red dot sights

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In my quest to learn to shoot an AR, I took an introductory lesson in which the instructor informed me I need to keep both eyes open to properly use the red dot sight. That resulted in seeing double so I finished the lesson using my right eye only, and did the same on a subsequent range visit. I shoot my revolvers with my left eye closed also, including if I am shooting one-handed with the left hand.

While I am planning to visit an ophthalmologist to learn whether there is something wrong with my eyes that will prevent me from shooting with both eyes open, I'm curious to know whether anyone here experienced the same thing and if so whether you were able to overcome it and learn to shoot with both eyes open, and if so, how you did it.
 
I seriously doubt there is something wrong with your eyes, I would suggest holding off on making an appointment to see an eye doctor unless you have a medical condition.Try using a piece or two of scotch tape (the opaque kind) on your safety glasses over your non dominant eye. This will let you keep both eyes open but only lets you focus using your dominant eye. After a few range sessions like that you can remove the tape and you should be good to go.
 
You are probably left eye dominate shooting right handed. A simple test. Point your finger at an object with both eyes open. Without moving the finger close first one eye, then the other. With only one of your eyes open the finger will still be pointed at the object. That is your dominate eye. With only the other eye open your finger will appear to be pointed somewhere else.

Most peoples dominate eye is the same as the strong side of their body. I'm right handed and right eye dominate. I have no issues shooting anything, with any type of sight with both eyes open. My brother is right handed, but left eye dominate. He had to make a choice, either shoot with his dominate eye closed, the left one, or learn to shoot left handed so the dominate eye is behind the sights.

With handguns it isn't that hard to hold the pistol in the middle and shoot cross dominate. But with rifles and shotguns you really need the dominate eye behind the sights. My brother learned to shoot rifles and shotguns left handed. He struggled at first, but after he mastered shooting from the left side became a MUCH better shot. Especially with a shotgun where you really need both eyes open.
 
I also don't have that issue and I am cross-dominant: right-handed and left eye dominant. I'm using the Burris Fast Fire III (one is on a shotgun and the other is on a .22 rifle).
I can go both eyes open (which is ideal) or one eye only. I don't get double dots using either method.
 
In my quest to learn to shoot an AR, I took an introductory lesson in which the instructor informed me I need to keep both eyes open to properly use the red dot sight. That resulted in seeing double so I finished the lesson using my right eye only, and did the same on a subsequent range visit. I shoot my revolvers with my left eye closed also, including if I am shooting one-handed with the left hand.

While I am planning to visit an ophthalmologist to learn whether there is something wrong with my eyes that will prevent me from shooting with both eyes open, I'm curious to know whether anyone here experienced the same thing and if so whether you were able to overcome it and learn to shoot with both eyes open, and if so, how you did it.


When I first learned to shoot with both eyes open the same happened to me, but with practice you’ll learn to focus on the image of your dominant eye. Reason you’re supposed to shoot that way is with one eye closed you lose depth perception.
 
Try this, if you have a front cover on the dot, close it (if not, put a piece of tape across it), and shoot both eyes open, and focus on the target, not the dot. See what happens.

You want both eyes open, and your focus should be on the target and not the dot.
 
old lady new shooter, I can recall ages ago when I decided to retrain myself to shoot my pistols with both eyes open. For a time I experienced something like you describe (and it may have actually been the same thing).

When target shooting, even now I will sometimes have to wait a sec for my eyes to "adjust". Funny thing is, it never does that when I am in "training/tactical mode". Maybe that is attributable to "eyeball muscle memory". :)

I am a left-eye-dominant right-hander, but I don't think that plays into this issue.

===

<chuckle> I remember when I was just a tyke and my dad took me out for my first firearms lesson (1959?1960?). He had purchased a short single-shot bolt-action .22 (I still have it :)).

He found me bending my head waaaaaaay over the comb when I was sighting and corrected me, telling me to use my right eye to line-up the sights.

It wasn't until many years later that I realized that I had just been doing what felt natural to me; using my left eye. :)

===

BTW, I have setup my non-glassed ARs with co-witness folding iron sights and red dots. I found that I can make the red dot less "sparkly" & more focussed-looking by simply viewing it thru the rear aperture sight. I find that handy when target shooting. ;)
 
To start off I'm cross dominant, right handed but left eye strong.

Shooting pistols with this issue really isn't much of an issue. However anything you shoulder seems to make this stand out. I've found for me personally that the only shouldered gun I can shoot well with both eyes open is a shotgun. But generally you're not aiming for precision with a shotgun.

I'll be interested in hearing folks opinions on this topic for cross dominant shooters shooting shouldered long guns.
 
I have done all of the above as a cross dominant shooter and all of them worked fine. I can’t give you the name of the phenomenon you’re experiencing but I can, and just did witness it by looking at my avatar and turning my head which put my eyes on two slightly different focal planes. Just before the bridge of my nose obscured the image from the other eye, presto, two of me (avatar picture) appeared. Works both directions for me, whether angling left or right.

At some point if you put enough rounds down range and concentrate it becomes second nature if you’re willing to re-train yourself. If not I still know plenty of good shooters who close one eye.
 
Try using a piece or two of scotch tape (the opaque kind) on your safety glasses over your non dominant eye. This will let you keep both eyes open but only lets you focus using your dominant eye. After a few range sessions like that you can remove the tape and you should be good to go.

Try this^^^^

Try this, if you have a front cover on the dot, close it (if not, put a piece of tape across it), and shoot both eyes open, and focus on the target, not the dot. See what happens.

Never tried this^^^on a red dot but they used to make a red dot sight that had no lenses, that is, you did not see the target through the red dot, so I'd bet this would work also.

Regards,
hps
 
Never tried this^^^on a red dot but they used to make a red dot sight that had no lenses, that is, you did not see the target through the red dot, so I'd bet this would work also.

Regards,
hps
The early red dots, Armson/Trijicon OEG's, were this way. The fiber optic/tritium dot was fixed against a black background. You have to shoot both eyes open. The eye looking through the tube sees the dot, the other eye sees the target, and your brain puts them together.

The OEG was the first red dot I shot, and once you understand how they work, and get them down, the principle works just fine. While it worked fine in bright light, there were/are transition issues going from bright to lower light, and FO only worked well in bright light, and quickly dropped off in lower light, and the tritium wasnt real strong, and your eyes needed some adjustment to the dark/lower light, to quickly pick up the dot in low light. Sometimes you had to wait for your eyes to adjust to see the dot at all.

Once I got into and really started using the Aimpoints, I came to realize that that transition thing was still somewhat of a problem, and the OEG thing came to mind as a possible solution with them.

If you close the front cover, and set the dot to a comfortable level against the front cover, and use the sight as an OEG, you can move from bright light into total darkness, and the dot will always look the same, and theres no need to keep having to readjust the brightness level to make up for ambient light.

This is handy around early morning/evening when its still light outside, but darker in the shadows and indoors, undercover, etc. During the day when outside, especially in bright light, I normally just leave the cover down.
 
I have TBI due to experiencing a RPG blast from about 3 feet along with shrapnel embedded in my left eye from the same event. Ever since then, I have to either shoot with the left eye closed or at least "squint" it a little bit when I break the trigger.
 
Thanks @AK103K for filling us in on the details. Have never actually tried the Aimpoint, or others. Plan to give the covered red dot a try after cataract surgery on left eye. Sounds like another tool in the box!:)

Regards,
hps
 
Setting aside the cross-dominance issue, the key thing to understand about red-dot sights is that you are not supposed to be looking AT the dot. You look AT the target. Your eyes’s focus AND convergence is on the target.

If you are seeing two targets, your eyes are necessarily converging (and likely focusing) at the WRONG DISTANCE.

With iron sights, shooting with both eyes open requires acceptance of a double image at either the target or front sight distance. That’s tricky to learn to deal with for some people. With dots, if you’re getting a double image, you’re doing something wrong.
 
Thanks to everybody for all the input. :)

I seriously doubt there is something wrong with your eyes, I would suggest holding off on making an appointment to see an eye doctor unless you have a medical condition.
I do have drusen. One reason I think it might be physical is that the distortion my left eye sees on the Amsler grid is more serious, larger and not in the same place as the distortion my right eye sees, and if I look at it with both eyes, I see the same thing as with the right eye alone. So I think maybe at close distance my brain ignores what the left eye (which is my non-dominant one) sees. Also I do not see stereogram images.
Try using a piece or two of scotch tape (the opaque kind) on your safety glasses over your non dominant eye. This will let you keep both eyes open but only lets you focus using your dominant eye. After a few range sessions like that you can remove the tape and you should be good to go.
I think the instructor said I am supposed to be looking at the target. If I tape over the safety glasses over the left eye, that would mean I would be using the right eye to look at both the target and the sight, which is exactly what I'm doing if I close the left eye. So I'm not following how this would help. What am I missing?
What dot is it? And does it appear correct if another person views it?
Holosun red dot HS403C. This is the one on the rental I have been shooting so far, I haven't yet made my purchase. I'm pretty sure if other people had a problem they would have reported it to staff to get it fixed.
You are probably left eye dominate shooting right handed.
I am right-handed and right-eye dominant. I shoot my revolvers with my left eye closed, also shooting one-handed with either hand.
I don’t have that issue, which red dot are you using?
Holosun red dot HS403C. This is the one on the rental I have been shooting so far, I haven't yet made my purchase.
Try this, if you have a front cover on the dot, close it (if not, put a piece of tape across it), and shoot both eyes open, and focus on the target, not the dot. See what happens.
OK, I'll try that, thanks. :)
BTW, I have setup my non-glassed ARs with co-witness folding iron sights and red dots. I found that I can make the red dot less "sparkly" & more focussed-looking by simply viewing it thru the rear aperture sight. I find that handy when target shooting. ;)
That's very interesting!
I always shoot better closing one eye with red dots. Do what works best for you and forget conventional wisdom, to a degree.
Thanks for the moral support. :) I'm fine with closing the left eye if that's the only way I'll be able to see to shoot, but the theory that you can put rounds on target faster because you don't have to use the sight to aim (hope I'm saying this correctly) is attractive enough that if I could do it I would like to be able to.
If you are seeing two targets, your eyes are necessarily converging (and likely focusing) at the WRONG DISTANCE.
No, I was seeing two dots.
 
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Setting aside the cross-dominance issue, the key thing to understand about red-dot sights is that you are not supposed to be looking AT the dot. You look AT the target. Your eyes’s focus AND convergence is on the target.

A scope sight focuses the reticle and the target in the same plane, you see them with equal clarity.
Do the red dots not bring them together?
 
A scope sight focuses the reticle and the target in the same plane, you see them with equal clarity.
Do the red dots not bring them together?

I think that the actual answer depends on the particular dot, but the salient point isn't really focus, but the way focus drives convergence.
 
I'd never advise anyone to skip a doctor appointment!

There are lots of potential issues that can interfere with binocular fusion. My wife has one and thus has to shoot with one eye closed. Get the correct diagnosis first and then work within those parameters to do what you can about the issue.

I do have drusen. One reason I think it might be physical is that the distortion my left eye sees on the Amsler grid is more serious, larger and not in the same place as the distortion my right eye sees, and if I look at it with both eyes, I see the same thing as with the right eye alone. So I think maybe at close distance my brain doesn't see what the left eye (which is my non-dominant one) sees. Also I do not see stereogram images.

Given this, IMHO you are fool if not seeing an ophthalmologist, particularly a retina specialist, on a regular basis! The Amsler grid is a trivial do at home "screening" test you can download from the web. If you see holes or wavy lines or distortions you need to be examined ASAP. Macular degeneration, which ends in blindness, is one of the things it can pick up early, and early detection is the only chance you get to improve your outcome.
 
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I’m 78 and I’ve been shooting since knee pants. ( That’s back when only kids wore knee pants) I have never been able to focus on a gun sight, scope reticle or red dot, with both eyes open and I have tried frequently.
 
I'd never advise anyone to skip a doctor appointment!

There are lots of potential issues that can interfere with binocular fusion. My wife has one and thus has to shoot with one eye closed. Get the correct diagnosis first and then work within those parameters to do what you can about the issue.

Given this, IMHO you are fool if not seeing an ophthalmologist, particularly a retina specialist, on a regular basis! The Amsler grid is a trivial do at home "screening" test you can download from the web. If you see holes or wavy lines or distortions you need to be examined ASAP. Macular degeneration, which ends in blindness, is one of the things it can pick up early, and early detection is the only chance you get to improve your outcome.
Yes, I go every year. And when I first saw waviness on the grid I had fluorescein angiography, which thankfully showed no leaking. I am concerned now because the distortion in the left eye increased significantly since last year, will be seeing ophthalmologist soon.
 
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