Chris's image was edited like a cyclops.

How to Shoot With Both Eyes Open (How to Aim With Both Eyes Open)

One of the most important skills for any marksman who operates off the range is how to shoot with both eyes open. In the static environment of the shooting range, closing off half your vision to line up a perfect, no stress shot might seem like an okay tactic but you are hindering your own potential.

When the situation becomes dynamic, you will rely on your ability to take in as much visual information as possible to stay safe and functional. Learning to shoot with both eyes open, thus allowing yourself the superior depth perception and spatial awareness of both eyes open shooting is one more step towards paving your path to perfection. 

When on the battlefield, I want every advantage available to me. In a dynamic situation, I need to be able to asses terrain, threats and a whole host of visual information at high speeds. If I have to close one eye in order to line up a shot, I am cutting myself off from 50% of my potential information. As a marksman and as a survivalist, learning to shoot with both eyes open is an essential skill

And most importantly, once you learn how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open,  you can make fun of all the “Cyclops Shooterswho haven’t yet learned to shoot with both eyes open.

Learn To Shoot With Both Eyes Open

Chris aiming using a scope of a rifle.

I get a lot of questions about learning how to shoot with both eyes open. I’ve gone over both eyes open shooting in my book and on my blog, and I know from the comments a lot of you have already mastered this marksmanship skill, which is great. 

It’s something I talk about a lot, and I know it can be a bit challenging to change the way you aim to accommodate learning to shoot with both eyes open. The hardest part about teaching this skill is to describe what you see when you are learning how to aim with both eyes open

A big part of learning how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open is training your brain to use new visual information. While that may sound daunting, learning to shoot with both eyes open is possible with a little bit of time and attention to how your brain processes visual information. 

When shooting with both eyes open, you will have two sight pictures when you are aiming. A lot of you are telling me all the time, “I have two sight pictures, what do I do to get rid of one?” . Two sight pictures is good, this is part of the whole point shoot with both eyes open, but you will have to train your brain to ignore some of that information and only pay attention to one sight picture. 

So you don’t want to get rid of that second sight picture, but you do want to train yourself to only pay attention to one while you are aiming down your sights. Learning to shoot with both eyes open means you will have to re-learn how to aim using these new visuals. This is actually a rare situation where it is easier done than said. 

With this video I hope I think you will better understand what I’m talking about and how to master this skill. So, I want to not just tell you, but show you what I see when I shoot with both eyes open to help you learn how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open.

Shooting with Both Eyes Open and the Science of it

If you are interested in shooting with both eyes open and the science of shooting with two eyes, Julie Golob digs into this more on her blog as well. I had a chat with her and Barbara Baird on The Won episode #83. Another great resource for evaluating your eyes and how they relate to your aim is Eye on Performance sports vision training.

Learning how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open relies on your understanding of how your brain processes visual information, and how your eye works when you aim. With a little bit of learning about your eye and your vision, you will find shooting that learning to shoot with both eyes open is a simple matter of re-learning the visual cues you will use to make targeting decisions. Even if you still shoot on the range with your dominant eye, learning to shoot with both eyes open will go a long way towards making you a more effective marksman.

Two Warnings on eye dominant shooting

I should also note that you need to be able to shoot well with just one eye open before you start trying to shoot with both eyes open. It’s like trying to learn to juggle while riding a unicycle : probably impossible, and you’re going to waste a lot of time looking very stupid doing it. 

Before you dive into shooting with both eyes open, spend time on dry fire drills or on the range utilizing your eye dominance shooting techniques. Learn to crawl before you walk, and learn either eye dominance shooting or cross dominant shooting. You need to learn to do each one separately before you put them together. If you are just starting out as a marksman, get your basics down before you shoot with two eyes. You will have a much better time if you work on your aim with one eye first before taking the jump to shoot with both eyes open. There are lots of great resources on this blog and in my book The live fire range is also the worst place you can learn to shoot with both eyes open. Your time, money and energy would be much better spent practicing dry fire. Not until you have trained your brain during dry fire should you start slinging lead down range with both eyes open.

Optic Drills

Training Your Eyes to Shoot With Both Eyes Open

When learning how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open, I recommend some Optic Drills you can do at home, any time, for strengthening your eyesight. A lot of people think that as you age, your eyesight has to deteriorate, and that this is just a part of life. 

When I started to notice my own eyesight giving me trouble, I did some research and discovered that notion is just false. The eye is a muscle, and like any muscle, it needs training and exercise to stay healthy and effective. 

So, if you want to learn how to shoot with both eyes open, you will have to spend some time caring for and training your eyes, like any other part of your body.

Chris uses a rifle and aims with his eyes open.

How to Aim with Both Eyes Open Training Time

Dry Fire Pencil Drill

Training yourself to overcome eye dominance and make the most of your abilities as a marksman starts with learning to read the visuals you will have both on the range and on the battlefield. One of the things you can do to help train your brain to work with two sight pictures and learn how to aim with both eyes open is to practice two eyes aim with a pencil

Take your pencil and aim it like a dart, pointing to a target, with both eyes open. Then, close your non-dominant eye and see how far off your aim is. Try this a few times to train your brain what you’re looking for when you aim your sights with both eyes. 
Then try it the other way, aiming with your dominant eye and then opening both eyes to see what you should be looking for when you aim. You can do this drill anytime, anywhere, and if you get used to seeing how you have to aim to be accurate with both eyes, you will save yourself time, money, and frustration when you finally take this skill to the shooting range and master to shoot with both eyes open.

Near Far Focus

Another dry fire drill you can do any time, anywhere to train yourself to shoot with both eyes open is the near far focus drill. Like the pencil drill, the near far focus drill is about exercising your eyes as well as your brain, to give you the best possible advantages on and off the range. 

Take an object with writing on it, like a pen or a business card, and practice switching your focus from that object to an object in the distance. If possible, try to find someone in the distance that also has writing, like a poster or a billboard. This drill isn’t meant to go fast. Take as long as you need to totally switch your focus from the small text in your hand to the far away text. By doing this, you are training your brain and your eyes to switch from short range focus to long range focus, an essential skill on the battlefield. These focus drills will go a long way towards helping you and your eyes learn to shoot with both eyes open.

Eye Care

How to Wake Up Your Eyes to Shoot With Both Eyes Open

Chris shooting a rifle using both eyes.

So far I’ve talked about how to train your eyes, but how do you take care of your eyes? I start every day by gently washing my eyes with warm water. This is done with your eyes closed. I do not recommend flushing your eyes with tap water! The natural oils in your eyes keep them healthy and help you to see. That said, when your eyes have been closed all night while you sleep, those same oils can congeal and actually block your vision! Some of you may have experienced this when you wake up and notice your vision is slightly blurry until you wake up. For best practices on eye care, gently warm your eyes with warm water to help loosen up those oils and keep your eyes in top shape. Remember, your aim can only ever be as good as your eyesight. If you want to learn to shoot with both eyes open, you will have to make eye care a priority in your life.

Shoot With Both Eyes Open Eyewear

Decentered Lenses

Like any part of your gear, your corrective lenses are very important to the efficacy of your aiming, especially when learning to shoot with both eyes open. A traditional pair of corrective lenses has the focus point directly in front of your eye. 

This makes sense for most day to day activity, but what about when you are shooting? Your focus point when aiming down your sights is actually going to fall on the upper right section of your lenses. Ask your optometrist about decentered lenses to ensure that your eyewear are doing all they can for you while shooting.

 Also ask for digital freeform surface lenses which have special curvatures which correct for distortion in the peripheries. Now, these lenses are an extra expense, and not optimized for daily life, but they are the absolute best eyewear for target shooting. When paving that path to perfection, I want you to be aware of absolutely every tool you could be using to reach your great human potential, and for many of you, specialized eyewear like this could be all the difference in your marksmanship.

I hope I’ve opened your eyes on how to shoot with both eyes open. If you have had success shoot with both eyes open, I would love to hear about it in the comments. Likewise, if you are having a hard time learning how to shoot a pistol with both eyes open, let me know what problems you are having and I will do my best to help. 


Chris holding a pistol and advertising focus string.

 

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54 Comments

  1. Great tip. Before I was using my thumbs! Now I will use pens.

    Any tips for acquiring faster sight alignment during follow ups? I notice it takes me longer finding the front sights than from my initial draw presentation.

    1. Picture in your mind what you want to see when the sights return and expect to see it. The key is follow through, which I have dedicated a whole chapter to in my book.
      Hope this helps. – Chris

      1. Hi Chris,

        I got your book, but I’m still reading through it. I’m just wishing there were more vids!!!

        Ok, so I’m also cross dominant, but I had other instructors tell me not to turn my head. Rather I just shift my gun over to my dominant eye side. The logic is that I should maintain my peripheral at a full 180. Then I had other instructors tell me to keep my gun center when punching out but tilt my gun a little towards the dominant side instead of pushing my gun over. I’ve used all 3 methods and either way, it’s been challenging to get back on target quickly.

        Also what are your thoughts on switching out my sights? I’m hoping if I can switch it out to XS sights it might help. Or do you think that my issue is really than just fixing my sight picture & alignment? (I also have some questions about grip – but I can email you that if you prefer.)

        BTW I want to ask if you’re planning on covering this in your CQB book… but I find it somewhat challenging with my cross dominant eye when I try “slicing the pie” when clearing barricades, cause I tend to stick out as a wide target and sometimes, it’s harder for me to get a bigger picture. Hoping you would address this in your upcoming book.

        Thanks!
        Nick

        1. Nick-
          I’ve found turning the head works best. You’ll still have 180 FOV no matter where your head is pointed as long as your head is up, it will just be a little off to the right and who’s to say the zombies won’t be over there?
          I don’t think changing your sights will help unless you go to a red dot.
          I will be doing a CQC/CQB book in the future, but you shouldn’t be worrying about your sights when scanning. Look over the sights to scan then bring up to engage.
          Hope this helps.
          Chris

  2. Ok, question. I shoot right handed but I’m left eye dominant, how do I adjust? I’m a waterfowler and I know shooting with both eyes open is better I just have not been able to it for this reason. Help!!! LOL!

    1. Paul, this is pretty common. You’re what’s called cross-eye dominant, which I talk about in my book.

      Easy Fix: Turn your head to the RIGHT, so the left eye lines up with your sights. The mistake most people make is tilting their heads…don’t do that!

      Happy Hunting!

  3. I’ve got an odd question for you. I sometimes shoot (on outdoor ranges) with one eye closed and sometimes with both eyes open. Since I’m military, by far a vast majority of my range shoots have been using a rifle, but the other day I was introduced to a 9mm handgun. Interestingly enough, when shooting with both my eyes open, I realized I was using the sight picture from my right eye rather than my left – and this is unusual for me as I’m a southpaw and my rifle-sighting eye is my left. I also found that I had to shift my point of aim slightly when using my left eye for the sight picture (still with both eyes open).

    Is this unusual, to find that I was “lining up” using my “non-proper” eye with a handgun, or am I just weird? Should I just “go with it?” As a footnote, I scored 30 out of a maximum of 37 total so obviously playing games with which eye I was using didn’t really throw things off.

    1. I’m a big believer in, “If it works, don’t fix it”. If what you’re doing is working, who cares? I try to get this point across in everything I teach – I don’t care if your slap the trigger with your pinkie-finger with both eyes crossed. If you can hit the target consistently – do it!

      There are other mutants out there like you that shoot pistol left handed and rifle right, or are left-eye dominant up close, but right-eye dominant further out. Everyone’s got their own quirks, so I wouldn’t worry about it my friend.

      By the way, have you every actually tested which is your dominant eye?

      -Chris

      1. “There are other mutants out there like you…”

        You made me laugh out loud! That’s great.

        To clarify, I’m technically ambidextrous in that I write both right-handed and left, (although I’m much faster right-handed through long practice) and thus I choose which hand to use for which activity. I do all my shooting left-handed as I’m just steadier and it feels more “natural”. Since this was my first experience with a handgun, I defaulted to holding it in my left hand. But as soon as I assumed a shooting posture, I just seemed to line it up with my right eye.

        I don’t think I’ve ever tried to determine which would be my naturally dominant eye – I’m capable of processing input separately from each eye and have been doing so since I was a kid (you’d laugh if I told you why). How would I go about determining this? And is it really even relevant?

  4. Aren’t you regurgitating the same shit that other world class shooters have already put out for many years? Have you recently discovered a big secret?

    1. I’m sorry you we’re not man enough to leave your name!

      After you learn from my top selling book How to Shoot Like a Navy SEAL, please let me know what information is from “other World Class Shooters” (BTW, thank you for confirming that I am a world class shooter!). Dig young Jedi, Dig!

      I have learned from many great shooters and did not invent marksmanship, but so far people have been very happy with the way I’ve put the information together and helped describe the techniques. Of the thousands sold so far, I haven’t had a single complaint and many endorsements from other Navy SEALS.

      There is a “secret” to doing anything like a Navy SEAL, something that you will never understand.

      I’ll be selling t-shirts soon and you can learn more SEAL craft by subscribing to our blog.

      Chief Sajnog

    2. anonymous really? What book have you read that talks about grip they way the Chief does? I didn’t serve but was in law enforcement and have read Webb’s books and although the qualities are similar ( practice, attention to detail) they couldn’t be further apart in Details. But what a chicken shit way to not leave your name.

  5. Hey “Anonymous” turd. First, if you have no balls to use your name don’t post in the blog for real men, you pussy.
    Pussies like you, who have never seen combat; always have something stupid to say.
    On the other hand, I found Chris’s book and blog to be very informative and educational.
    With 20 years on the Teams, I would recommend this book to anybody. This book lays solid foundation for shooting and to improve/correct shooting skills.

    DragoTheHood

    1. F’n A, Drago. And now we see another Team guy thing… having your bro’s 6. Chief Sajnog, thanks for hooking us up with the book. Drago, looking forward to your next visit on SOFREP. And to both of you, more thanks than I can muster for hanging it out there to keep us free.

      1. Thanks for your support Trail Dog. Hearing from real Americans like you make it worth it. There will always be losers/fake SEALS out there, but real Team-Guys stick together and like you said, have our brothers “6”.
        Cheers,
        Chris

  6. Chris, Good book so far. I’m not done reading it. I myself am crossed eyed dominant and one of my problems I encounter when shooting with both eyes open is after a period of time on the range is my dominant eye really tries to take over which makes for a blurred sight pic when I try to acquire it quickly. Any suggestions?

    Thanks,

    Jon C

    1. Jon,

      Glad you’re liking the book!

      Try shifting your focus from far to near a few times every few minutes. This will help the muscles in your eyes focus better.

      Hope it helps!
      Chris

  7. Vision… the key to accuracy, you are so right.
    Another simple thing to realize is that, as we age, the eye muscles become less ‘quick’, fluid if you will and we can become far or near sighted. Most of us hold the front blade about 22 inches away from our eyes and neither ‘near’ sighted nor ‘far’ sighted glasses are set up for that distance. A good eye doc can set you up with a pair of glasses dialed into that distance “and” put a small bifocal on the bottom for your ‘normal’ correction. Results in faster two eyed acquisition of that front blade and you can still have your normal correction present albeit smaller. I noted some real increase in accuracy. GREAT articles on this site, thanks!!

  8. Hey Chris thanks for the drills. I have been a cyclops all my life as I shoot right and “see” left. I’m a better than average cyclops but want to learn the right way.

    By the way, I was introduced to your group by PJ’s excellent review of the Sig P938. I bought one and find it to be the perfect carry weapon.

  9. Hola Chris!

    Maybe this is an off topic… But in regards to cross eye dominance, how important is this with the carbine or precision rifle system?

    Since I am a south paw and right eye dominant, should I be needing to learn to shoot right handed? Or will you be discussing this in your carbine book?

    BTW the book is really awesome. I’ve been using your modified isosceles stance, and it feels much more natural for me.

    Thanks!
    Nick

    1. Nick,

      No, they told people back in the 50’s to do that, but you’d be better off using your non-dominant eye for precision shooting. As long as you’re closing the other eye, you should be fine.

      -chris

  10. I really enjoyed your book. I was amazed how much valuable info was in there. I was wondering however about when shooting a carbine do you apply the same techniques. I find it hard to locate the front site through the rear aperture. I have an EOtech but want to learn to shoot through the iron sites first. thanks again and look forward to more book/videos or anything in the future.

    1. Kevin – Same rules apply for any weapon, pistol, rifle, knife, fist, etc. That’s what they are FUNDAMENTAL.

      I’d recommend shooting with your non-dominant eye, but the only time it will not work is trying to shoot with both eyes open…so you’re going to have to choose which one to use. If you are using a red-dot, both eyes open and your dominant eye should work fine. That’s what I do when I shoot rifle from my reaction side.

      Working on book #2 now.

      Hooyah!
      Chris

  11. Excellent book! I’ve been shooting since I was 12 (now 38), as a Navy Clearance Diver, now a Police Officer and instructor. The information and techniques in the book are outstanding. My main problem (still) is sight picture, and the techniques presented in the book to sort that out are the best I’ve come across. 5 min in the office with a pencil and 20 min on the range and it’s already working.

  12. Chris:

    I wonder if you have heard of this. I am right handed. All my life I have been left eye dominant, and have closed my left eye. I decided to try your technique, but first wanted to confirm I am left eye dominant. Good thing I did, because I am now right eye dominant. I say “now.” I recently had bilateral cataract surgery, which tremendously improved my distance vision to 20/20, uncorrected. Could the surgery have “switched” me? Have you heard of this?

    Jim Morris

    1. Jim,

      Congrats on the better vision and the change of eye dominance! As for the change after an operation, I have not heard of that, but it sounds possible. I have heard of people changing as they get older and some change as they change distances. But again, if you want the medical diagnosis, that’s above my pay-grade…Chris

      1. Yesterday at the range I shot “two-eyed” for the first time. I turned my head a bit to the right and was able to do it, and do it accurately with my Kimber. Now comes the practice, practice practice. Tomorrow morning I hope to be the winning bidder on a Wilson X-TAC Compact. I have three Kimbers but decided to take the plunge on a Wilson. My wife shoots my Kimber Super Carry Ultra Plus so well I’m gonna let her have it.

        Keep up the good work buddy.

  13. Mr. Sajnog,

    I read your book and found some very good tips as I am constantly looking to improve my shooting. Particularly, I was interested in the section on front sight focus as I had not learned that in other shooting classes I’ve taken in the past (as it relates to pistol shooting in this case).

    If I may ask a question…when I get my front sight in focus, I run into the issue of double vision at the target. In my mind this is not desired, so do you have any tips or exercises to get rid of this problem? I’ve researched this on the web without a whole lot of success. It’s mentioned but not delved into much.

    Thank you for your book, your time and consideration and your service to this great country.

    Mike

    1. Mike, Your issue is a common one and will be fixed by doing the steps I’ve outlined in this article on a consistent basis. You need to teach your mind what picture to pay attention to and your double vision will disappear. One week of consistent practice is all it takes. Good luck. Hooyah! Chris

      1. Chris,

        I recently posted a question, regarding front site focus and double vision. I have been consistently doing the exercises and now have another question. While the double vision in the field has essentially disappeared (not quite second nature but still working on that), I now get two images of my front/rear sites. Is this normal or should I only see one image here as well?

        Thanks again,

        Mike

        1. I’m not Chris, but I only see the single views of the front site, cannot say I don’t have some blurring of the rear but (and ‘anyone’?) that seems normal. Just my .02… take care.

        2. Hi Cris et al,

          Just wondering if I could get some further feedback on my previous post. I want to be sure I’m training correctly.

          Thanks again,

          Mike

        3. Mike,

          You’ll always see two front sights if you’re shooting with both eyes open. Through practice, your brain will ignore the image from your non-dominant eye.

          Hope this help.
          Chris

  14. My question overlaps Nick’s of 8/24/13 and Paul Anderson of 8/21/13, with an added question about carbine mag changes.

    I have been through your book Chris, and am practicing daily (did someone say dry fire?!) One of the things I am dealing with as I refine my platform, my sight refinement, and follow through is this; I’m cross-dominant like Nick and Paul; right handed and left eye. One of the things that is difficult to do is keep my head positioned straight at the target when acquiring it. However, if I turn my head slightly to the right, so that my left eye is in line with the barrel and pointing at the target, (but my head is still upright; I know this because practicing in front of a mirror is helpful to me here,) this seems to work, sort of. I’m seeing positive results at the range, but the sort of part is that now my strong side forearm is no longer directly in line with the barrel and the target, hence I worry that I’m losing part of the strength/stability in my platform. I’m wondering if I should perhaps switch to left hand shooting, and put the time and effort into developing that… Seems like a bit of a long road to go down from where I am now (I’m 58 and have been shooting cross-dominant since I was 12,) so in your opinion is my “head turn” solution one that you might go with if you were in my shoes, or if I were one of your students?

    Carbine and shotgun are a whole other story; here I actually shoot left handed. A mag change on the carbine means taking my right hand off of the handguard to hit the mag release (er, bullet button here in CA,) and then making the change with my right hand before proceeding with customer service. Any suggestions there for speed, other than getting a left handed receivers? I do have an ambi selector, and can still keep the rifle tight into my chest with my action hand. So, should I perfect that, or try something else? Shotgun I solved the problem by getting a left-handed auto-loader and since reloading is center and underneath the receiver, I feel that I’m developing sufficient speed anyway.

    Thanks for making your teachings available to us civies Chris; terrific training tool and your work is changing my shooting in a very good and big way. Your book is worth multiples of what you charge for it.

    Tim Anderson

    1. Tim,

      First off thank you for buying the book and I’m really glad it’s helping.

      As for your cross-eye dominance, this is a tough one. Why are you shooting log guns left-handed? I would normally say don’t switch to lefty on pistol, but if you’re doing it on carbine and shotgun, you may be able to pull it off. I’d recommend finding out where your weak points are in shooting and fix from there. You can always shoot with your non-dominant eye as long as you keep the other eye shut (not helpful in combat or moving) or you can train your other eye to become your dominant eye (I’ve never done this but heard it can be done). If you’re running a red-dot, this should be easy. Without seeing you shoot, you’ll have to decide which path will be easiest and most beneficial. I’m a proponent of the head-turn and would likely recommend you stay with that.

      Your reload technique is what I would say to stick with on the carbine too. That’s what I teach lefties who can’t modify their guns (military/LE), but you can so maybe look into getting a ambi-mag release?

      Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. Hooyah! -Chris

  15. Chris,

    First of all, thank you for writing the book. I’ve been to a top shooting school here in Brazil, but your book improved my game substantially.

    Second, after reading the book I had some doubts about where to focus when doing the pen/pencil drill to train how to shoot with both eyes opened. I’m not sure if I should focus on the target (seeing 2 pens) or focus on the pen (seeing 2 targets).

    Also, in my understanding, when dry firing I should focus on the target while bringing the pistol to position and then transition to the front sight (seeing 2 targets and 2 rear sights, that with training won’t bother me anymore). Is that correct?

    Thank you in advance for your help and keep up your good work!

    Best regards,
    Luiz

    1. Luiz – I’m glad the book is helping your shooting. As for where to focus when training your eyes, the key is to continue to go back-and-forth between the two until your brain focuses on what you want it to. You need to remember that you will always see two images with both eyes open, but your training your mind to basically ignore image from your other eye.

      When you bring your pistol up to shoot, you should be looking at the target and bring the sights into your field of view. Your focus should move to the front sight post as you fully mount the gun. The further the shot, the more focus on the front sight. The closer the shot, the more you can focus on the target.

      Hope this helps.
      Chris

  16. Chris,
    Once again love everything you teach! I’m having trouble learning to shoot with both eyes open. As I am of the mutants you speak of. I’m a natural southpaw, but while learning to shoot the rifle at parris Island my primary marksmanship coach announced he was only going good to teach right handed and all us lefty could adapt or reverse it in our heads. I adapted. Which worked fine iv constantly shot expert. But with the rifle I use my right eye. Then I pistol qualed and I shoot left hand left eye. Same deal expert. But I find when doing your drills I have double vision and can’t fix it, it’s like I have to sight posts. What am I doing wrong. Iv been practicing like crazy. Thank for your time and any advice you have.
    God bless Jen

    1. Jen,

      I’m not sure if you read my book or know my theory on techniques, but if it’s working for you – don’t fix it! You’re shooting expert in both pistol and rifle, so I would continue on with what you’re doing. Sounds like its working great. Also, there are a small percentage of people who will not be able to shoot with both eyes open. If you’ve been practicing a lot and it’s not working, you may be in that small group. – Chris

  17. Chris, is your book mainly on pistol shooting? I have been working hard on your technique, and find turning the head to my right helps my right hand shooter, left eye dominant condition. I have been retaining my focus on the front site as the weapon returns to horizontal, and firing when the sight intersects the target. Your thoughts on this technique?

    Jim

    1. Jim,

      The book covers both pistol and rifle/carbine.

      Your technique sounds solid. The bullet never lies, so if it’s working – stay with it!

      Hooyah – Chris

  18. Chief,
    I am another one of those mutant cross eye dominates. Right handed, left eye dominant. I have been working very hard to learn to shoot with both eyes open. With a handgun, it isn’t much of a problem, thanks to the tips in this article and the book, I’m actually having more trouble with consistent grip.

    As with others, switching to a carbine has me puzzled. I was also trained to shoot with my non-dominant eye in the military. I always shot expert, but I want to vary my ability to shoot consistently in all situations. (What if my right eye becomes disabled? What if my left? Dust, smoke, CS, all kinds of stuff can non-lethally take out an eye for a moment) Shooting offhand, left hand, is not a problem, but shooting strong hand has me stumped. When shooting right handed, nothing I do allows me to line up the iron sights for the left eye. I’ve tried both MBUS and Troy BUIS with the same problem. I’ve tried tilting the rifle to the left and turning my head to the right but the sights don’t really line up well and are too low to pick up with my left eye because of the cheek weld on the butt stock. (Standard M4 stock.) Using a red dot I have no problem keeping both eyes open and overlaying the red dot in my binocular vision FOV, but I’m afraid I’m ruining the progress I’ve made every time I dry fire strong hand by confusing my brain since the red dot itself is in my non-dominant eye’s FOV. Am I over thinking this?

    Do you have any suggestions with how to deal with the iron sight issue? I mean the simplest answer is to just shoot with an eye closed when using iron sights strong side. I’m just wondering if there is something I haven’t thought of that you would suggest.

    Thanks for everything.

    1. Mick,
      You’ve got it right. There are times when we all must shut an eye to shoot effectively. I do it when I’m further back than about 25 yards or if I’m shooting irons reaction-side. Remember that the reason to shoot with both eyes open is to see the the battlefield and be able to move effectively, but above all you need to make your shots!
      Your goal should be to shoot with both eyes open when you can, not 100% of the time and it sounds like you’re going fine.
      Hooyah – Chief S

  19. This is good thanks everybody as I get or got older my vision has changed a lot an I too have changed it’s like learning all over again but then old Dogs do learn new tricks. Again thanks Kenny

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