Right handed and left eye dominant- HELP!


Marissa

Marissa

Banned
Ok- so here's my deal- I am right handed but left eye dominant.
~If I shoot a handgun right handed with my right eye I can't even hit paper.
~ If I shoot left handed and left eye I shoot pretty well but I am not a leftie so it is akward for me to handle the gun as a leftie.

I was at a gun shop today looking for a new "toy" and I was having no luck finding anything that I liked with an ambi slide release. The guy there told me that he is right handed and left eye dominant and he shoots right handed and just brings the sight picture over to his left side. I need to get to the range soon and try this out because it sounds like a perfect solution.

Do any of you have experience with this or any pearls of wisdom for me?
 

I am a rightie who is left-eye dominant. When shooting a handgun, I shift my stance and allow the left eye to do the sighting. When shooting a rifle, I've learned to allow the left eye to loose focus and concentrate on what the right eye sees.

Shifting your stance and using your left eye isn't that difficult, but there are "tricks" to help if you need them. The most common is to cover the right lens of your shooting glasses.
 
Your avatar shows you shooting a rifle. Looks like you're shooting with your right hand. :confused: You should train to shoot with the hand that corresponds to your dominant eye. Over time you will be able to develop skills to shoot with either hand, but in high stress situations, you will find yourself reverting to your dominant eye. Over the years I've trained many students who are "cross eye dominant". Most people tend to do better shooting as I previously explained.

With handguns, it is possible to shift your body position and use your dominant eye to shoot, but with rifles, you will need to use the same hand as your dominant eye. It's nearly impossible to adjust your body to look over the barrel and line up the sights.

For simplicity sake and in your best interest, I strongly recommend finding a gun you like that you can shoot with your left hand. It will feel odd at first, but with practice, you will get the hang of it. As you already experienced, you shot better with your left hand. When shooting long guns, shooting left handed is critical.

Good luck in finding a gun that you like. There are many production arms on the market that are easily adapted to left and shooters. I recommend you shoot as many handguns as possible to find out what will work best for you.



gf
 
I'm the opposite, left hand/right eye. That's pretty much what I do, shift over and sight with my right eye.
Ange
 
I am fortunate, I'm a righty all the way. My daughter is right handed, but left eye dominate. She seems to do fine holding the hand gun with the right hand and sighting with her left eye, but I had to work a little with her shooting the rifle. She shoots well with her right eye, but complains that it does not seem natural. Tough when things don't line up the way they are supposed to - I feel for ya.:biggrin:
 
I am the sorta the same way. I believe I should have been a lefty, but as a child in kindergarten the teacher made me write with my right hand. Her reasoning was that my Mom and Dad are are both right handed so I am right handed too. Go fig. Once I figured that out, after a conversation with my Mom several years ago, I have been working more with my left hand and now I am pretty much ambidextrous. I can shoot handguns with either hand and shift to the left to sight with my left eye when I am shooting right handed. Rifles and Shotguns, I shoot left handed.

I usually carry one of my Glocks on my right side and my BUG (P-3at or my Glock 26) goes on my left. That way if one hand is injured, then I will have a firearm for the good hand, no matter which one it is.
 
Glock Fan said:
Your avatar shows you shooting a rifle. Looks like you're shooting with your right hand. :confused: You should train to shoot with the hand that corresponds to your dominant eye. Over time you will be able to develop skills to shoot with either hand, but in high stress situations, you will find yourself reverting to your dominant eye. Over the years I've trained many students who are "cross eye dominant". Most people tend to do better shooting as I previously explained.

With handguns, it is possible to shift your body position and use your dominant eye to shoot, but with rifles, you will need to use the same hand as your dominant eye. It's nearly impossible to adjust your body to look over the barrel and line up the sights.

For simplicity sake and in your best interest, I strongly recommend finding a gun you like that you can shoot with your left hand. It will feel odd at first, but with practice, you will get the hang of it. As you already experienced, you shot better with your left hand. When shooting long guns, shooting left handed is critical.

Good luck in finding a gun that you like. There are many production arms on the market that are easily adapted to left and shooters. I recommend you shoot as many handguns as possible to find out what will work best for you.



gf
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Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. I am shooting a rifle, right handed in my avatar. In truth, I can't stand rifles and I avoid them like the plague but I don't have a decent picture of me shooting a handgun! :laugh: In fact, this is my brother-in-law's rifle I was shooting and I shot horribly with it as a righty!!
 
Marissa said:
Ok- so here's my deal- I am right handed but left eye dominant.
~If I shoot a handgun right handed with my right eye I can't even hit paper.
~ If I shoot left handed and left eye I shoot pretty well but I am not a leftie so it is akward for me to handle the gun as a leftie.

I was at a gun shop today looking for a new "toy" and I was having no luck finding anything that I liked with an ambi slide release. The guy there told me that he is right handed and left eye dominant and he shoots right handed and just brings the sight picture over to his left side. I need to get to the range soon and try this out because it sounds like a perfect solution.

Do any of you have experience with this or any pearls of wisdom for me?
Click to expand...

Check out the M&P 9c. It has an ambidextrous slide release. Its in the fingerprint safe, loaded.
 
Marissa said:
Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. I am shooting a rifle, right handed in my avatar. In truth, I can't stand rifles and I avoid them like the plague but I don't have a decent picture of me shooting a handgun! :laugh: In fact, this is my brother-in-law's rifle I was shooting and I shot horribly with it as a righty!!
Click to expand...

Most left eye dominant folks do, as they have a difficult time lining up the sights with the target. I've trained many, young, old and anywhere in between. When I have a student that can't hit the biggest of targets with a rifle, I double check their eye dominance. Many times it's the student that wasn't paying attention in class and had that "yeah, yeah, my daddy always takes me shooting" attitude. :rolleyes: After a few minor adjustments and some range time, they're able to hit the target, and at least shoot their first group. :biggrin:

There are a few manufacturers that make left handed rifles. Hopefully you'll find one to your liking. Happy shooting!



gf
 
Hey Marrisa;
My wife is right handed and left eye dominate as well. (It's funny; but I see a lot of women that suffer from the same malady. :biggrin:)

My wife has done several things; including shooting lefty and covering her left eye to strengthen the right. (This may have worked "somewhat".) After a year she seems to depend more on her right eye when shooting a handgun. But, she still prefers to shoot a long gun lefty style.

I suggest to just keep practicing. I think over time your body will adapt and you will become very proficient. I know my wife did.
(After little more than a year, she can out shoot me and most of the 200 men in our gun club.)
 
Left eye dominant and right handed, here. No problem with a handgun, as others have posted, I use a Weaver stance and simply shift my head a bit. Easily qualify with the US Marshal's criteria. Here's an advantage, too: I shoot very well left handed (imagine your "good" hand has been wounded), since that's the dominant eye.

I still shoot a rifle (and bow) right handed, good enough to whack my share of large game. I'll never be a sharpshooter but I'm feeling kinda old to try and shoot left handed now.
 
Marissa said:
Thank you dear, you're very cute. As you know, I want MY OWN handgun! You know I love your M&P!:biggrin:
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's time for KN to move up to the M&P .45 (see KN, it's karma working again..) He seemed to like mine and he shot it quite well as I recall..:biggrin:

Also try shooting with both eyes open and allow your dominant eye to get the front sight alignment. Yea I know sounds hokey, but I have tried it with some level of success. I shoot a rimfire only plate shoot match every other Monday and have trained myself to use both eyes. I'm using a red dot scope in that case. I've tried it with the .45 on iron sights and it just takes practice and some getting used to.

Peace...
 
I have the same issue. Right Handed, Left Eyed.

For pistol I typically use a modified weaver stance with the supporting arm slightly pulling my strong arm to the left. This has worked very well for me.

For rifle with iron sites or a scope, I close my left eye and shoot just fine that way. Shooting rifle with both eyes open just doesn't work well for me without a reflex site or utilizing a point shooting technique.
 
Marissa said:
Thank you dear, you're very cute. As you know, I want MY OWN handgun! You know I love your M&P!:biggrin:
Click to expand...

As I understand it, it is a woman's prerogative to just claim that M&P as your own and tell him to go get his own. :biggrin:
 
I'm a fan of the "both eyes open" school of fixing this. If you simply point your finger at something, as if indicating something to a friend, you'll find - if you freeze it and follow it through - that your "aim" is usually unerring. By practicing the same skill at normal 'social encounter' distances - 1 to 7 yards, for example - you might find yourself getting more skillful at your pistolcraft.

Of course, for pinpoint bullseye shooting at 25 yards, you'll have to compromise. I also think a red-dot holographic-type sight is a good option. There are plenty of really good ones available for a variety of sidearms.

Good Luck!! Keep us informed!
 
I too suffer from right hand/left eye dominance. I never even knew it until a few months ago when I tried my first long guns. I had been shooting pistols for quite a while with no problem; I did well with either hand. Once my husband handed me a rifle for the first time, I couldn't line up the front & rear sights for anything.:hang3: It never occured to either of us that I was closing my right eye... Out of desperation, I tried left handed, and immediately acquired a proper sight picture.:biggrin: I am still experimenting between shooting left handed and shooting with both eyes open. So far I am doing better with both eyes open. Since I have had some problems with my right wrist, I feel it is especially important to be proficient shooting from either side. Good luck in finding what works best for you.:pleasantry:
Fondis
 
I don't understand why being right handed with a strong left eye is a problem. I have been this way for 48 years I tilt my head to the left to make any adjustments needed to make the proper sight adjustments.
 
Have you tried shooting with both eyes open? You'll get two sight pictures. With a little practice you'll be able to shoot left or right handed. I'm RH and in the military I began to practice left handed. Pretty soon I was able to shoot both-eyes-open and equally good with either hand.

If you are firing with the RH, use the left sight picture. If you are firing RH, use the left sight picture.
 
wolfhunter said:
As I understand it, it is a woman's prerogative to just claim that M&P as your own and tell him to go get his own. :biggrin:
Click to expand...

See, now that's what I wrote...

KN get the M&P45 and give the 9c to the lovely wife. :biggrin:
If need be I'll come down to the range again and bring mine along for persuasion...:laugh:

Peace...
 
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