Aim With Both Eyes Opened?

[ATLDave]

Tip for learning to shoot with both eyes open: try it with a red-dot-equipped long gun first. Much less "confusing" input, since only one eye is getting any of the "aiming" input. Once you get comfortable doing it in that context, bringing it to pistol shooting is a bit easier.

FWIW, I still half-close my non-dominant eye on long/tight shots when shooting iron sighted pistols.

 

[Browning Guy]

Both eyes open tends to improve your peripheral vision and situational awareness as well as depth perception, over one eye closed. It also allows for better vision in low light times as in hunting at dawn and dusk. When I was younger shooting iron sights on rifles i was taught to close my off eye while aiming. When I got into my teens and started bow hunting I learned to keep both eyes open and it transferred over into pistol shooting in my later years. Even now though I tend to close or squint my off eye when trying to place an exact shot on a small target. Like the difference between hitting the A zone on a target with my 1911 (both eyes) vs trying to cloverleaf shots with my Buckmark on a target (squint or one eye). So most of the time it's both eyes, with an occasional lapse into one eyed shooting. However there are days I'm better off closing BOTH eyes, say a short prayer and seek divine quidance for help!

 

[shoobe01]

Tip for learning to shoot with both eyes open: try it with a red-dot-equipped long gun first. Much less "confusing" input, since only one eye is getting any of the "aiming" input. Once you get comfortable doing it in that context, bringing it to pistol shooting is a bit easier.

FWIW, I still half-close my non-dominant eye on long/tight shots when shooting iron sighted pistols.

I for one have a distinct, obvious, even diagnosed phoria (non-coincidental vision). I still can't use binoculars, as the two images almost never line up. So I buy monoculars, and wear a monocular NOD, and so on.

I NEVER could do both eyes open until RDSs came out in the late 90s. Then, slooooowly taught myself how to do it with those, and have generally gotten myself good at it for LER things like handguns, sometimes with ghost rings on long-arms.

But I do the same, still will close one eye for extra precision, for longer ranges, and just when tired/dehydrated/etc. Your eyes go bad first when not at peak condition and MAN can I tell this is true from my barely-working eyes, as I have to do fallback techniques a lot.

 

[mooninpisces]

I hear this, or read this, from time to time. Why is it proposed that while aiming, one should keep both eyes opened? Can someone tell me why that is? Thanks!

First, it is easier and more relaxed to shoot with both eyes open. Also, if you ever had to use a firearm in an emergency, you would not be able to close the "weak" eye. The adrenaline rush would force your body to keep both eyes open to maintain situational awareness. Therefore, If you condition yourself to only shoot with the "weak" eye closed, you will be accidentally training yourself not to shoot in an emergency. It may be hard to believe; but, shooting with both eyes open is much easier than shooting with the "weak" eye closed. It just takes practice. The concentration and muscle strain wasted on
closing the "weak" eye can be diverted to increasing your concentration on trigger control and sight picture. Incidentally, even when the target is far
away, both eyes open is the way to shoot.

 

[mooninpisces]

I find I'm less prone to flinching when keeping both eyes open … for whatever reason ..

That makes perfectly good sense! When you close one eye, your facial muscles are straining.
As soon as the shot is fired, it signals your body to release the built up tension in the form of a flinch.
Your body wants you to hurry and shoot, so that you can relax your straining facial muscles.
This is another reason to always shoot with both eyes open.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Practice makes perfect and perfect practice makes perfect.

I'm left eye dominant and a right handed shooter. It took a little getting used to but it really wasn't terribly hard to learn to shoot like this.

You need to do a lot of dry and live practice learning how to shoot with both eyes open to see how affects your shooting. For some it comes more natural and others it takes work.

I will say from my own experience that 15yds and in I'm basically point shooting. So theres front sight focus but I'm more focused on the target than the sights. Beyond 15yds I'm taking a little more time to make sure sights are aligned on target.


But that's getting a little ahead of being able to shoot with both eyes open. It's not that hard but I would say the first step is getting someone to watch you to make sure you're not blinking between shots. If that is worked out it's just a matter of practice.

 

[jmr40]

It's easier to learn to shoot with both eyes open than try to change later. If you start that way like I did it is easy for virtually anyone. I suppose there are some who simply cannot make it work, but I've not met anyone yet that couldn't learn if they were willing to try.

Closing one eye and trying to shoot any upland game or clay targets with a shotgun would be an extreme disadvantage. With only one eye open you have no depth perception and it is impossible to accurately judge the range of targets you're trying to hit. With both eyes open you are seeing an object from 2 slightly different angles and your brain uses the same concept used in old school range finders to calculate distance.

WW-1 battleships had sighting devices on each side of the turret at a known distance apart. Both were aimed at a distant target and once the angle was determined between the 2 sights along with the known distance of one side of the triangle it was simple math to determine the exact distance to the target. Our brains do this without us having to think about it.

The same principle applies to rifles and handguns. I've never closed one eye with a handgun. With rifles and high magnification scopes closing the other eye does help with concentration, but I don't find it hard at all to keep both eyes open even with scopes up to 10X. It is easier with scopes with 1X to 4X, but I've never shot at a big game animal unless both eyes were open.

 

[TonyAngel]

Shooting with both eyes open is beneficial for all of the reasons stated above. If you feel uncomfortable doing it, you’re probably over thinking it. For some, shooting with both eyes open can’t be done due to some sort of a physiological reason. For most, it’s a matter of what we’re used to and what is natural.

Next time you try it, try not to think about it and just do it. If you’ve been shooting for a while, just let your eyes and body do what they’ve been trained to do and keep your head out of it. Your brain is going to want that crystal clear two plane sight picture. Tell your brain to shut up because you know what you’re doing.

Sorry I can’t be more specific, but this was something that I struggled with years ago and really didn’t get over it until I started shooting matches when closing one eye meant you might run into something or miss half of what was going on. Now, I still close one eye when I’m shooting at ,say, a target at 100 yards with a handgun, but doing it isn’t automatic any longer. I now leave both eyes open. I just quit thinking about it.

That tip by atldave was true. Try shooting with a dot sight. Heck, put one on your handgun. Lots of temporary setups available these days.

 

[GBExpat]

... If you're right handed and have a dominant left eye you need to close your right eye and use your left eye to align the sights. ...

<shrug> Some folks, perhaps. I am right-handed & left-eye-dominant and relatively late in life I successfully trained myself to shoot handguns with both eyes open. Prior to that I always closed my left eye to aim pistols.

After learning of this eye-dominance thing a few decades ago I tested myself and discovered my cross-dominance ... and remembered as a little kid (7yo?) when my dad was teaching me to shoot on the single-shot bolt .22 rifle telling me to not bend my head so far over the comb. I was holding it "right" but naturally trying to line up the iron sights with my left eye.

I have always shot longguns (over irons) as a true right-hander, right-hand hold+right eye.

 

[entropy]

I learned the same as you as a left eye dominant person, because that was the way it was back then. I taught myself to shoot off the left shoulder for deer hunting after I noticed lots of deer showing up on my right, and it's much easier to transfer the gun to the other side than try to wiggle over laterally without the deer noticing. I then learned pistol left handed, which was easy, then shotgun, which I am not as proficient at, but I've shot a pheasant or two left handed when stuck on the right end of the line. I shoot a couple rounds of Trap a year to keep in shape there, and always work on pistol and rifle LH at the range.
It came in handy in the Army, too; half the corners in the world go to the left.

 

[1942bull]

I shoot with Bothe eyes open to have a better field of view. I adopted the Central Axis Relock system for self defense. I am left eye dominant and right hand dominant. I control with my right hand and aim with my left eye. Using the CAR system I can keep my pistol front sight at 14". That allows the reading prescription of my bifocals to focus easily n the front sight while maintaining full file of view.

 

[SSN Vet]

Right handed and right eye dominant here.

If I want to draw and shoot and hit the target I keep both eyes open... if I want to hit the 10 ring, I start to squint my left eye.