[Badey]

I tried an experiment at the range today. I would shoot 12 rounds using one eye to sight with, then 12 rounds using both eyes. I consistently shot much better using both eyes than with using one eye.

This surprised me, because the front sight is much clearer using one eye. Using both eyes, it was harder to tell if I really was focusing on the front sight, due to parallax.

So, is it normal to shoot more accurately with both eyes than with one eye?

 

[ZeBool]

That's good! You should be shooting with both eyes open anyways, particularly if your shooting is geared toward self defense. Closing one eye only serves to eliminate half of your vision, severely handicapping you in a defense situation.

 

[RETSUPT99]

For me...two eyes beats either one eye or no eyes every time.:yup:

 

[mprp]

Good deal Badey. You're half way there. All you have to do now is practice with both eyes open about 3 times wider than they normally are and you will now be practicing like you would be in a real situation. :hand5:

 

[WHEC724]

I'd say I do the same. I've always shot eyes wide open. Closing one eye throws off my mojo.

 

[QKShooter]

You were born with two of them for very good reasons.

 

[WINTEJER000]

wish I had that "problem",
I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other, or so my wife says...

 

[thebucketeer]

I learned as a kid to shoot with one eye, but as I get older it gets harder. I wear multi-focal contacts during the day and find it difficult to find the sights in the lower light conditions at the indoor range. That probably better approximates the conditions I would be faced with at home vs the nice daylight at the outdoor range.

Gonna have to try shooting with both eyes open next time to see how it goes. I really need to send some rounds down range with no contacts in as well.

 

[NC Bullseye]

Not abnormal just not the most common.

People with the dominant hand and dominant eye on the same side are usually more prone to be the ones who shoot better with both eyes open. This is why the parallax error doesn't come into play with both eyes open. Your dominant eye will take over while you handle the other actions.

You may have found you can master a more preferred way of shooting when it comes to self defense since with both eyes open you are able to get the most visual input to your surroundings and that compensates for tunnel vision a bit. It doesn't eliminate it but every little degree of vision radius helps.

Edited to add, for fun you should try shooting off hand next range trip and do the same experiment with one eye and both eyes.

 

[Str8upguy]

I was taught to keep both eyes open and that's how I have shot for over 50 years. Too much work keeping one eye closed.

 

[oldskeetshooter]

With only one eye open you have ZERO depth perception and less field of view.

 

[Mike1956]

I have enough trouble just trying to keep one eye open.

 

[JoePfeiffer]

I've been told consistently that I should shoot with both eyes open, and that I would shoot better if I did. As you can guess from the way I phrase that, I have never been able to get a good sight picture when I've tried it, except when I use the holographic sight on my Buck Mark
(since that's only visible with one eye).

sent using CPIP (see RFC 1149)

 

[italianbreadman]

I wish it felt more natural for me to shoot with both eyes open. I grew up shooting rifles for accuracy, not shooting handguns for defense. Good for you to be better with what most consider the correct way to approach self-defense shooting.

I need to practice that. :-/

 

[Kennydale]

A LONG LONG time ago i wanted to be a professional photographer. I actually got used to looking through the viewfinder (Nikon F: Kinda like the Glock of SLR cameras) with one eye but keeping the other to scan what was around me. Drawing and aiming with both eyes , didn't seem quite as hard as i would have expected.

 

[Badey]

A LONG LONG time ago i wanted to be a professional photographer. I actually got used to looking through the viewfinder (Nikon F: Kinda like the Glock of SLR cameras) with one eye but keeping the other to scan what was around me. Drawing and aiming with both eyes , didn't seem quite as hard as i would have expected.

I do some photography, but have never been able to use both eyes.

 

[IndianaSig]

Barring eye injuries or other peculiarities, you'll always shoot better with both eyes open.

 

[italianbreadman]

A LONG LONG time ago i wanted to be a professional photographer. I actually got used to looking through the viewfinder (Nikon F: Kinda like the Glock of SLR cameras) with one eye but keeping the other to scan what was around me. Drawing and aiming with both eyes , didn't seem quite as hard as i would have expected.

Hmmm. I actually do that when shooting sports. Maybe this will be easier than I thought. :-D

 

[technomonster]

i have always shot with both eyes open, even with scoped rifles.

 

[JoJoGunn]

You open your eyes when you shoot?!? :blink:

Really, it doesn't matter, if that is the way you shoot well, then by all means, continue to do so.

There isn't a "one-size-fits-all" to shooting.