Mountain 68
Member
I'm new to LRH recently I was listening to a podcast, and it was mentioned that when shooting have both eyes open. So wanting some input on what is the best way to shooting is it with one eye closed or with both eyes open?
Need advice on proper shooting style for LRH.
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For rifle shooting it is not as big a deal. Many people have trouble shooting with both eyes open when one eye is utilizing an optic with magnification.
Both eyes simple allow you to have a larger field of view while behind the gun.
Whatever you do, make sure you can relax. If keeping both eyes open causes you to focus on that part of your shooting, then skip it.
Both eyes simple allow you to have a larger field of view while behind the gun.
Whatever you do, make sure you can relax. If keeping both eyes open causes you to focus on that part of your shooting, then skip it.
While I will shoot both eyes open, regardless, the much more important aspect of sight/target acquisition whether you are using a scope or open sights is to focus on the crosshair or front sight(with open sights). This becomes much more subtle, and difficult to achieve with a scope, with the eye seeing both the target and the crosshair on a single, dimensional plane. Particularly at long range, it is important to train the eye(s) to focus and concentrate on the scopes crosshair with the target backgrounded when the trigger breaks. This process is as much "mental" as it is "visual". The brain wants to see the target get hit, taking attention off the crosshair. While this principal is standard practice with open sights , it is much debated with a scope, but once mastered, IMO, you will see an improvement in accuracy/precision.
Everyone is different and you do what works best for you. Just go out and practice (start with a 22) with the same sight set up both ways. I use both ways depending on the situation, distance, and optic I'm using. I also can shoot left or right handed, but I'm not ambidextrous doing anything else. I always start out with both eyes open and if I need precision I almost always close one eye if any distance is involved. I do the same with shotgun with most shots both eyes open because its totally different. When taking that long shot even with shotgun my off eye ends up closing. Edit...starting with both eyes will always for me lets me find the animal and get sights on it faster regardless of distance.
Mountain 68
Member
Thanks for the advice I think shooting with both eyes open will help my ability to relax and concentrate on other aspects of my shooting instead focusing my eye on getting full field of view on scope, any advice on this, when at bench rest clear and full view on scope, sitting and prone end up searching for full scope view. Any. Advice?
Awesome you are going to try new things. I will try not to complicate things. My experience over the years this has worked for me the best. I start with a simple 22 with a normal scope...say 2-7, 3-9 like a deer hunting rifle. Not one of those tiny old school 22 scopes with a 1/2 inch tube. I like to shoot steel if you have that available because it is instant feed back and important in my process. Starting with a larger target and getting smaller targets as you get better helps. Start by just aiming at a target with both eyes open, and then close your off eye and verify your sight picture. If it is jumping left to right get your eyes more in line with the sights and target. Get comfortable with the changes if any in what you see for sight picture and target alignment. Then move on to the next key training stage. Start by shooting off hand and swinging to different targets at different distances and elevations if possible without lowering rifle. Anything to make you fully adjust your vision, gun position, body positin, and sight requirements. Start with rifle mounted and alternate targets with quick trigger press (not a jerk) when sights are on target. Then do the same thing with the rifle in a carry position, mount rifle, press shot and bring rifle back to carry position. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat and Repeat again and when comfortable start picking different targets. I hope that helps get you started and you can adapt and change as you get better. They have shot timers available free for your phone and I use those to force me to go faster and gives me a mark to surpass.
Set your scope up so when you shoulder your rifle in field hunting positions the scope naturally gives you a full field of view.
I prefer to shoot both eyes open as it removes tension from my face. I spent years training out a bad flinch and it improved dramatically when I started shooting both eyes open. YMMV
All good advice, I'm going to assume you have checked out which eye is dominant, if right handed and trying to shoot that way with a dominant left eye will cause a big problem.
It is absolutely staggering to me...as in I start to get weak legs, dizzy, and wobble around when I see them mounting a scope at most stores. Not all are mega stores even some smaller shops. If the customer is present I will ask every time if they set the eye relief correctly before its tightened down. If not I ask how did they know where to set the eye relief without the owner present. To date not one single time was the answer Yes, and most times the customer says "Oh I have no idea", and the employee will say "It's close enough".
I end up shooting long range with both eyes open as it will superimpose my bubble scope level into my field of view. Kind of ghosts it in there along with my cross hairs and target. I look through the scope with my right eye, and basically could only see the scope level through my left. Somehow my brain crams it all in there. I never realized just how important a scope level was til I was shooting past 400 yards. -WW
Right handed, left eye dominant. Shoot handgun & rifle right handed, both eyes open handgun using dominant eye. Left eye closed rifle - glass or irons. LOTS of dry fire to make this work with handgun.
Shotguns different story: You point a shotgun rather than aiming. Taught myself to shoot from the left shoulder, both eyes open. See the bead with my left eye.
From the right shoulder I was seeing the bead left eyed so looking across the barrel.
Couldn't hit a barn from the inside, much less a duck, pheasant, quail or dove.This is mostly important for shotgun shooting because using both eyes give you depth perception and helps coordinate you for moving targets and point shooting. For a scoped rifle it might help but I can't do it. It works very well with red dot sights.
