New Shooter: Basic Sight Question

[drjay9051]

Well I am finally getting into shooting. I have purchased a 22/45 .22 pistol as well as a Sig 226 in 9 mm.

I am going to shoot both AR500 steel and paper.

After watching countless videos and reading forums i am still a bit lost on sighting.

I know I am cross eye dominant. Shoot right and left eye dominant.

I have no problem if i close my right eye. At 7-10 yards I am fairly accurate as a new shooter. My issue is keeping both eyes open. from what I have read if I am not shooting bullseye at a distance I should keep both eyes open. I believe this how steel shooters at competitions do it and they are pretty fast and accurate on you tube !

Advice has been one of 3 things

1. Start with non dominant eye closed and after alignment open both eyes and eventually get used to the sight picture. "It will take a couple of weeks."

2. Start with both eyes open but when bringing the firearm up to align sight picture shift the pistol a few inches to the left to be more "in line" with the dominant eye.

3. Do not move pistol to left but rather cock head to the right to be more in line with dominant eye;

I have red dot on the Ruger and it is alot easier to hit target with both eyes open. My issue seems to be more with iron sights on the Sig 9 m.m.

I know this horse has been beaten many times over but i am getting so many conflicting opinions. In the end is there a best solution for a cross dominant shooter/

Thank you for your help.

[Peally]

I have the same cross dominance situation, and when shooting I naturally shift the pistol over an inch to line up with the dominant eye, no head movement really needed. This is how most do it AFAIK, it's simple, feels natural, and works.

The only situation I've been in where I need to close my left eye has been when using low profile shotgun iron sights (especially shooting clays). When transitioning I need to keep it in mind to open the eye back up or it'll screw around with my pistol shooting.

Basically, if you can shoot with both eyes open you probably want to go that route. If you use red dots it's pretty much a non-issue, your brain will superimpose the dot onto your target. I know when shooting with an Aimpoint PRO right handed I can still see the dot just fine with both eyes open, even with the dust covers closed.