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How long did it take you to learn to shoot with both eyes open?


Nemesis Lead

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On 4/7/2017 at 1:16 PM, anonymouscuban said:

Haha. You guys are worried about shooting with both eyes open and here I am struggling to keep from closing both between shots. 

 

I shot my first gun about a year ago and bought my first pistol 2 months ago. I'm really interested in participating in USPSA. Notice I didn't say competing? LOL. Looks like fun and that's my motivation. I will worry about it being more than fun if my skills progress. 

 

We all start somewhere.  If you stick with it, you will get better.  Much better.

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We all start somewhere.  If you stick with it, you will get better.  Much better.

 

Thanks. I'm not easily discouraged. I'm having a blast learning to shoot. I'm now shopping for a holster so I can start practicing to draw. I'm nursing an injury right now but once I'm recovered in about 5 weeks, I plan on entering some steel comp or my 1st USPSA match. Looks like a ton of fun and a good way to meet others that like to shoot.

 

I figure as long as I'm safe, I don't care how bad I suck. [emoji12]

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, toeheadAR said:

I need more practing to get one eye shifting. haven't been able to get to the range often as I like to practice.

 

Fortunately, you don't need to "get to the range" to practice this - just dry fire in your bedroom

 

(Make sure the wife knows what you're going to do before you do it).    :) 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I shot with one eye closed since I started shooting pistol competitively 5 years ago.

It has taken me two years to get comfortable shooting with both eyes open and I am still working on it.

I started to keep both eyes open in dry fire which I really liked. I feel like my face is more relaxed which I think means the rest of me is more relaxed.

The first couple attempts in live fire were a mess. I had a hard time tracking the front sight and generally feel like I did everything more slowly (and I was slow to begin with).

With many thousands of rounds in practice and more dry fire I have gotten back to where I was while shooting with one eye closed. I feel like things will continue to improve as I practice more and more.

I do still close one eye for long shots. I was practicing 50 yard standards yesterday to get ready for Single Stack Nationals and found my accuracy was better with one eye closed at that distance.

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For me it came natural from the start but as I get older I tend to squint if things start to double up.  What is hard is moving to a scope and having to close one eye.

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  • 1 month later...

I shot archery for 20 years and always shot with one eye closed.  When I started shooting pistol I kept shooting that way for about 5 years until reading that both eyes open was better.  Less strain on the eye and better depth of field.  It took me about a month to switch. 

 

I  could see the biggest advantage about 3 years ago when I went blind in my left eye.  My shooting really suffered until I had Caterac (SP) surgery.  I had kept both eyes open but could only see out of my right eye.

 

After surgery I'm back to 20-20 vision in both eyes and my hits are getting much better.  At 65 I see as well as I did at 20.

 

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Had an epiphany at a match this past weekend.

On a stage with wide transitions in both directions I found that I was swinging the gun and picking up the next target much more easily than I have in the past when I was only using one eye.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It took me few weeks after I read that It's better to shoot with both eyes open although I still catch myself squinting with more difficult shots




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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/10/2017 at 5:48 PM, Nemesis Lead said:

This question is for those who once shot with one eye open and now shoot with 2 eyes open.

 

How long did it take you to fully make the transition?  

 

I have shot with one eye open for 6 years and made M class in Production.  I have plateaued a bit and want to try shooting with both eyes open.

 

I am asking how long it takes because I am shooting Area 1 in 20 days.

 

I plan to go all in on dry fire and live fire to make the transition, but wonder how long it took you guys to do this?  How long did it take for your "2 eye game" to equal your "1 eye game?"

 

 

 

 

for weak hand, it took me 2 weeks to open both eyes

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when you're running both eyes are open. my left eye narrows and opens as needed. more sight focus needed, more left eye squint. less/none needed then no eye squint.

 

when i first started shooting carry optics i switched to both eyes open easily. i then thought i'd take that to irons. initially it seemed like i could do it. after a few weeks of trying i couldn't get things to my satisfaction with my eyes at 45 years old. i tried. tape and all that other stuff is just a fake squint, so why do it?

 

doing the tests for binocular vision i am not too hot at it and i also do not have very strong dominance in my right eye. so i squint. as someone once really pounded into me in conversation, is shooting with two eyes open the reason why other people finish better than me? if it isn't the primary reason then don't devote my attention to it. find the biggest reason and put my effort into killing that.

I am trying the same thing as you did. I shoot one eyed except for a pistol red dot which I pick up faster and easier with both. I am going to start trying to bring the 2 eye shooting to irons but it is tough.

 

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Practice with both eyes open.  When you feel your non dominate eye fighting briefly blink it and concentrate with your dominate (shooting) eye.  This helped me learn to shoot with both eyes open.  Also, pay attention to what you are focusing on. i.e. Target, front sight, rear sight, etc.

 

Eventually you will not have to do the blink anymore to refocus.

Edited by Stickman301
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It took a few dry-fire sessions of intentionally keeping both eyes open, reinforced by a few matches where I did the same, and then it was baked in.  I still have trouble in low light (only an issue during evening practice matches) and will squint my left eye in those conditions on long shots.

Edited by GunBugBit
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  • 6 months later...
1 minute ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

ONLY being 73, I also have ALWAYS shot with both eyes open ....   :) 

Dang, got me beat! I wasn't told by my father to close one eye learning to shoot, and when I was on the Internet later one, it seemed that one eye open went with the weaver and teacup catagory. 

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This is something that I have been working on for a while now, and I find it to be somewhat difficult to change after years of shooting with one eye closed.

 

I dry fire with both eyes open quite frequently, but find that in live fire, I am not as accurate as I am with one eye.

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I probably need to go back to my ophthalmologist and get my eyes rechecked.  I have presbyopia and astigmatism.  It is easier to shoot with one eye closed, but i suppose I could train my brain to blunt input from my non dominant eye too that the astigmatism wouldn't hinder me.  Still, for me, one eye works well enough.

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