Anyone have any tips for learning to shoot with both eyes? I have seen a ton of stuff online. I have had a little success using the browning magic dots but don't want to rely on them. The only thing I can describe it with is that I almost get a feeling of dizziness/motion sickness when I have to squint one eye closed( which can make range sessions suck)

Wait for raz-o to post a response, he had the best description on how to train yourself to do this that I have ever read. I tried looking for it, but couldn't find the thread but will copy and save it the next time I see it. Hopefully in this thread.

Wait for raz-o to post a response, he had the best description on how to train yourself to do this that I have ever read. I tried looking for it, but couldn't find the thread but will copy and save it the next time I see it. Hopefully in this thread.

 

Harry, is this the advice from raz-o, you were talking about?

 

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/27656-the-benefits-of-shooting-with-both-eyes-open/

 

POST #15

That's the one, thanks for finding it, guess my google-foo is off today..

Honestly, I can't give much advice on 'how-to' shoot with both eyes open, but the way I learned to do it was to just simply force myself to keep both eyes open. Numerous range sessions and thousands of rounds later and it's difficult for me to try to actually keep my left eye closed for precise shooting haha.

I've found that dry-fire exercises were the best way to train myself to shoot both eyes open.

While I was teaching myself to shoot with both eyes I found that if I started to notice the double vision, I would close my left eye for a second, and it would be gone when I opened it back up.

Went to the range last night and worked on it. I'm really going to spend some time dry firing and practicing. Thanks for the tips!

What broke me out of one eye shooting was taking any tactical pistol class

You won't have time or even think closing one eye

It will almost seem natural

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk excuse the spelling

Sights are blurry enough with one eye open. Two eyes open means double blurry!

I was told to do this from the beginning by other experienced competitive shooters. I'm glad they told me

cause I used to close one eye. I got used to two eyes pretty fast. I really think it's a matter of just doing it

until your eyes adjust. But I'm sure everyone is different.

Like many people, I first learned to shoot with one eye closed. As 67gtonut notes, tactical handgun classes convinced me that I needed to learn to shoot with both eyes open. It was certainly a struggle at first, particularly since my aging eyes had a hard time viewing my sights (I wear glasses to read). I tried using mild reading glasses, and even had custom ground lenses made with just a 1.25 correction in the upper third; but I struggled a lot with double vision, particularly of my target.

 

The solution I've arrived at, and have been working with for around six months, is to squint slightly with both eyes as I'm acquiring my sight picture. I have not seen anyone advocating that approach, but I've found that it allows me to clearly see both my sights and target, so I'm going with it unless I come upon something better.

Hummm....Gets me wondering. Since I wear glasses, and shoot with one eye, could you consider it shooting with two eyes?

Warning, I'm about to be geeky.

 

If you want to have an easier time shooting with both eyes open, don't use dark shooting glasses. The human eye works better in bright light then dark, we get better depth perception and definition when we have lots of light about, and it gets worse when it is dark. This isn't really a secret to anyone who has stubbed their toe on a table leg in the middle of the night. The darker your shooting glasses are, the more your eyes behave like they are in the dark.

 

The other issue is that your pupil shrinks to focus and to focus it it needs light. If you wear dark shooting glasses your pupils start at a more relax position and have more work to do as you are are changing from seeing where you are to where you want to aim to your sights and back and forth. The older you are the slower your pupils react anyway, so don't start with them expanded.

 

To much light isn't that good either because it starts to wash out contrast. I good rule of thumb about the shooting glasses is that they shouldn't be that dark that someone in front you can't see your pupils through them.

 

Also competition shooting is a good way of breaking you of that habit, when the time pressure mounts and you don't have the time to think about it too much your brain defaults to using all the available inputs and you start aiming with both eyes subconsciously.

 

Edited to add: also your eyes work together, and your brain tries to make the gather the same amount of information, which means that if you close one eye, your brain wants the same amount of light and expands the pupil of the open eye, and that screws with focus.

Another +1 for Vlad!

 

And just to chime-in to make a point--a lot of what he just wrote carries-over to various other shooting disciplines: Shotgun, Black Powder, IDPA, and even just plain-ole' Plinkin'! I find that since I've turned 45 (now 52) it's just easier to go with regular safety glasses and wear a BB cap for glare elimination, indoors OR out! Depth of field (something that Photographers know a lot about) is only obtained with the eye pupil (iris of the lens) when it is closed-down. Sights are much easier to bring into focus on brighter days and several League's scores prove this out.

 

And I for one don't think of you as a Geek, just a good friend to the shooting community!

I suppose I'm lucky. I always thought shooting with both eyes open was easy and natural. Here's a related link: Eye dominance.

I've found that dry-fire exercises were the best way to train myself to shoot both eyes open.

This.

I don't have any problem at all, because I only have one eye that works. :-)