Johnny Kalasnakov Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 hello all, I shoot with one eye closed with both handgun and rifle... I'm getting new scope with long eye relief to help with rifle but what are some beginning drills/exercises I can practice with dryfire to start breaking this habit and becoming proficient with both eyes open? thanks, Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn-rgr Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 With a rifle its easy for me to shoot both eyes open. It is a lot more difficult (for me anyway) to shoot pistol that way. Ive been training myself to do it for a couple years now. I basically barely squint my non-firing eye now. I started with a full on squint and just shot and shot until I got to where Im at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWLAZS Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 A little piece of tape on you glasses. Have some one help you block your ability to see the front sight with your non dominate eye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Gene Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 How old are you, and how is your vision overall are two big parts of the equation. (Once I hit 46, my eyes developed an astigmatism, now I have to squint.) From then on it is all part of having the appropriate sight picture for the target presentation. I will squint or close one eye for farther or more precise shots, not because I want to, but because I have to in order to refine my sight picture in certain cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 How old are you, and how is your vision overall are two big parts of the equation. (Once I hit 46, my eyes developed an astigmatism, now I have to squint.) From then on it is all part of having the appropriate sight picture for the target presentation. I will squint or close one eye for farther or more precise shots, not because I want to, but because I have to in order to refine my sight picture in certain cases. Same here... astigmatism sucks... I have to close one eye, otherwise I see double targets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Kalasnakov Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 I'm 32 and wear contacts... can see good up close with out them but everything is blurry further away... contacts correct me to 20/20... I've been thinking about getting laser correction but I've seen a few of the videos on you tube of the procedure being done and it freaks me out... seeing the lasers cut the eye... the smoke... no thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Kalasnakov Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 I also have slight astigmatism... but don't need special contacts or glasses for it or anything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra8541 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Both eyes open is great, I shoot everything like that. I was a Scout Sniper in the Marine Corps and I shot everything like that too. The best way to get that going is to use you dominate eye to do multipal focusing... Like, reticle, target, reticle target, or front site, back site, target and so on... You're just training your eye to focus on what you want to see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Johnny, first welcome! Tension is the enemy. Tape use is key as it does"trick" your eye and lessens the impulse to shut it. I experience degraded vision speed and focus with the non-dominate eye squeezed shut. We have as many unique vision acuity issues as we have shooters, so some experimentation is involved. I like the tape that allows as much light in as possible and small enough to maintain "stereo" vision. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Gene Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I also have slight astigmatism... but don't need special contacts or glasses for it or anything... I am not to the glasses point either, but I can not use a red dot type sight because rather than a dot, I see a stacked pair of dots. It is getting tougher to see the close up stuff too. I am leaning toward "cheater glasses" more and more all the time. More often than not, I shoot with both eyes open, but sometimes, I just have to squint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muleymaniac81 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 FWIW, the laser surgery is definately worth the money. I was in a -6.75 and a -7.25 contact before surgery. I could see clearly for about 9-10 inches. Had surgery in 2002 after winning $400 off via a radio contest. The next morning, I had 20/15 vision and still do. Worth every penny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebob Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I have an astigmatism as well and is screwed with me using an Eotech and made the outside donut blurry for me. I try to shoot with two eyes open but I'm in the same boat on the longer shots, and I'm only 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Kalasnakov Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 muleymaniac81 out of curiosity, do you have any side effects from the lasik surgery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muleymaniac81 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 None whatsoever. I still have my eyes checked every year or two, just to be careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungo2 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) muleymaniac81 out of curiosity, do you have any side effects from the lasik surgery? I can comment as I had Lasik about 4 years ago. Firstly, I'm 51 and have been near-sighted most of my life. I began to notice presbyopia since about '40ish'. Accordingly, prior to the Lasik procedure, my uncorrected vision both near and far was pretty bad. I did the Lasik thing and came out with 20/10 vision. Fantastic...until I realized what happened to my near-field vision. Sans reading glasses, my eyes are virtually useless for anything closer than 6 feet. This is a stated and unavoidable result of any corrective eye surgery, but you don't realize how debilitating it is until you experience it first-hand. 4 years later, my distant vision has decreased somewhat. Although I no longer have perfect, 20/10 vision, I don't require corrective lenses in my daily life. Only reading glasses, of which I have about a dozen strategically placed through out my house and garage. Regardless of the difficulties, I'd absolutely do it again. Since I can no longer clearly distinguish iron sights - rifle or pistol - I've had prescription shooting glasses made with +.75 reading lenses; very low-power. This sharpens the sights just enough for a good sight picture but doesn't alter my ability to see at distance as with normal readers. To the thread topic, I've just begun training with both eyes open and have found it somewhat easier than I thought. The problem with older eyes is that they do not focus quickly when transitioning from near to distant targets. Subjectively, this lag seems to be more apparent when using binocular vision. Everything improves with practice, so I'll keep at it. Cheers Edited February 21, 2011 by Jungo2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I am 60 and shoot with both eyes open - even though the dot looks like a small tilted dash, but it is still small enough with respect to the targets. I shoot red dot using +1.00 glasses, they make everything look in focus... I can shoot without them OK, but they give me some extra crispness that I like. I only close one eye when I need best accuracy, usually when zeroing my scope, then the dot becomes a dot. When shooting iron sites I have to use +2.00 lenses, but then of course the target gets blurry, still, that is the best combination, still with both eyes open. Shooting with both eyes usually improves your result right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooter57 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I also have slight astigmatism... but don't need special contacts or glasses for it or anything... I am not to the glasses point either, but I can not use a red dot type sight because rather than a dot, I see a stacked pair of dots. It is getting tougher to see the close up stuff too. I am leaning toward "cheater glasses" more and more all the time. More often than not, I shoot with both eyes open, but sometimes, I just have to squint. Admit it. time to get those glasses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
392heminut Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 +1 on the Lasik surgery! I had it done when I was 47 and I'm 56 now. I have to use reading glasses (+1.00) except when in really good light, and then I can get by without them. At this point I still do fine with open sights without using any corrective lenses. BTW, I have always shot with mt left eye squinted almost shut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayJayJay Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I am trying to learn with both eyes closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunfun Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 That could work, just don't forget to punch some holes in those upper eyelids. You can use my paper hole punch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jib Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I am trying to learn with both eyes closed. Natural point of aim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Personally, at 31 (20/15 with my -5.25/-6.00 contacts) I refuse to consider Lasik. Not because I'm scared of it. Just because I love being able to focus on my iron sights without corrective shooting glasses. I can score a target at 10 yards or more, but still see the sights crystal clear. Once I hit my forties and I'm rolling with reading glasses to focus on the sights anyway, I'll likely consider it. That's my take on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumtoc Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Long time HP and LR rifle shooter here, 58 now, always terribly near sighted with an astigmatisim in my dominant (right) eye. Struggled with even the match rifle irons, service rifle with the post and short sight radius was never an option. Used a lot of lenses, prescription shooting glasses with adjustable frame, inserts, blinders, etc, all the tricky stuff. In the end I always shot better with contacts and simple safety glasses. Wear bi-focals for regular activities but had a pair of single vision glasses made for computer work and for working on cars, guns. Also stopped using fancy blinders and used the scotch tape trick on the upper half of the left lens. I have suggested it to many new pistol shooters who were squinting or closing their non-dominant eye and all of them have had good results. As I got older I had more trouble focusing on a pistol front sight and realized that my relaxed focal distance for a computer screen and a pistol front sight are within 1" of each other (about 21"). So now I shoot pistol irons with those same computer glasses. Works like charm, and since I can't see the target clearly/crisply (beyond 7 yds or so)I don't tend to look for bullet holes or take my focus off the front sight. Even if you don't need "computer glasses" consider getting a pair made for that front sight. You are probably wearing glasses for safety reasons, why not sharpen your vision at the same time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddje Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 For years (prior to my starting to do any action pistol shooting) I would squint my left eye (right-handed shooter here) while shooting pistol. When I tried to open both eyes, I found two sets of sights and two targets. Then after reading the board here and seeing the eye doctor, I confirmed that I was LEFT (therefore cross-) eye dominant. So now I shoot both eyes open with the pistol moved slightly to the left (so I can use my dominant eye). I too am starting to struggle with the glasses (focus) thing due to too much time on the planet and specifically in front of a computer for work. I may try Sumtoc's idea of shooting w/my computer glasses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-the new guy Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 do you have to keep the tape on forever? If i block the vision with my left eye with my finger until I get a good sight picture then pull my finger away I can keep the sight picture with both eyes open. Would i eventually learn to just keep both eyes open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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