View Full Version : New to the AR... Cross eye dominant... Looking for tips
I have always shot long guns left handed because I can't aim with my right eye. However, I shoot a pistol right handed and have had multiple HG classes, have a very consistant draw and have taught myself to run a pistol hard being cross eye dominant. I bought my first AR two weeks ago. I have already set the money aside for my first carbine class this spring because I love training! But was looking for some tips on running rifle as a lefty and pistol as a righty.
- reloads are tricky, manageable but seems slow to me..
- do I reach under with my right hand to drop the bolt?
- switching safety on with pointer finger, off with thumb but I'm constantly adjusting my grip to use my thumb... Seems like there should be a more efficient way without compromising my grip?
- going over my pistol to grab a mag? Is it right to run my spare mag behind my pistol? (No vest or chest rig of course).
Any tips or tricks for cross eye would be awesome.. I train regularly, and take classes yearly, multiple if $ permits but like I said.. This is my first AR... I'd like to do it right on my own...
Creating bad habits early sucks!!!
Thanks
Before I purchased my ambi-mag release I used my right hand to grasp the empty magazine, then engaged the standard magazine release with my right hand thumb then stripped the mag.
This slowed my emergency reload down having to engage the mag button then strip the mag, then locate and seat the fresh mag all with my support hand. My time sped up when I purchased the Troy mag release...but it all depends on what kind of reload you're doing.
Engaging the selector is hard to explain. I would rotate from "safe" to "fire" using the meat of my hand directly below my firing hand trigger finger. I would then come out of the trigger guard completely and rotate the selector from "fire" to "safe" also with my firing hand trigger finger. And even though I purchased an ambi selector, I still use the second part of that method liking having my finger nowhere near the trigger going to "safe".
To hit the bolt release on a locked bolt, I extend all four fingers of my firing hand and hit the bolt release with my firing hand middle finger. I actually cut down a magpul bad lever to make a "extended bolt release" and have been very happy with the result but not having an extended bolt release is not an issue by any means.
Engaging a bolt hold open is not a problem by using my firing hand trigger finger.
Being left handed with a rifle and right handed with a pistol I do not personally feel comfortable running my mags on my belt. I do not wish to cluster the area of my belt with AR mags where my pistol is holstered. But thats just me. I prefer to run my mags both rifle and pistol on my chest.
My personal preference for transitions is to run a good two point adjustable sling with the rear point of contact of the sling being mounted to the AR's receiver end plate. From this point, I have the sling routed Underneath my firing arm armpit, up and around my back, Over my support arm shoulder, to the handguard.
This allows me to rotate the rifle completely out of my way so that the rifle is slung behind me. Allowing me to move freely while transitioning to my pistol.
For me, other methods either cause the rifle to fall over my holstered pistol or to fall in front of my legs. YMMV
Buy a Sig Sauer M400 and you will be happy!
I'm cross eye dominant. Maybe not as severe as the OP, but it seems easier to train your weak eye, than to train yourself how to shoot left handed...having tried it both ways.
I am cross eye dominant, but shoot with the rifle mounted on the side of my non-dominant eye. I adjust the rear sight to compensate for the change in windage from my dominant eye.
When shooting with a handgun or a rifle with a red dot sight I shoot with both eyes open and slightly rotate my head back and forth until I find the sweet spot for my vision.
Can you absolutely not shoot with your weak eye?
I'm cross eye dominate and shoot pistols and rifles with my "bad" eye. It doesn't affect me at all and I'm a pretty good shot with both.
Where is does make a BIG difference is shooting clays with a shotgun. I am average at best because I still use a right handed shotgun and put a circle of transparent tape on my left lens of my glasses.
Shotgun is the only discipline where I feel it is absolutely necessary to shoot with your dominate eye. Mostly because you point rather than aim.
Traveshamockery
01-19-13, 08:18
Can you absolutely not shoot with your weak eye?
I'm cross eye dominate and shoot pistols and rifles with my "bad" eye. It doesn't affect me at all and I'm a pretty good shot with both.
Where is does make a BIG difference is shooting clays with a shotgun. I am average at best because I still use a right handed shotgun and put a circle of transparent tape on my left lens of my glasses.
Shotgun is the only discipline where I feel it is absolutely necessary to shoot with your dominate eye. Mostly because you point rather than aim.
Do you close or squint your dominant eye?
I shoot pistol RH, rifle/shotgun LH.
My eyes might be good enough, or I could close my left eye and could likely shoot rifle/shotgun RH, but the AR is fairly LH friendly...
I use LH trigger finger to put safety on/off.
LH trigger finger to release bolt.
Another poster here suggested a method for mag-swaps; I use a Norgon or Troy LH mag release...have both; both work.
There's a 'gear load-out pics' thread somewhere with numerous suggestions (including a response to my question on that) on how to arrange a battle belt for RH/pistol, LH/rifle load carriage. You may want to ask your carbine-course instructor for some pointers on this prior to start of class.
Additionally, LAV is cross-dominant...so not the end of the world! ;)
-Rainman
I'm CED too.
Just shoot with both eyes open and practice.
IMO, you should train regularly with your "other strong side",
but your "strong side" should be the primary.
Can you absolutely not shoot with your weak eye?
I'm cross eye dominate and shoot pistols and rifles with my "bad" eye. It doesn't affect me at all and I'm a pretty good shot with both.
Where is does make a BIG difference is shooting clays with a shotgun. I am average at best because I still use a right handed shotgun and put a circle of transparent tape on my left lens of my glasses.
Shotgun is the only discipline where I feel it is absolutely necessary to shoot with your dominate eye. Mostly because you point rather than aim.
I absolutely can't shoot with my weak eye. I'm 30, been shooting long guns for 15 years as a lefty and even trained with a pistol lefty for a few years. In the end, draw is more consistant with my right hand and more comfortable.. Even holding a rifle as a righty feels foreign to me. But as I said, this is my first AR. I shoot RH bolt guns excellent as a lefty and shotguns as well. I could hold a rifle as a righty all day everyday and my right eye is so weak, ill just be staring down the side of the rifle with my left. (Always both eyes fully open). I will never shoot a rifle as a righty... It's just not in the pages for me..
Manipulations on my AR are just slow and akward, I have a carbine class in the spring, but I'm not waiting til then to shoot. Learn it right the first time and practice right... That's why I'm asking.
Thanks!
Gutshot John
01-19-13, 11:49
I absolutely can't shoot with my weak eye.
If you're new to the gun, the solution may be a bit more radical. Have you considered just learning to shoot it with your weak-hand using your strong eye?
If you have a lot of practice with manipulations, and have those fairly well engrained, this may not be worth the effort.
If you don't have a lot of manipulations to unlearn and relearn, learning to shoot weak-hand may be a bit awkward at first but you improve readily. In my limited experience with myself, it was easier to train my weak-hand to shoot, than my eyes to compensate for being off-hand.
Though I'm not cross-dominant, I learned to shoot the M16, the Marine Instructor just put it into my right hand even though I'm a lefty. I didn't even think about it till years later, until then I was a mediocre shot. When I switched back to my strong side/eye my shooting improved profoundly. That said I tend to be a lot stronger weak side/eye when shooting off-hand than most righties going the other way I've seen.
I think if you try to split the difference you'll get a lot further. It's easier to train your hands than it is to train your eye, it might also have the side benefit of improved off-hand manipulations.
Just a thought.
If you're new to the gun, the solution may be a bit more radical. Have you considered just learning to shoot it with your weak-hand using your strong eye?
If you have a lot of practice with manipulations, and have those fairly well engrained, this may not be worth the effort.
If you don't have a lot of manipulations to unlearn and relearn, learning to shoot weak-hand may be a bit awkward at first but you improve readily. In my limited experience with myself, it was easier to train my weak-hand to shoot, than my eyes to compensate for being off-hand.
Though I'm not cross-dominant, I learned to shoot the M16, the Marine Instructor just put it into my right hand even though I'm a lefty. I didn't even think about it till years later, until then I was a mediocre shot. When I switched back to my strong side/eye my shooting improved profoundly. That said I tend to be a lot stronger weak side/eye when shooting off-hand than most righties going the other way I've seen.
I think if you try to split the difference you'll get a lot further. It's easier to train your hands than it is to train your eye, it might also have the side benefit of improved off-hand manipulations.
Just a thought.
That's what I mean... I do shoot weak hand/strong eye for rifles/LG only. It's an easy compensation for a pistol.. But my right is jacked.. I do run both eyes open, and am very comfortable shooting anything as a lefty... Juts getting some manipulation/load out tips for running CED.. (Pistol holstered on R side, running rifle left handed)
Thanks
Do you close or squint your dominant eye?
No. For practical shooting I shoot pistols with both eyes open with an isosceles stance slightly off center under my weak (right) eye.
When I used to shoot Bullseye I used a MRD sight so it didn't make a difference, though I usually wore a blinder over my left I just in case.
Both eyes open with rifles too.
Shotguns are different. Because there are no real sights and I'm looking at the target, my dominant eye battle for control and I will get a flash picture of the left side of the shotgun causing me to miss behind the bird.
When my strong hand was out of action, I had to learn to shoot weak hand. By squinting my strong eye, I gradually learned to focus with my weak eye. After a few months, I didn't have to squint anymore, I just focus with whichever eye the sights are in front of.
Don't know if my results are typical, but try it. It may even take longer than learning crosshand manipulations, but would seem to be more versatile in the long term.
I'm left hand/right eye dominant. I am absolutely horrible trying to shoot right handed, and have had no luck trying to force myself to be able to retrain my eyes. So, I end up shooting with one eye closed most of the time, using my left eye when shooting long guns, and my right eye for pistols.
When I first got an AR, I was pleasantly surprised to find when using a red dot and keeping both eyes open, it almost seems to be a benefit to have it set up for my weak eye. I see the dot just fine, and it seems my view is completely unobstructed by the rest of the scope not being in the line of my dominant eye. If you're more comfortable running it on your weak eye side, I'd say give it a try.
Edit- ah, hell. Shoulda read the rest of your posts before replying. No help here. Move on.
When I first got an AR, I was pleasantly surprised to find when using a red dot and keeping both eyes open, it almost seems to be a benefit to have it set up for my weak eye. I see the dot just fine, and it seems my view is completely unobstructed by the rest of the scope not being in the line of my dominant eye.
I wish I could get that to happen. :(
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