Eyes Wide Open

[Embalmo]

Guys,

I finally decided to get over my fears and try shooting with both eyes open. I practiced around the house for a couple of days focusing my dominant (left) eye on the front sight, and I practiced sighting in on targets like lamps and fans from various distances, and WOW!!

Lemme' preface this by telling you guys that my shooting skills are about minimum CHL qualification standards, and the gun I was shooting was .22 two inch snubby, and with those limitations, I shot better than I ever did before. At 15 yards I shot a circle around the silhouette center 5 inches away (hitting the paper anywhere @ 15 yards is usually a coincidence for me). I glued a little 3 inch long heart on the silhouette and at 7 yards, I turned it into a heart shaped hole. And I did this with with my eyes both open for the first time.

Embalm Oh!

PS After 3 trips to the range, I am still in LOVE with my 2" Taurus 94-NO BUYER REGRETS!

[joe817]

Wow! That's a real eye opener embalmo! (bad pun, I know)

Congrats on improving your accuracy!

[suthdj]

This is something new to me, what are the benefits of keeping both eyes open other then a larger field of view and eye strain?

[Keith B]

This is something new to me, what are the benefits of keeping both eyes open other then a larger field of view and eye strain?

Better field of view and depth of field are just a couple things, but you have better advantages close up. Here is a good article on it http://www.hockscqc.com/articles/binocu ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[suthdj]

This is something new to me, what are the benefits of keeping both eyes open other then a larger field of view and eye strain?

Better field of view and depth of field are just a couple things, but you have better advantages close up. Here is a good article on it http://www.hockscqc.com/articles/binocu ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

interesting read I will have to try this some time when I go to the range, like most I have always done 1 eye.

[MadMonkey]

I've always disliked shooting with one eye closed in the first place, so I've practiced this for years.

Still can't hit a darn thing though

[Keith]

It's actually easy once you learn what your dominent eye is. I tried it for a while without success. I'm a right handed so used the right eye as my Dom eye. Took the CHL course and found out that even though I'm right handed my left eye is my Dom eye. Once I tried both eyes open but the left as Dom eye it came very easy and my site pic was def more clear. I also shoot better now easier.

[Embalmo]

Keith,

Yep me too-I made both the mistake of shooting with my non-dominant eye, and closing one eye. I have to get my eyes examined every 6 months because of an arthritis med, so I've known darned well for a long time that I'm left eye dominant; but like you, I'm right handed, so I closed my left eye, 'cause my right eye seemed better aligned with my right arm.

For the sake of novelty I tried to keep both eyes open and look down the sights with my right (non-dominant) eye, and that eye refuses to focus on the front sight. I did, however, find it difficult, at times, to find my target in the low light conditions at Red's. They turn the lights on only for the lanes that are used, which results in a dim, shadowy environ; I guess it'll prepare me for that proverbial dark alley that I might have to walk down one day.

Embalm, Oh?

[Keith]

How I did it once I found my dominent eye was to open that one and close the other then I just gradually started to open the other eye until it was open fully without my sight piture changing.

[USA1]

And then there's the method of clinching your eyes shut , turning your head , and hoping for the best.

Seriously though , there's a simple way to determine which is your dominate eye.
Hold your thumb a foot away from your eyes then look past it .
Alternate closing each eye . You will quickly discover the dominate eye.

[The Annoyed Man]

I noticed that, after mounting an Eotech sight on my AR, I was shooting with both eyes open; whereas with a rifle scope, it had been my habit to close my right eye (I am left hand/left eye dominant). So when I went back to shooting a scoped rifle, I tried shooting with both eyes open. It didn't work for me.

However, I shoot pistols with both eyes open, so I think that whether or not both eyes open works better is a factor of whether or not there is magnification involved.... ...at least for me.

[Reserve161]

For clarification, your "dominant eye" is the eye which you naturally use when lining
something up, or when you point to it.

USA1's method works, and there are several other methods.

If you point to an object in the distance with both eyes open, then alternate closing your eyes -- when your
hand doesn't move and is still pointing to what you were pointing at, then you are looking through your
dominant eye.

If your hand appears to shift or jump when you close an eye, you closed your dominant eye.

Elementary, and hopefully everyone knew this already, but there's the definition, at least in my own words.

[Keith]

Reserve you said it perfectly. What I did was about 15 ft away I covered an object 2 inch by 1 inch with my thumb and then started closing eyes. It was obvious immediately as like you said with dominent eye open target stayed covered.

[newbie]

Been shooting right-eyed [left closed] most of my life [since 1943].
October 2008 finds me sighting but the target disappears!
Diagnosed with a retinal macular hole; surgery did no good;
in fact, sight now worse. Peripheral vision is excellent except
for a blind spot, but focus on anything and it disappears.
So, scratch the right-eyed shooting. Switched to left-eye and
also keep both eyes open to get as much depth of field as I can
gather. Surprise me! Doing as good or maybe even better on
target. One problem now.....handguns OK, but cannot get my
left eye over enough to fire a rifle. Left-handed? Nah!
Will have to be satisfied with what I still have.