Shoot with one eye open, and one closed, or both open?

[fourfive8]

I shoot both eyes open but occasionally off eye squinted depending on lighting and glare. I feel for those shooters who learned to shoot at young age but constantly have to fight off eye dominance… where they are, for example, right handed but left eye dominate. No easy solution.

 

[steve white]

Not everyone can shoot with both eyes open. Even before I had eye problems with my left eye I couldn’t shoot with both eyes open, especially with iron sights. My left eye would take over and my right eye would be a blur.

Are you actually left eye dominant?

 

[Daryl S]

With rifles, open sighted or scoped, one eye closed.
Shotgun for clay or flying birds, both eyes open.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

I was ambidextrous when younger, forced to be right handed at school, but left eye dominate , shot rifles and shogun right hand and hand gun left handed. I would have both eyes open till I needed to shoot and then close the eye not needed so I could focus better, when I was blinded in my left eye, I had to learn how to do a lot of things over again, weirdly walking was one, it was like I was drunk falling over to the side or walking into things. Shooting now I have obvious trouble with distance, but I’m still learning to compensate for that
Gumpy

 

[Wolfe375]

I’m blind in my left eye now so I can shoot both eyes open or one eye closed without too much difference being made lol

 

[Fredrik]

I'm a right hand shooter but heavily dominant left eye -> close left eye when shooting rifles. Have tried to blur the vision of my left with office tape etc on my glasses to be able to shoot with both eyes open.

For normal handgun shooting same there, one eye and the dominant closed.

However! I shoot a class called Magnum precision here in Sweden where you lay on your back and place your handgun on your knees (with a piece of rug etc to protect yourself) and I do shoot that using my left eye only and it works MUCH better that way.

 

[Flbt]

One closed
Extremely left eye dominate

 

[Doug Hamilton]

So why start with both eyes open in the first place? Curious

I want to.see.everything that is going on around the target/game (situational awareness) up until it's trigger pulling time. Besides, wandering around holding one eye shut would be awkward and would look silly.

 

[skydiver386]

So why start with both eyes open in the first place? Curious

Not to be a smart alec, but we don't walk around all day with one eye closed. lol

Both eyes are open until a target is identified and the rifle lined up for the shot. When my right eye is lined up with the scope or sights, I close my left eye, or use a blinder of some type. It can be an opaque plastic square attached to a pair of shooting glasses, as in my post above, or a bit of tape on the lens as others have posted.

This is Sheng Lihao of China, who won the Gold at the Paris Olympics in mens 10 meter air rifle. He uses a blinder attached to the rear diopter sight on his rifle.

This is Yusef Dikec of Turkey, who became a sensation for NOT using shooting glasses or blinders of any type.

Both shooters use what works for them. As a German 10meter coach explained to me, the ability to use both eyes at once is known as binocular accommodation or binocular visual acuity. Every human has a different level of this, and from everything I've been able to gather from some of the best shooting coaches in the World, is that trying to override someones binocular accommodation is usually counterproductive. As I understand it, this is not the eyes themselves, but the brain as it joins the two visual images into one. It is how our individual brain is hard wired from birth.

When I'm out in the field I hunt with both eyes, but I shoot with one eye.

 

[Whit]

One eye closed with rifle, and two eyes open for handgun. I've tried to adjust my rifle habit.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Not to be a smart alec, but we don't walk around all day with one eye closed. lol

Both eyes are open until a target is identified and the rifle lined up for the shot. When my right eye is lined up with the scope or sights, I close my left eye, or use a blinder of some type. It can be an opaque plastic square attached to a pair of shooting glasses, as in my post above, or a bit of tape on the lens as others have posted.
View attachment 731476
View attachment 731477
This is Sheng Lihao of China, who won the Gold at the Paris Olympics in mens 10 meter air rifle. He uses a blinder attached to the rear diopter sight on his rifle.
View attachment 731479
This is Yusef Dikec of Turkey, who became a sensation for NOT using shooting glasses or blinders of any type.

Both shooters use what works for them. As a German 10meter coach explained to me, the ability to use both eyes at once is known as binocular accommodation or binocular visual acuity. Every human has a different level of this, and from everything I've been able to gather from some of the best shooting coaches in the World, is that trying to override someones binocular accommodation is usually counterproductive. As I understand it, this is not the eyes themselves, but the brain as it joins the two visual images into one. It is how our individual brain is hard wired from birth.

When I'm out in the field I hunt with both eyes, but I shoot with one eye.

Yusef Dikec was so casual when he was shooting, really stood out from all the hyped up shooters
Gumpy

Edited to fix the stupid spell check

 

[Twraska]

Are you actually left eye dominant?

I don’t know. I just never could hit the broad side of a barn with both eyes open.

I even took a shooting class in college. We used pellet guns at 33’ if I remember correctly. Both eyes open, like the teacher said to shoot, I’d be lucky to hit the 1 ring, let me shut my left eye and it was 9 or 10 ring pretty much all the time. (We had some really bad guns and some were not capable of a tight group, those days you just shot and remembered not to grab that one next time.) I might have accidentally shot my partner’s target a few times so she could pass. LOL

Anyway, now with my screwed up left eye, I’m just lucky I can still shoot at all. No way to check it now, center vision is a big blur in the left eye, with decent peripheral vision.

Also, I probably need to mention, I’m weird in that I can close either eye without squinting at all. Heck, I can blink left, right, left back and forth with any trouble.

 

[SStomcat]

However! I shoot a class called Magnum precision here in Sweden where you lay on your back and place your handgun on your knees (with a piece of rug etc to protect yourself) and I do shoot that using my left eye only and it works MUCH better that way.

So where exactly is this technique supposed to shine? If I’m understanding it right, you’re flat on your back with the gun rested on your folded knees, aiming at a target that’s basically 45–60 degrees up in the air.
I’m trying to picture the scenario where this is useful… other than impressing your buddies with your Cirque du Soleil–meets–range-day routine

 

[MS 9x56]

I am left handed but right eye dominant. I had to learn to shoot right handed but even then I am still a bit different. Shotguns I shoot right handed with both eyes open rifles I shoot right handed left eye closed. Pistols I am ambidextrous I shoot both left and right handed both eyes open. Qualified expert with 1911 both left and right handed. Drove the range officer crazy.

 

[Wooster]

Both eyes open staring over the scope with little or no cheek weld and then let the flinch bring it all together.

 

[SStomcat]

Both eyes open staring over the scope with little or no cheek weld and then let the flinch bring it all together.

Love it, by far the best I have heard

 

[Russ16]

So where exactly is this technique supposed to shine? If I’m understanding it right, you’re flat on your back with the gun rested on your folded knees, aiming at a target that’s basically 45–60 degrees up in the air.
I’m trying to picture the scenario where this is useful… other than impressing your buddies with your Cirque du Soleil–meets–range-day routine

This is basically how the handgun silhouette guys used to shoot if I’m picturing it right. Or on their back with the gun rested against the side of a leg. Hitting steel rams at 400 yards with a handgun. Fun sport only tried it once.

 

[RedTag]

Would you elaborate on why so?

I could comfortably go both eyes open up to 6x but past there I find no benefit and it starts to distract me from my sight picture. This becomes more pronounced when using increasingly higher magnification. I find it virtually impossible to shoot well with both eyes open at say 14x or higher. So 3x isn’t at all a hard and fast rule but rather the point at which I typically start to close my non dominant eye while shooting. I’m sure this is different for everyone. For 1x or 2x scope, iron sights (to include handguns and shotguns in conventional configuration) the both eyes open approach works well for me.

 

[skydiver386]

Yusef Dikec was so casual when he was shooting, really stood out from all the hyped up shooters
Gumpy

Edited to fix the stupid spell check

If you ever attend any 10 meter rifle or pistol event, most shooters are very relaxed. The game is to use as little muscular tension as possible.

At the German Clubs I shoot with, it's more about the fellowship and food, so everyone is nonchalant about the entire affair.

 

[tomahawker]

Game standing still-one eye
Running/flying-both eyes