Shooting tips - Right handed, left eye dominant (shotguns, pistol, rifle)

[melinuxfool]

I've been wanting to get into pistol and rifle shooting for a while, maybe starting with smaller calibers. I've taken pistol courses from the NRA before, and always seem to be a poor shot.

I've discovered something I never knew about myself, I'm left-eye dominant, but right handed. Any shooting tips from people who know what they're doing? I was thinking of starting with a .22 rifle and maybe buying a revolver in the same caliber later on down the line.

Of course, it'll be next month before I have the money for a gun, so there's no hurry.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by melinuxfool

I've been wanting to get into pistol and rifle shooting for a while, maybe starting with smaller calibers. I've taken pistol courses from the NRA before, and always seem to be a poor shot.

I've discovered something I never knew about myself, I'm left-eye dominant, but right handed. Any shooting tips from people who know what they're doing? I was thinking of starting with a .22 rifle and maybe buying a revolver in the same caliber later on down the line.

Of course, it'll be next month before I have the money for a gun, so there's no hurry.

I have the same condition. It shouldn't be a problem shooting rifles and it should be fairly easy to suppress/overcome with pistols. If you shoot with your left eye closed and you're still placing shots poorly then you are having a "hands" problem rather than an eye problem and recoil anticipation and/or trigger yank (rather than trigger squeeze) is the most likely culprit.

The more difficult problem to solve is wingshooting with shotguns.

My grandfather used to put a sticker over the left lens of my shooting glasses when we would shoot skeet. Over time you get accustomed to using the eye over the sight plane.

[denverian]

I have the same issue. The only shooting I ever did was in the military, qualifying on an M-16, so I shot left-handed and did very well. But then I'm fairly ambedextrious. Or however you spell it. I have a bit of an issue with cameras too since they're set up to view through your right eye rather than left.

[drjones96]

^what he said.

You have to train yourself to shoot using your right eye.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by denverian

I have the same issue. The only shooting I ever did was in the military, qualifying on an M-16, so I shot left-handed and did very well. But then I'm fairly ambedextrious. Or however you spell it. I have a bit of an issue with cameras too since they're set up to view through your right eye rather than left.

I'm totally right hand dominant to the point that using a TV remote with my left hand feels funky. If, for example, someone bet me that I couldn't throw a baseball like a girl, I would win that bet by throwing lefty. Shooting left handed would never work for me.

[ferretkona]

Same here, left eye dominant. Just have to practice a lot.

[catman]

I'm right-handed with left eye dominant, and my left eye sees better.

[FutureBrennanDad]

I would suggest the sticker over the left eye on your shooting glasses. I shot competition rifle in high school and served 8 years in the Marine Corps. After I used a cardboard to block my left eye in high school I was able to train myself to use my left eye.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by FutureBrennanDad

After I used a cardboard to block my left eye in high school I was able to train myself to use my left eye.

Somewhere in there, I bet you meant to say "right eye!"

[Threestep2]

Same here:>) I shoot rifle left and pistol right. My Better Half is urging me to join him at SASS. That may get interesting:>)