Booth Eyes Open Pistol (HELP!)

[D3vo]

I have tried very hard to master this, but I have a roadblock. I am right handed, right eye dominate and corrected vision with glasses. I raise the pistol and focus on the front sight post. The post is not super clear. The problem is my left eye kicks in as if I just closed my right eye. Thoughts?

[Garufa]

Shoot with one eye closed like everyone else does.

[173rdABN]

Blink your left eye focusing with your right on what you want to. I'm left eye dominate and have the same issue because I shoot right handed. Blinking is fast, and it works. Everything I draw I have to blink my eye.

[chances R]

Place a small piece of frosted tape over the middle of your left lens.

[BigK]

I make a conscious effort to try, but wind up reflexively closing my left eye anyway. I'm sure that means I'm totally screwed if I'm ever in a gun battle and need more peripheral vision.

[BrasilNuts]

Are you sure you're not left eye dominant? I'm cross dominant (right hand/left eye) I just use my left eye to shoot pistols, right eye for everything else.

[glowdotGlock]

I know I am right hand dominant but how do you know which eye is dominant? I shoot with my right eye down the sights but with both open usually.

[D3vo]

How did I determine dominance? I used to several methods. The first was focus on a object with both eyes open. Place my finger in front of the object similar to a front sight post. Close my right eye and my finger is no longer in light with the object. Switch eyes to right open and the object moves back into alignment. I also focused on an object across the room. Put my hands up in the triangle. I brought the triangle back to my face while keeping the object in the center. When I got close enough to my face I closed my right eye and found my felt was complete obscured by my hand. Opened the right eye and the object was visible. I will add that I tried to aim left eye dominant and just as my left kicked in for my right eye, my right kicked in on my left.

[D3vo]

Update; I have already seen improvement after covering my left shooting glasses lens.

[Omega]

Covering your lense is no better than closing an eye.  Practice reflex shots with both eyes open, first with snap caps then live.  Practicing your worst case scenarios is best, including off hand shooting from different positions.  

[D3vo]

[quote name="Omega" post="1180355" timestamp="1408229879"]Covering your lense is no better than closing an eye. Practice reflex shots with both eyes open, first with snap caps then live. Practicing your worst case scenarios is best, including off hand shooting from different positions. [/quote] My point is the exercise has lengthened my ability to focus both eyes open without the left eye butting in.

[monkeylizard]

What's the optical version of being ambidextrous? Maybe you have that.  :D

[Guest sbcman]

Call your eye doctor and ask them if it's OK to bring an unloaded gun to an eye appointment. Once there, tell the doc you need that front sight to be crystal clear and show him the distance while standing and holding the gun. 

 

If they are not cool with it, find another doc. If no doc is available measure the distance from your eye to the front sight while standing and tell them you need that distance to have clarity. 

 

More than likely you've got an astigmatism that has been corrected. I was dealing with the same problem, went through the exercise above, had the astigmatism uncorrected and all was well. 

[D3vo]

Thx for the suggestion. When I can I may just break the gun down and take the slide.

[leroy]

Ya might try the old trick of lookin at your target with both eyes open and simply swinging the pistol up from below into your line of vision and aligning the sights...

Dont take too much time lining the sights like ya would with "target shooting".... 

 

leroy

[Erik88]

Ya might try the old trick of lookin at your target with both eyes open and simply swinging the pistol up from below into your line of vision and aligning the sights...

Dont take too much time lining the sights like ya would with "target shooting".... 

 

leroy

 

This is good advice.

 

You may be making this more difficult than it needs to be. Don't think about it, just do it.

 

I took an entire defensive pistol class with both eyes open. My fiance and I had almost zero experience with this and we both did great. Just point and shoot. Of course that was slightly different because we were not even using the sights and we were not attempting to have a great group.

 

That's really how you should practice as it's the most practical.

[Paisan]

Don't give up peripheral vision / situational awareness by closing your support side eye or using tape. Try squinting that eye - but keeping it open - until you get the same effect as closing it. Then work on squinting less and less until your GTG with both eyes open.

[chances R]

The use of tape initially is a training device.  He is having difficulty initially with keeping both eyes open, this trains the dominate eye to be more effective.  In fact, not everyone CAN shoot with both eyes open.  Some recommend a slight squint of the off eye to help.  Point shooting is not the answer.  The front sight is still very important, even in gunfighting situations.

[miller_man]

I had a lot of problems trying to shoot with both eyes open at first too. I have left eye dominance and am right handed.

 

After practice, it got better. Once I learned to draw the pistol and push it out under my left eye, it got even easier - set up the strong eye to pick up the sights first.

 

After over a year of pretty religious dry fire practice several times every week, its second nature and now feels weird to close one eye.