://www.box54.com/model183d.jpg
As you can see, the bolt throw is 90 degrees, which takes some effort to work. I'd have to practice a bit bunch to feel completely comfortable using this gun left-handed. If I was just target shooting, I'd probably use my Lee-Enfield. I don't hunt as much as I used to, but one day I'd like to invest in a new gun, something with a bit more pop (I do have a 20ga, but it is also a bolt). Maybe something like a Browning BPS (bottom eject  )...too bad they don't come with a composite stock in 20ga.


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## Fishbone Jones (13 Jul 2009)

*US Patent 5056909 - Contact lens for compensating eye dominance crossover*

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5056909/description.html

There are also gun stocks called 'crossover' stocks. Very expensive.


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## ex-Sup (13 Jul 2009)

> The especially adapted contact lens improves visual accuracy in connection with such activities as shooting with a rifle, shotgun, pistol or bowling


No wonder I suck at bowling! My friends always though it was my ineptitude and I blamed the beverages, but the answer was simply scientific; I couldn't aim straight! PBA tour here I come  ;D
(the lenses sound like a great idea btw)


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## VIChris (16 Jul 2009)

Bane said:
			
		

> I'm left handed and shoot left handed generally (With the C-7 this gives you the odd shell hitting your helmet and you get the acidic smoke from the rounds in your eyes every now and again)  I used to do all my drill right handed and I can shoot pretty well right handed too. Try learning both and see which works better, I found being able to shoot decently both ways was really handy in CQB stuff, it also allows you to use certain types of cover better at times.
> 
> If you are really brave you could watch the movie Fire Birds and do what Nick Cage does in that movie to fix your problem...but I'd rather cut out one eye than watch that aweful thing again.



Here's the relevant clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tya5CObdJzc

I'm in the same boat too. But was lucky enough to identify the issue (not really an issue) early on. My grandpa taught me to shoot both eyes open at an early age, and once I knew where my difficulties were coming from, I focused - pun intended - on separating my focus. Making a conscious effort to pick a target with my left eye, then force myself to 'switch' to my right eye through the scope was all it took. Well, that and a few boxes of .22LR plunked into the woodpile out back. Still works for me though.


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## aesop081 (16 Jul 2009)

VIChris said:
			
		

> - pun intended -



http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=puns

Its a joke. I'm not actualy sending you shit, dont worry.

 ;D


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## pict (18 Jul 2009)

left eye dominant, right handed...

  The gunfighter program has really emphasized the problem for me too.  I took the IPSIC course a couple of years ago and began to shoot handguns a lot... because you shoot with both eyes open it has really helped.  If your going to shoot hand guns make sure you buy a .22 first ammo is expensive.


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## VIChris (19 Jul 2009)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=puns
> 
> Its a joke. I'm not actualy sending you shit, dont worry.
> 
> ;D



I don't worry about anything. Worrying is like rocking a rocking chair. It feels good, but gets you nowhere. 

In fact, I know I'll get some mileage out of that sight. 
Cheers.


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## mellian (20 Jul 2009)

I am not sure about eye dominance, but I have a theory that my aim is better from the left. Theory started in air cadets when given left sided air rifle and manage to hit pretty close to where I aim, which was lot better than I usually did with right-sided rifles. Never got the opportunity to try it out again due to left-sided air rifles and .22 being limited, and no one believing me. Hope to figure that out during training.


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