Pistol with both eyes open

[mattg1024]

Do you shoot pistol with both eyes open? I'm trying to adapt to it and having a hard time. Did it come natural? Will it come with more practice? Would new sights help? Any tips/drills/techniques you would recommend?

[4DAIVI PAI2K5]

tag for info.
I can shoot each eye with either hand but I can't for the life of me shoot with both eyes open.

[steyrman13]

Do you shoot pistol with both eyes open? I'm trying to adapt to it and having a hard time. Did it come natural? Will it come with more practice? Would new sights help? Any tips/drills/techniques you would recommend?

I am still working on it. Some people never can overcome the problem and use tap on the non Dom eye on shooting glasses to help train. It is still taking time for me to learn it. I usually close one eye and acquire sights and then open and it helps. Yes practice will help. One thing that helps is blacked out rear sights and bright colored front sight.

[jmnielsen]

I've been working on it lately and been getting better. Haven't done much shooting with it but ill just sit on the couch and do some dry fire practice and while I'm doing that I work on it. I have stock glock sights so maybe I will black out the back and see if it helps more.

[Chimpanzee]

i seem to remember this topic being discussed before, but yes i shoot with both eyes open with every gun, be it pistol or long gun.

[Hogsgunwild]

I have learned to do it in recent years. I still tend to close one eye when shooting slow fire for accuracy, like at 25 yards or beyond, but, can do it either way with good results.

[diving dave]

With both eyes fully open I can't focus on a front sight worth a dam.. But I've found if I " squint" my off side eye a bit the front sight pops into focus, and still have some vision out of the other eye.

[Beat Trash]

I'm right handed and right eye dominate. I shoot a pistol with both eyes open. I found it helps me if i force my right eye to open a bit more than normal. I do this by raising my right eyebrow about as high as I can. Not sure why this helps, but it does.

I also found this helps to prevent me from involuntarily blinking when the round goes off. I can tell if I'm keeping my eyes open when the gun goes off, as I can see a tiny bit of sparks from the muzzle flash out of my peripheral vision.

Not sure if this will help, but for me, it works.

[opmike]

Go and shoot your gun with both eyes open.

Dry fire and live fire. Lots.

Shoot the shit out of it.

As with most things shooting related, it all gets easier with practice. There's no panacea to getting used to something you're not used to other than exposure.

Don't start throwing gear and parts at a fundamental training issue.

[backspur]

I struggle shooting with both eyes open. The tape on the glasses trick works, but is annoying. I've found pulling my cap brim down as low as possible works best for me. I will pull it down so nothing is visible but the sights and the target. It works great as a training aid.

[NeoNeanderthal]

I couldnt do it when i started shooting but trained myself to be able to.

I did thousands of dryfire draw repetitions with a target on the wall. I would not let myself close one eye and would hold the gun out untill the sights focused. I would have to flick my left eye closed sometimes if it never focused. Eventually i would be able to do it faster and faster and now its just as fast as having one eye closed.

People say the advantage is you get more peripheral vision. However, i think the reality of it is, that when shooting defensively (atleast for people that arnt door kickers) your eyes will bug out of your head and it will be nearly impossible to close one eye.

*On a side note. My dad (not a shooter) has the most ****ed up eyes ive ever encountered. He's right handed and nearly blind in his right eye. He also cannot wink (ie both eyes open, or closed only). To shoot a handgun he needs to hold it one handed in his right hand, with his left hand covering his right eye. It is hilarious. When i handed him my AR with an aimpoint micro he thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen, he could actually shoot the thing both eyes open (left handed) with no issues.

[Wreckingball911]

I'm more accurate with one eye but can shoot with both open. I'm thinking I might be cross eye dominant though as when both eyes are open my left eye tries to steal the focus. I ran through about 1000 rds in a g17 shooting NC LEO qualifications/training. Consistently shot a 97ish with one eye but drop to a 90 with both eyes open.

[mattg1024]

Those of you that said you can shoot with both eyes open, what sights do you have? I currently run trijicons on the front and back, been thinking of the blacked out rear sight, I guess I could put some back tape over them and see.

I shoot IDPA pretty often and really feel that having both eyes open would help towards faster acquisition. I can squint my left eye as someone said but really have to focus to do it.

Guess I'll just keep practicing it. Good info guys. Thanks

[Wreckingball911]

Whatever the factory glock night sights are.

[denn1911]

I shoot with both eyes open with iron sights and red dots sights, even at longer distances. For me, I refined my shooting with both eyes by using dry fire drills.

[denn1911]

Those of you that said you can shoot with both eyes open, what sights do you have? I currently run trijicons on the front and back, been thinking of the blacked out rear sight, I guess I could put some back tape over them and see.

I have Trijicon HD sights with the Yellow Front on most of my pistols. The others have a bright front with a blacked out rear sight. This helps me pick up the front sight quick and shoot much faster.

[JWS3]

I'm right-handed, left eye dominant.

I was taught to keep both eyes open when shooting a handgun. Why close off half of your vision?

I shoot with both eyes open from a Modified Weaver stance when shooting a handgun. It's more comfortable to me. All I do is turn my head to the right slightly and my left eye picks up the front sight. This is the way I have been shooting since the early 1970's.

I've tried using the Isosceles and found it to be uncomfortable. I have to turn my head more to the right due to the center-line of the pistol being more to the left.

When shooting my carbine I keep both eyes open. It's mounted with an Eotech XPS and in that way, my right eye sees the Donut of Death.

[rocsteady]

I shoot with both eyes open and have found that the only thing that makes it easier and makes me more accurate is to practice that way all the time.

Early on I would close that non-dominant eye when shooting longer distances at smaller targets such as when outside of 25 yards, but I've found that having both eyes open from that distance works as well once you get used to doing it.

Had an instructor at the academy say that it was not only good for your field of vision but it also wouldn't tip someone off as to when you were going to shoot if your eyes were both always open.

I never questioned him on that, but assumed that it was in some sort of hostage situation where you were fairly close to the subject and ready to take the shot to end the standoff. Hope I never find out if that's the case or not.

I have our issued Glock 22 night sights.

[straterman]

Both eyes open. Im new to this method but find that im already getting faster and more accurate. When I do holster draws and aim both eyes are always open and it is getting easier but a skill that requires practice. I find myself much better with stock glock sights than anything else. The 2 dot sights with bright front is pretty easy too.

[GLOCKMASTER]

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