1 0r 2 eyes open

[900-DRIVER]

Does 2 eye open pistol shooting (like shot gunning) produce faster target sighting and thus faster shooting or does it make a difference?
i am a right eye shooter and am accurate but very slow.
Or start with 2 eyes open and then go to 1 eye after the gun is on target?
if you guys could share what works or what is the best way that i should start practicing that would be great \thanks

[Dropkick]

In the past I would shoot 1 eye open, but now I'm working on shooting both eyes open. I can't remember what turned the lightbulb on, but I'm glad it did.

[seabiscuit]

Both eyes open improves your peripheral vision and lets more light into your dominant eye - closing one eye forces you to slightly close the other. For that reason alone, smallbore shooters will put tape over one lens of their glasses.

Here, accurate sighting isn't as much of an issue - but I believe leaving both eyes open leads to faster target acquisition and transition, and more awareness of what's going on around you.

[John Ralston]

Always 2 eyes for pistol/rifle/shotgun shooting. I only slightly close my left eye when shooting open sights on a pistol if the shot has to be very precise and the distance is 25 yards or more. It reduces eye strain in addition to the other points made.

[Occam's Razor]

As a side, I've found that turning the head very slightly to the non-dominant side (i.e. putting your dominant eye on the sight) tends to help learn to shoot with both eyes open.

[900-DRIVER]

so here's a few questions for you guys.
when you look through the sights with 2 eyes do you see two front sights?
are they a little blurry at arms length?
is there a little bit of cross eyedness going on?
if i look at the sights at arms length and kind of offset my head a little bit , it looks clear but then am i really using the 2 eyed shooting method correctly?

or should i just try to get faster with my one eyed method and not frustrate myself with the 2 eye way, i shoot idpa once a month and am a marksman but i do want to improve.

[VolGrad]

In the past I would shoot 1 eye open, but now I'm working on shooting both eyes open. I can't remember what turned the lightbulb on, but I'm glad it did.

This is me too. I used to worry I was not "good" because I was closing one eye. I finally had a good instructor tell me to do it however I needed to and not worry over it. Over time a lightbulb came on for me too and I realized one day I was actually shooting with both eyes open. I didn't even realize I was doing it either. It just happened.

On the distance to target grows or if I am working on real precision I will still close one eye.

[JHC]

I grew up learning both eyes open following the gurus of the Modern Technique and thought it was critical. Have since read pretty serious trainers like Pat Rogers say both is great, one is not the end of the world or that big a deal and I think he's probably right.

[seabiscuit]

when you look through the sights with 2 eyes do you see two front sights?

More or less, depends on what you focus on.


are they a little blurry at arms length?

Front sight should never be blurry.


is there a little bit of cross eyedness going on?
if i look at the sights at arms length and kind of offset my head a little bit , it looks clear but then am i really using the 2 eyed shooting method correctly?

A little cross-eyedness. But both eyes open gives you a better picture of the target. You just have to train yourself to focus on the image from the dominant eye.

I'd say training yourself to shoot both-eyes-open is worth it. Takes practice, but you should have it down before too long. You can also practice it when you shoot rifle, with or without iron sights.

[Chefdog]

I'm a very inexperienced shooter in comparison to most here, but I found that once I committed to learning how to shoot with both eyes open my speed AND accuracy improved greatly. I think the improvements were a result of the ability to see the whole target in relation to my sight picture as well as not wasting time realigning my sight picture after closing my left eye.

Lots of dry fire at home helped immensely in adjusting to the slightly different sight picture. Once I got used to finding and focusing on that front sight with both eyes open it seemed really odd to go back. I find that if I focus on the target and bring the gun up from the holster I can place the front sight post over the point of aim and its very easy from that point to quickly shift my focus to the sight.

Give it a shot around the house, pick a light switch or doorknob and keep going it until it feels more natural. Then go try it on the range so you're not using all your time and ammo figuring out if it'll work for you or not. Good luck.

[CatsEye]

I only slightly close my left eye when shooting open sights on a pistol if the shot has to be very precise and the distance is 25 yards or more.

I do very similar to John. I usually shoot IDPA and always shoot with both eyes open unless the distance goes out to 25 yards or more.

[NGCSUGrad09]

I found that in my early shooting days I used one eye to make sure I was aligning the sights correctly. Over time I've naturally become more comfortable and both eyes are open. It's one of those things that each person is different and will learn over time or start right away. I wouldn't sweat it if you close one eye, but if it is due to something like vision issues see an eye doctor to get it corrected.

I still close or partially close one eye for some long distance shots.

[Dropkick]

Bill Rogers - Shooting With Both Eyes Open
http://www.panteaoproductions.com/protips/29

[mongooseman]

Shooting walk back drills on 3x5 cards, I can hit accurately with both eyes open until I reach 15 yards. Then I switch to the left eye, which is my non-dominant eye, but has better vision than the right eye. Which qualifies me for being legitimately screwed up, I think.

[Kyle Reese]

Both eyes for carbine/handgun, unless shooting carbine from my non dominant side (left), where I'll use my left eye only.

[seabiscuit]

Both eyes for carbine/handgun, unless shooting carbine from my non dominant side (left), where I'll use my left eye only.

I was wondering about that. Nearly impossible to get a good sight picture with both eyes open support side. Thanks for letting me know I've been doing it right.

[Jesse Tischauser]

2 eyes are always better than 1. I shoot 2 eyes open with every gun. You may have to do some dry fire training to get the left eye to work like u want it but it will come. I had to do a lot of squinting of the left eye to get it to cooperate and not see things double. This winter I plan to work on training both eyes to allow me to use the left eye during weak handed shooting.

[ford.304]

So do you just remember which of the two targets to aim at?

I'm cross dominant. If I focus on the front sight, I can see two copies of the rear sight, and two copies of the target. I've gotten decent at looking at the correct transparent version of the rear sight, but then I still am presented with two identical, out of focus, copies of the target. Is this not what everyone else sees? Do you just remember to shoot one or the other?

[TheRoland]

Is this not what everyone else sees? Do you just remember to shoot one or the other?

I'm cross-dominant, and see only one blurry target. Possibly I'm mentally editing out the second?

[robot]

I shoot with both eyes open when using a Dot at all ranges.

For Irons, both eyes open on close range targets but I tend to close one eye just to focus on aligning the sights for long range ones.

[Dropkick]

In the past I would shoot 1 eye open, but now I'm working on shooting both eyes open. I can't remember what turned the lightbulb on, but I'm glad it did.

That was back on 04-20-2011. Now if I close one eye it feels weird and foreign.
I don't think it took seven months, but I did noticed it the other day when I was at the range.

I don't have any vision problems, aside from some minor near sightedness.

[ford.304]

I'm cross-dominant, and see only one blurry target. Possibly I'm mentally editing out the second?

This is the problem I run into whenever I read "how to shoot with both eyes open" posts. I get that the target is supposed to be blurry. But that doesn't tell me which target when "blurry" turns into "two separate blurry images overlaid on top of each other."

The worst is when you're shooting something like Dot Torture, where the dots just sort of cross each other and it's impossible to tell which one you're actually aiming at.

I did some dry fire drills, and apparently the correct images to pick are the sights on the opposite side as your dominant eye, and the target on the same side as your dominant eye... talk about confusing! So in my case, I'm using the right sights to aim at the left target dot...

Which by the time I've sorted all of that out, I probably should have just closed by eye. It's only a problem for small or distant targets - I can see fine with two eyes to hit most IDPA size/ranged targets. But it means I shot bullseye with only one eye open, which everyone says is bad.