Tips for shooting both eyes open

[HeritageCustomArms]

Why? I mean what is your goal? Usually both eyes open is for speed shooting, fast transitions between multiple targets, or moving targets (like shotgun games) Are you talking about pistol or rifle or what? I'm not a fan of the term "point shooting" because it implies there is no aiming involved. There are different levels of aiming. Think of it like different quality of sight pictures, you'll need to buy a lesson for more on that


You see double because its not possible to see near (sights) and far (target) in clear focus at the same time.


With a dot sight It is more natural to focus on the target, and thats exactly what you are supposed to do with one. A target focus with both eyes open, looking through the glass with the dot appearing on the target is easier for your eyes and brain to line up compared to rear aight, front sight and target alignment.

I would love to get into speed shooting in the near future. I have read a lot about the benefits of shooting with both eyes open both in defensive and target type shooting with a pistol. I have heard of guys that have shot for years having trouble transitioning to shooting with both eyes open, so where I am just starting, maybe I should just jump right into it and learn it now. Maybe I used the wrong term by saying point shooting.

 

[JNewell]

I am right handed and cross eye dominant. I find that a light squint works or slightly turning my head about 5-10 degrees off center to right does the trick. I do this with irons and red dots.

One can argue either way about whether or not one should learn with irons or a red dot.
I think a red dot is an awesome tool for teaching shooting because it reduces the number of things that your brain has to do in the shot process. With irons of target, front sight, rear sight. With a red dot its just target and dot. It allows you to focus on all the other stuff which is harder to learn and takes bit more time to become rote: Body, grip, trigger press, recoil anticipation/control.
A dot gives you instant visual feedback about what you are doing wrong and why you are shanking shots. All of that skill will translate over to irons.
That being said there is a learning curve to dots that is real. Learning how to draw and find the dot-fairy takes lots and lots and lots of reps. When you start moving and shooting and shooting from strange angles/positions dots can be a challenge. The upside is speed and accuracy on tap. All of this stuff translates directly benefits when using irons sights, but its just another thing to learn.

Also regardless or irons or dot, dry-fire can help with the eye focus deal.

I'm in the same position for most things and this is basically how I deal with it as well.

 

[Rocky Mosasaurus]

My buddy was in the Army and said that’s the only way he would shoot. After thousands of rounds a day he said it just became instinct. Of course he was shooting full-auto and semi. I’m working on the same thing and it’s all about practice but also shooting lefty in addition to shooting righty. You switch back and forth and mix in some shooting with both eyes open, then switch hands and shoot both eyes open and mark on the target where you’re shooting off and change your grip and how you’re focusing. Your proprioceptors become more developed and then soon enough you’re shooting with both eyes open all the time! But I haven’t gotten there yet.

 

[SKumar]

Manchester Firing Range is open to the public and only 20 minutes away from me. Brought my employees for a fun day.

Did you rent the RPD?

 

[LoginName]

 

[cjrubes]

I am right handed and cross eye dominant. I find that a light squint works or slightly turning my head about 5-10 degrees off center to right does the trick. I do this with irons and red dots.

Same thing I do. I'm right-handed but left eye dominant. I just line the sights up in front of my left eye and I've found, like you, that turning my head slightly to the right helps me pick up and focus on the front sight quicker (I shoot with both eyes open). I've done it enough that it's become second nature. I still see the sights/target with both eyes but, with practice, I've learned to ignore what my right eye is telling me.

 

[HeritageCustomArms]

Did you rent the RPD?

No, I should have though. Next time.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Gee. I thought, pretty much no matter what your flavor, your go-to was two-eyes-open. Only in certain situations do you go one-eye.

 

[Emacs]

If you're not already at the skill level of USPSA master, shooting pistols with both eyes open will be visually confusing and probably just hold you back. If you want to improve, do what winning competitors do... practice the fundamentals every day.

 

[SJan]

If you're not already at the skill level of USPSA master, shooting pistols with both eyes open will be visually confusing and probably just hold you back.

I don't agree with this statement.

If you want to improve, do what winning competitors do... practice the fundamentals every day.

This I do agree with.

There is a lot going on with your eyes and your brain when it comes to aligning pistol sights on a target. Science.
You can either focus on the far away thing (target) or the near thing (sights, preferable the front one) at a time, there can only be one of those in clear focus at a time.

If your eyes have a clear focus on the front sight while both of your eyes are open, there will be two targets visible, your brain must decide what target is the one you must aim at. This can be done by someone with very little pistol shooting skill, its not reserved to USPSA Masters. How easy or difficult this is for you depends on your eyesight, any amount of nearsightedness or farsightedness (corrected or not) and how strong of an eye dominance you may have.


Personally I shoot a pistol with a target focus 80% of the time, with both eyes wide open 100% of the time. I am right handed and right eye dominant.
With the target in clear focus I am completely aware of my sight alignment, although the sights are not sharp and clear. There is only one sight image that I am consciously aware of, I have to purposefully make myself look for the second 'ghost image' sights.

Pick up an empty gun and try it. Or just a pen. Focus on a light switch on a wall across the room, bring a pen up into your view of the light switch, how many pens do you see? What one is the one you are holding in line with your eyes and the lightswitch? How sure are you? Is the second pen in your way or distracting you?

Now do the same thing with the pen with one eye closed. Is it easier / harder or faster/slower to aim the pen at the light switch with one eye or two?

For me Its just as easy / fast with two eyes open. Two eyes open gives me a far wider field of view, and allows for depth perception, so I shoot with both eyes open.

 

[NannerClips]

Assuming we're talking pistols my tip would be not to overthink it. I'm right handed cross eye as well. When I started I shot with one eye (left) shut cause I thought thats "what you do". Now I was corrected early on, like REALLY early. Maybe a month after my first time shooting, tops. So after that I don't remember honestly I think I just started doing it and I must've been adjusting without realizing it because it was months later I realized I was left eye dom. I was doing a lot of dry firing and practicing a good bit. After I became aware of cross eye dominance then I was like "oh, no shit".

Then I started shooting rifles and well, that's a different topic. Lol

 

[straightshooterjake]

I am a Range Safety Officer and I am also certified as an instructor, though I rarely teach. I have spent a lot of time working with inexperienced shooters, though admittedly not as much as some people here. And one of the main lessons I have learned from teaching people pistol fundamentals is that eye focus works differently for different people.

For example, in my case, someone told me very early on to shoot with both eyes open, so I just did that. I've done it ever since and I never had to think very much about it. My strong side eye is sufficiently dominant that I don't get double images from my weak eye. I can see the sights with one eye, and all of my surroundings with both eyes, and it just works for me.

But once I started working with other people, I learned that eye focus works differently for different people. Some people only have a slightly dominant eye, and for some people, dominance can even change when they get very tired. So if eye focus is very challenging, do people really need to shoot with both eyes open? I think the answer is that like every other part of training, you need to assess training time available, specific desired skills, and natural strengths and weaknesses.

So I do believe that most people should shoot with both eyes open in most pistol disciplines. But for someone who finds it impossible to keep both eyes open, it may be best to focus on trigger control, smoothness, and other fundamentals of pistolcraft unless huge amounts of training time are available.

 

[JNewell]

Gee. I thought, pretty much no matter what your flavor, your go-to was two-eyes-open. Only in certain situations do you go one-eye.

I manage pretty well with pistols with both eyes open. Iron sight rifles and shotguns are sort of a problem for me. I've gotten better over the years with brain training but when I was young literally the only thing I saw with both eyes open was the left side of the barrel if I had both eyes open.

When I do off-side shooting behind barriers the left eye dominance is great, though.

 

[HeritageCustomArms]

This is probably the most unorthodox method, but because the state of Massachusetts is holding my pistols hostage until they open up the shops and I can get them from thee FFL, I've had to be resourceful. I am definately going to open myself up for a couple jabs here, but oh well. So.... I took my son's nerd gun and put white out on the front sight. When everyone goes to bed, I've spend a couple hours each night circling around my living room, bringing the pistol with foam darts, lol, up to my line of site and back down, over and over. Today, I went to tractor supply to get some grain for the horses and picked up a bb gun pistol for my son, who has been very interested in my new hobby. He is 6 and I showed him everything I had learned in my safety classes. It was really cool, every time he picked it up he would say, where is my muzzle pointing, where is my trigger finger....thats my boy! Anyway, I was shooting it and couldn't believe that not once did I have to squint my non dominant eye to get a focus on my site or target. Only a couple times did I give a quick blink to get the focus back where it needed to be. Heading to the range tomorrow with a couple friends and can't wait to try it out. If this works and helped, maybe instructors might need to start implementing the Nerf Gun technique. Lol. Thanks for all of your tips.