AR 15 right handed with left eye

[fritzthemoose]

hi everyone,

as i am a dom right hander but have nearly no sight on the right eye. so i am mainly shooting handguns and here mainly ipsc open. however a ar 15 would tempt me very much so i was wondering if there is a way to shoot a ar 15 right handed aiming with the left eye. a practical way that is and what modifications i would have to do

[GentlemanJim]

You can put the rifle on the left shoulder..awkward but it can work

I would just shoot it lefty

Jim

[fritzthemoose]

You can put the rifle on the left shoulder..awkward but it can work

I would just shoot it lefty

Jim

i would like to avoid that as it would take me most likely very long to get used to it

[Graham Smith]

Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to an AR but I've got vision issues of my own and this has helped me....

You might want to consider a red dot sight - that will make it a lot easier because your head position is far less critical. An adjustable stock will also allow you to shorten the length of pull which also makes positioning easier.

[fritzthemoose]

Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to an AR but I've got vision issues of my own and this has helped me....

You might want to consider a red dot sight - that will make it a lot easier because your head position is far less critical. An adjustable stock will also allow you to shorten the length of pull which also makes positioning easier.

as i am nearly blind on the right eye a reddot would not work.

[Dan Sierpina]

You could raise the scope quite high, and rest your chin on the stock, using your left eye to shoot. Silhouette shooters have done this, as has David Tubb in years past at the Sportsman's Team Challenge. Maybe not shooting left eyed, but the "chin gun" concept.

[J-Ho]

I would just force your hands to learn to use the rifle left handed. You said you are relatively new to rifles so it sounds like there won't be a ton of reprogrammming for your brain.

[gerritm]

I am also blind in my right eye. And have poor vision in my left eye. It is correctable by eyeglasses. I forced myself to learn how to shoot left handed. Now it is natural. I shoot pistol right handed with my left eye and rifle/shotgun left handed. I have found that a red dot was the easiest to use mainly because you can look around the smaller Aimpoint or C-More to acquire the next target. That has been my biggest challenge. Finding the next target without looking outside of the scope. Problem is that a red dot is not the best for long distance. I have just switched to a 1x4 scope with a good clear field of vision and am working on learning how to use it and acquire targets thru it. It is somewhat of a challenge, but I am slowly figuring it out and actually starting to prefer it over my red dot. Good luck.

[jaredr]

You could raise the scope quite high, and rest your chin on the stock, using your left eye to shoot. Silhouette shooters have done this, as has David Tubb in years past at the Sportsman's Team Challenge. Maybe not shooting left eyed, but the "chin gun" concept.

i took a class a while back from Kyle Lamb where he mentioned someone who'd lost their right eye in a breaching accident (believe it was Mike Pannone but I may be incorrect) and shot rifle just as you mention it above - they put a riser on the AR receiver to raise the optic a bit and then shot right handed (long gun on right shoulder) but aiming with their left eye. If i recall correctly, this was using an eotech or aimpoint type red dot sight which has basically unlimited eye relief and very limited parallex (supposedly parallex-free) so they were able to get an effectice sight picture even with a bit of an oblique viewing angle through the scope. Not sure how this worked for longer distance targets where parallex is more of an issue, or whether this would work for a magnified optic which is not so forgiving with eye relief or field of view.

another option is as Gentleman Jim suggested, if you have access to a red dot scope you might try shooting left-handed. i found it very challenging to shoot an AR from my support sife when using irons (having to concentrate carefully on sight picture while also figuring out what the heck my hands were doing) but (for reasons I couldn't understand) it was a lot easier with an aimpoint - just work on putting the dot over the target and then squeeze the trigger:rolleyes: ok, it's not that easy (and I'm not very good at it), but an aimpoint made it easy-er... best of luck with it which ever path you take.

Edited September 3, 2010 by jaredr

[toothandnail]

My nephew is rt handed/left eye dominate, he tried for several yrs to shoot that way, VERY inconsistant, switched to shooting rifle lefty , didn't take long ,he improved 75%

[dlee14]

I have run into the same situation with a few shooters. Other than forcing yourself to shoot lefty, here is what you can do with the gun to shoot righty; Mount a scope using a high mount AND a offset mount so that the scope is to the left of the boreline. There are offset Picatinny mounts that are canted at a 45 degree angle which should work for your purposes. Using this setup, you can shoot righty and look through the scope with your right eye. Its a bit unconventional, but it works great.

[AustinT]

Shooting an AR lefty with a red dot is stupid easy after you get past the weirdness. Just like anything else, all it takes is practice!

After you start to get the consistent head position that will come with experience, irons aren't a problem either!

[EDGE PILOT]

I am right handed and left eye dominate and have shot long guns left handed for years.It did not take much time at all to get comfortable.Sometimes it's an advantage on some stages,and you get to work on your weak hand trigger control.

[fritzthemoose]

I have run into the same situation with a few shooters. Other than forcing yourself to shoot lefty, here is what you can do with the gun to shoot righty; Mount a scope using a high mount AND a offset mount so that the scope is to the left of the boreline. There are offset Picatinny mounts that are canted at a 45 degree angle which should work for your purposes. Using this setup, you can shoot righty and look through the scope with your right eye. Its a bit unconventional, but it works great.

The offset one is a very good idea. I had a similar setup on my old glock open but more for having no ejection issues than for the sight picture.

[fritzthemoose]

You could raise the scope quite high, and rest your chin on the stock, using your left eye to shoot. Silhouette shooters have done this, as has David Tubb in years past at the Sportsman's Team Challenge. Maybe not shooting left eyed, but the "chin gun" concept.

i took a class a while back from Kyle Lamb where he mentioned someone who'd lost their right eye in a breaching accident (believe it was Mike Pannone but I may be incorrect) and shot rifle just as you mention it above - they put a riser on the AR receiver to raise the optic a bit and then shot right handed (long gun on right shoulder) but aiming with their left eye. If i recall correctly, this was using an eotech or aimpoint type red dot sight which has basically unlimited eye relief and very limited parallex (supposedly parallex-free) so they were able to get an effectice sight picture even with a bit of an oblique viewing angle through the scope. Not sure how this worked for longer distance targets where parallex is more of an issue, or whether this would work for a magnified optic which is not so forgiving with eye relief or field of view.

another option is as Gentleman Jim suggested, if you have access to a red dot scope you might try shooting left-handed. i found it very challenging to shoot an AR from my support sife when using irons (having to concentrate carefully on sight picture while also figuring out what the heck my hands were doing) but (for reasons I couldn't understand) it was a lot easier with an aimpoint - just work on putting the dot over the target and then squeeze the trigger:rolleyes: ok, it's not that easy (and I'm not very good at it), but an aimpoint made it easy-er... best of luck with it which ever path you take.

I was planning red dot anyway. as i am mainly shooting ipsc open i am used to them. so this will be the way to go. as soon as i have a day off i will go to a shop here in austria that has it own shooting range and try some.

I assume its better to have a longer one than a short one right

[jaredr]

You could raise the scope quite high, and rest your chin on the stock, using your left eye to shoot. Silhouette shooters have done this, as has David Tubb in years past at the Sportsman's Team Challenge. Maybe not shooting left eyed, but the "chin gun" concept.

i took a class a while back from Kyle Lamb where he mentioned someone who'd lost their right eye in a breaching accident (believe it was Mike Pannone but I may be incorrect) and shot rifle just as you mention it above - they put a riser on the AR receiver to raise the optic a bit and then shot right handed (long gun on right shoulder) but aiming with their left eye. If i recall correctly, this was using an eotech or aimpoint type red dot sight which has basically unlimited eye relief and very limited parallex (supposedly parallex-free) so they were able to get an effectice sight picture even with a bit of an oblique viewing angle through the scope. Not sure how this worked for longer distance targets where parallex is more of an issue, or whether this would work for a magnified optic which is not so forgiving with eye relief or field of view.

another option is as Gentleman Jim suggested, if you have access to a red dot scope you might try shooting left-handed. i found it very challenging to shoot an AR from my support sife when using irons (having to concentrate carefully on sight picture while also figuring out what the heck my hands were doing) but (for reasons I couldn't understand) it was a lot easier with an aimpoint - just work on putting the dot over the target and then squeeze the trigger:rolleyes: ok, it's not that easy (and I'm not very good at it), but an aimpoint made it easy-er... best of luck with it which ever path you take.

I was planning red dot anyway. as i am mainly shooting ipsc open i am used to them. so this will be the way to go. as soon as i have a day off i will go to a shop here in austria that has it own shooting range and try some.

I assume its better to have a longer one than a short one right

sorry, not quite sure what you're referring to here when you say longer one. if you mean eye relief, then yes, but most of the red dots are unlimited eye relief. please advise if i've misunderstood your question.

[Captain Wheelgun]

Hi, Fritz,

I'm in the same situation, right-handed, but right eye hosed due to various medical issues. I've tried shooting left-handed, but it just doesn't feel right. I can do it, but I still prefer shooting right-handed whenever possible. My current rifle is a box-stock DPMS 20" A2. I've used it for some time now with a scope on the carry handle. This is plenty high for right hand / left eye shooting.

However, I recently got one of those cantilever mounts that puts a scope or red dot forward of the carry handle. I've installed an old Tasco ProPoint 4 on this. It's a 1x red dot sight with a tube that's almost 45mm in diameter. On this mount, it sits just high enough to to use RH / LE, but is much more compact than having a scope on top of the carry handle. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I did a preliminary zero by co-witnessing the dot with the iron sights, which I had zeroed off a bench shooting left-handed. This may work for you if you can find a similarly sized dot sight. If you have a railed forend, you can get the same effect by putting your dot sight on a riser block.

Hope this helps.

David S

[Cold Absolute Zero]

I am cross eye dominant, right handed & left eye dom so I have a similar predicament. I recommend shooting long guns off the left shoulder. There are several benefits to this...strong hand driving the gun, strong hand doing the reloads and strong hand working the slide (pump shotgun). Once you get used to it it really is not that awkward, and you get more weak hand trigger time which I think helps round out shooting skills. I tried in the beginning to shoot off the right shoulder w/ my left eye with very little success but thats me, YMMV.

CAZ

[synergy]

You could raise the scope quite high, and rest your chin on the stock, using your left eye to shoot. Silhouette shooters have done this, as has David Tubb in years past at the Sportsman's Team Challenge. Maybe not shooting left eyed, but the "chin gun" concept.

i took a class a while back from Kyle Lamb where he mentioned someone who'd lost their right eye in a breaching accident (believe it was Mike Pannone but I may be incorrect) and shot rifle just as you mention it above - they put a riser on the AR receiver to raise the optic a bit and then shot right handed (long gun on right shoulder) but aiming with their left eye. If i recall correctly, this was using an eotech or aimpoint type red dot sight which has basically unlimited eye relief and very limited parallex (supposedly parallex-free) so they were able to get an effectice sight picture even with a bit of an oblique viewing angle through the scope. Not sure how this worked for longer distance targets where parallex is more of an issue, or whether this would work for a magnified optic which is not so forgiving with eye relief or field of view.

It all makes sense now.

Just saw these pics of Mike Pannone. I figured he learned to shoot right handed and had something happen (not impossible in that line of work).