RH/Right Eyed, LH Shooter?

BlackBear · December 11th, 2007, 03:01 PM

OK, I'm not asking about training weak hand, I know I've got to do that. But here's my thing. I haven't fired many handguns in my short life. I've fired probably:
20 - .45 ACP from a 1911
10 - .40 S&W from a Glock 22
1 - .44 Mag from a Revo (borrowed)
300 - 9mm from a Taurus PT 99.

I have only recently gotten more into guns, and just Saturday bought a good handgun for CCW (brand new Taurus 605) and am going to start training. I took it out Sunday morning just to get a few rounds through it and put 50 .38 spl and 10 .357 GDHP through it. On a whim, I put the last 10 .38spl through with my left hand, and my groupings were noticably better with my left hand. It was all the ammo I had at the time (and it was 20 degrees) so I didn't get a chance to do more testing. I was curious, though, if this has happened to people, or people you might know: people who are right eye dominant (I'm certain of this) and right-hand dominant, but may shoot better with their left hand.

goawayfarm · December 11th, 2007, 03:18 PM

I'm left handed, but right eye dominant. There are many ways to accommodate this........

You can shoot with dominant hand or shoot crossed-up (that' what i do....)

Here are a few earlier threads where we've disacussed it:

How bad is it to shoot cross eyed?
Eye Dominance, Sight Alignment / Sight Picture and Sights.
Dominant eye
Left eye Dominant

kazzaerexys · December 11th, 2007, 03:23 PM

Well, if you shoot better lefty, then shoot lefty.

Now you are just a left-handed cross-eye dominant shooter!

For shooting cross-dominant, you can mostly just deal with it in your grip and stance. For example, shooting lefty in a two-hand grip, you can lean your left cheek to your left bicep, which will bring your right eye in line with the sights and that should let you shoot with both eyes open. You can always close an eye, but I don't like the idea of cutting off half my peripheral vision.

Obviously, try some different things and see what works for you, but I might suggest the Chapman stance---your shooting arm is at full extension, your support arm is elbow slightly bent, pulling the shooting arm back in towards your shoulder. This essentially makes your shooting arm into a rifle stock and then leaning over cheek-on-bicep comes pretty naturally and ought to give you a good sight picture.

When shooting one handed cross-eye, you can cant the gun over around 15--30 degrees. One advantage is that this strengthens your one-handed grip giving you better control. The second advantage is that now the sights are tilted away from your left towards your right, dominant, eye. Do not turn the gun fully sideways ('gangsta' style) if you actually care about where your bullets end up!

Good luck!

BlackBear · December 11th, 2007, 05:14 PM

Awesome, thank you for that info and those links!

December 11th, 2007, 03:01 PM	#1
BlackBear Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maine Posts: 185	RH/Right Eyed, LH Shooter? OK, I'm not asking about training weak hand, I know I've got to do that. But here's my thing. I haven't fired many handguns in my short life. I've fired probably: 20 - .45 ACP from a 1911 10 - .40 S&W from a Glock 22 1 - .44 Mag from a Revo (borrowed) 300 - 9mm from a Taurus PT 99. I have only recently gotten more into guns, and just Saturday bought a good handgun for CCW (brand new Taurus 605) and am going to start training. I took it out Sunday morning just to get a few rounds through it and put 50 .38 spl and 10 .357 GDHP through it. On a whim, I put the last 10 .38spl through with my left hand, and my groupings were noticably better with my left hand. It was all the ammo I had at the time (and it was 20 degrees) so I didn't get a chance to do more testing. I was curious, though, if this has happened to people, or people you might know: people who are right eye dominant (I'm certain of this) and right-hand dominant, but may shoot better with their left hand. __________________ I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code Semper Vigilans et Paratus

December 11th, 2007, 03:18 PM	#2
goawayfarm Distinguished Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fork Union, Virginia Posts: 1,892	I'm left handed, but right eye dominant. There are many ways to accommodate this........ You can shoot with dominant hand or shoot crossed-up (that' what i do....) Here are a few earlier threads where we've disacussed it: How bad is it to shoot cross eyed? Eye Dominance, Sight Alignment / Sight Picture and Sights. Dominant eye Left eye Dominant __________________ Quemadmoeum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. "If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. If I have a gun, what do I have to be paranoid about?" -Clint Smith "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." -Jeff Cooper

December 11th, 2007, 05:14 PM	#4
BlackBear Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maine Posts: 185	Awesome, thank you for that info and those links! __________________ I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code Semper Vigilans et Paratus

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

December 11th, 2007, 03:23 PM	#3
kazzaerexys Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maryland Posts: 866	Well, if you shoot better lefty, then shoot lefty. Now you are just a left-handed cross-eye dominant shooter! For shooting cross-dominant, you can mostly just deal with it in your grip and stance. For example, shooting lefty in a two-hand grip, you can lean your left cheek to your left bicep, which will bring your right eye in line with the sights and that should let you shoot with both eyes open. You can always close an eye, but I don't like the idea of cutting off half my peripheral vision. Obviously, try some different things and see what works for you, but I might suggest the Chapman stance---your shooting arm is at full extension, your support arm is elbow slightly bent, pulling the shooting arm back in towards your shoulder. This essentially makes your shooting arm into a rifle stock and then leaning over cheek-on-bicep comes pretty naturally and ought to give you a good sight picture. When shooting one handed cross-eye, you can cant the gun over around 15--30 degrees. One advantage is that this strengthens your one-handed grip giving you better control. The second advantage is that now the sights are tilted away from your left towards your right, dominant, eye. Do not turn the gun fully sideways ('gangsta' style) if you actually care about where your bullets end up! Good luck!