Left eye dominant but shooting right handed

[Zambezi]

Hope someone can help correct a problem by son has... as the title suggests he shoots right handed but is left eye dominant so he is craning his head over the rifle to aim with his left eye. What can be done to remedy this?

It's fine for now as he is only shooting a pellet gun / .22 but I'm sure pain awaits when he steps up to the bigger calibres!

 

[bowjijohn]

I did this as a youngster but was quickly cured of it in the forces

I only know of 2 solutions

Either get him to shoot left handed - I did this for a spell but returned to right hand shooting. It did give me the advantage of being able to shoot from either shoulder though

Ultimately I just trained myself to use the less dominant eye and now no longer think about it

 

[375Fox]

I had the same issue as a kid. I couldn’t and still have trouble closing my left eye and keeping right eye open. I had to wear an eye patch on my left eye when shooting open sights until my right eye became trained, but I never had an issue looking through a scope. Hopefully this can help your son too.

 

[Zambezi]

I also thought of the eye patch solution as the easiest solution. It needs to be rectified soon as he wants to join the British army next year and shooting left handed may be a problem with the assault rifles used these days. (from the little I have seen the ejected casings pass pretty close to the face... or even maybe into the face of a left hander... I'm not sure)

I also want him to start using my 30.06 before he enlists.

 

[IvW]

Fit a ghost ring rear sight and shoot both eyes open or a Aimpoint, same thing both eyes open

"In rough terrain, foul weather, poor light and high levels of stress even the most experienced hunter will be put to the test. Tests have proven that the single red dot reticle is the fastest on target, providing the greatest hit probability with moving targets.

With an Aimpoint® sight, you never have to worry about centering the dot inside the sight. Once you see the dot on your target, you’re ready to shoot. Other red dot sights with substantial parallax can cause you to miss by as much as 30 cm (12 inches) at a distance of only 45 meters (50 yards). That can mean the difference between a clean kill and irresponsibly wounding an animal or missing it completely.

Aimpoint® red dot sights give you increased aiming confidence and allow you to remain on target and shoot with both eyes open. If you are a sports shooter, in a competition fractions of a second count and quick target acquisition is essential. Whether you have a rifle, shotgun, handgun, black powder rifle or bow, Aimpoint has a sight for you.

• Unlimited field of view
• Parallax-free
• Unlimited eye relief
• Unaffected by extreme weather conditions
• Extremely rugged, durable construction
• No hazardous materials
• No laser emission that could be harmful to your eyes
• Increased aiming confidence and hit probability
• Reduced training time and ammunition consumption
• Battery life measured in years"

 

[Zambezi]

The Aimpoint might be a solution for his own rifles in the future but I'm sure the army will take a dim view of altering their equipment. Furthermore, the SA80 that they use cannot be fire from the left shoulder. It would seem that correcting the dominant eye issue is needed.

I see hours of shooting drills ahead... and that sounds like fun to me!

 

[IvW]

I thought he was younger may be more difficult at older age. I have the same issue but have it under control.

Below seems they come with a SUSAT sight which is similar to a red dot except for magnification the iron sights are aperture which is basically a small ghost ring so I would start there....

Rifles used by the Royal Marines, British Army infantry soldiers (and other soldiers with a dismounted close combat role) and the RAF Regiment are equipped with a SUSAT (Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux) optical sight, with a fixed 4× magnification and an illuminated aiming pointer powered by a variable tritium light source (as of 2006 almost all British Army personnel deployed on operations have been issued SUSATs); this is also the standard sighting arrangement for the LSW variant. Mounted on the SUSAT's one-piece, pressure die-cast aluminium body are a set of back-up iron sights that consist of a front blade and small rear aperture. Rifles used with other branches of the armed forces when not on operations are configured with fixed iron sights, consisting of a flip rear aperture housed inside the carrying handle and a forward post vertical blade foresight, installed on a bracket above the gas block. The rear sight can be adjusted for windage, and the foresight—elevation. In place of the SUSAT, a passive night vision CWS scope can be used.[4][5]

Weapons used by some Royal Marines, Infantry, RAF Regiment, Ministry of Defence Police and other soldiers with a dismounted close combat role in operations in Afghanistan have had the SUSAT replaced with the Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG).[27][page needed] In 2011, the Ministry of Defence began issuing ELCAN SpecterOS 4× Lightweight Day Sights (LDS) in an effort to replace ageing SUSAT units across the British Armed Forces, forming the first stage of the FIST infantry enhancement project.[53] In order to mount the new sight, the weapon has been provided with an adapter to convert the existing sight rail to the Picatinny standard, in keeping with the updated handguard. The FIST project has also seen upgrades to the existing Qioptiq CWS (4×) and Maxi-Kite (6×) night vision scopes, and the introduction of the FIST Thermal Sight, following operational experience with the VIPIR-2+ thermal weapon sight in Afghanistan. All of the new FIST weapon sights have the capacity to accept Shield's Close Quarter Battlesight reflex sight.

– True cross-dominance (eg right-handed but left eye dominant) – squint/close opposite eye, block vision to it, use a full crossover stock, or change shoulders.

Here are some tips.

3 Ways to Correct Cross Eye Dominance When Shooting

Being cross-eye dominant doesn’t doom you to a life of poor shooting AR-15. If your eye dominance test reveals that you have cross-eye dominance, there are a few things you can do to correct or address the issue. Here are 3 ways to overcome cross eye dominance.

www.at3tactical.com

Issues with eye dominance - how to deal with them

Got issues with eye dominance? Is it holding back your shooting? Wondering which is your dominant eye? Should you shoot with both eyes open?

www.shootinguk.co.uk

 

[Zambezi]

Thanks for the replies. After reading the links provided I will check which solution is required and concentrate on that and see how it goes. Best to get started ASAP before the current technique is deeply ingrained.

 

[Philip Glass]

Hope someone can help correct a problem by son has... as the title suggests he shoots right handed but is left eye dominant so he is craning his head over the rifle to aim with his left eye. What can be done to remedy this?

It's fine for now as he is only shooting a pellet gun / .22 but I'm sure pain awaits when he steps up to the bigger calibres!

My youngest is cross dominant just like yours. I was a 4H shooting coach years ago and dealt with this. You have two choices. One, see if you can train him to use his right eye. If he is not too left eye dominant you can try this for rifles but not shotguns. The best bet is to bite the bullet now and get him into left handed rifles and shotguns. You owe it to him to have guns that fit and function so he enjoyed shooting and hunting.
I bought my son a left handed Beretta auto 12g when they first came out and then a Ruger American rifle, left hand .308. This was all way before I decided to get him the Blaser Pro S in 7mm Mag. Remember the Blaser R8 allows you to change the bolt from left to right quite easily.
Don’t be afraid to get into some left handed guns. It’s so easy to find them on Gunbroker.
It’s good you are asking these questions now as they must be addressed.
Philip
Philip

 

[Ragman]

Both my Dad and I are left eye dominant. He made the switch to shooting left handed early on in life but I was never able to make myself do it. It just feels too awkward and unnatural. I’m not able to shoot with both eyes open though, can’t see through the scope at all if I try, so I just close my left eye. Has worked fine for me over the years.

 

[Zambezi]

Thanks for the reply Philip.

If it wasn't for the military angle I'd let him choose which he preferred (changing to left handed like me or correcting the eye dominance)

Will start this weekend with the pellet gun and work through the eye dominance issue.

Also living in SA we don't have a vast choice of left handed weapons on sale. I have shot all my life with right handed bolt actions as left handed ones are scarce here. But once I have won the lotto a decent LH bolt action will find its way into my rifle safe.

 

[Ragman]

Thanks for the reply Philip.

If it wasn't for the military angle I'd let him choose which he preferred (changing to left handed like me or correcting the eye dominance)

Will start this weekend with the pellet gun and work through the eye dominance issue.

Also living in SA we don't have a vast choice of left handed weapons on sale. I have shot all my life with right handed bolt actions as left handed ones are scarce here. But once I have won the lotto a decent LH bolt action will find its way into my rifle safe.

That was the problem my father faced as well. Left handed bolt actions in 1960s small town Saskatchewan were almost nonexistent. So Dad had to use an old right handed .303 British. Then in 1965 he saw a brand new Savage 99 in the local hardware store and bought it. Being a lever rifle, it was very comfortable for him to shoot and it was the only rifle I ever saw him shoot my whole life. Then in 2015 (only 50 years later) he fell in love with a little New England Firearms Handi-Rifle single shot. He’s a sniper with that thing!
When I stop and think about it, I have a lot of left shooting friends and relatives and none shoot left bolt rifles. Usually always right hand bolts, levers or Remington 760/7600.

 

[Zambezi]

I have shot a bolt action right handed (at targets only) and seem to manage just fine but it was just to see if I could do it. That being said, shooting a right handed bolt action is fine, if a little cumbersome, but when it comes to dangerous game a bolt on the correct side is paramount. I'd like to get a LH .375 next... oh and a LH .22LR.

 

[Jon Glajchen]

Let him learn to shoot left handed. It won’t take him too long to learn and training with an air rifle will expedite the learning process!

 

[Zambezi]

Then he can't go to the military... SA80 can only be fired right handed.

 

[bowjijohn]

Then he can't go to the military... SA80 can only be fired right handed.

I wouldn't worry too much about that

Being left handed shooter will not exclude him from HM Forces I can assure you

However I would suggest learning to use his non dominant eye is the more versatile solution

 

[Jon Glajchen]

Then he can't go to the military... SA80 can only be fired right handed.

Shew I never knew that! That is a problem.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

My son is also cross-dominant left eye/right hand. I just had him shoot left handed. No problem. And since I’m left eye/left hand, he will actually be able to use my rifles when they become his.

 

[Nevada Wapati]

I'm also right handed and left eye dominant. Unable to close just my left eye. I tried the eye patch but it did';t fix the problem. So I switched to shooting left handed. It was difficult at first but after a short time it felt natural and was no problem.

 

[bowjijohn]

I spent 2 years of my career in the British forces as an Officer responsible for basic training - I can assure you that most cadets have never seen a rifle let alone worrying about eye dominance.