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Thread: Left eye dominant, right handed rifle shooter?

  1. #1
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    Left eye dominant, right handed rifle shooter?

    Has any right handed shooter switched over to shooting left handed when their dominant eye is their left? This is for offhand (standing) with open sights. I appreciate there are other solutions but would like to hear from you if you have switched shoulders from right to left.
    Millimetres matter

  2. #2
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    This situation sums me up . Right handed but due to loss of right eye , I shoot left handed .
    I find an ambi rifle with right handed cocking lever works best for me .

  3. #3
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    I recall that when I was a prone shooter a few decades ago a fellow shooter had similar problem. He was right handed but he had lost almost all vision in his right eye.

    He overcame this problem by fitting, what appeared to be a miniature periscope, just a few inches long with the eyepiece protruding to the left of the rear sight assembly such that he was able to shoot right-handed as normal but sighted with his left eye and with a high degree of success if I remember correctly.

    I think they were described as off-set attachments and may have been made and marketed by Parker Hale at the time but not sure if anything similar is still available since I no longer shoot prone.

  4. #4
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    It's not uncommon, I was brought up with a dominate right hand side, but have a left master eye. I shoot rifle and shotgun from the left shoulder but pistol right handed as with black powder...

  5. #5
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    I made the switch many years ago, and can't shoot from the Right now even if I wanted to, takes time but worth it, if you can't see the target you will never be a good shot.

  6. #6
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    I am pretty sure that most people can learn to shoot with weak eye and/or weak handed.

    I am and always have been right handed and right eyed. Many years ago I got a bit bored with shooting and my performance was going downhill. For grins I decided to shoot left handed and left eyed. It was most weird but with persistance it came to feel normal and my shooting improved. I switched back and for a short while that too was weird but I quickly regained my former enthusiasm and skill. In my case I think that I had re-engaged my mind with shooting but for me at least it did prove that it is possibole to shoot well with weak hand and weak eye. Sure it is easier to use the strong side but one's natural tendencies can be overcame.
    True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
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  7. #7
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    Left eye dominant but right hander

    I learnt to shoot from the left.

    ora

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by AC99 View Post
    I recall that when I was a prone shooter a few decades ago a fellow shooter had similar problem. He was right handed but he had lost almost all vision in his right eye.

    He overcame this problem by fitting, what appeared to be a miniature periscope, just a few inches long with the eyepiece protruding to the left of the rear sight assembly such that he was able to shoot right-handed as normal but sighted with his left eye and with a high degree of success if I remember correctly.

    I think they were described as off-set attachments and may have been made and marketed by Parker Hale at the time but not sure if anything similar is still available since I no longer shoot prone.
    This is a very interesting discussion! I have no experience with it, but Gehmann does still make such a gadget:

    https://www.gehmann.com/en/597-I.S.S...294A42108ED4AA

    https://www.gehmann.com/en/597A-Crad...3DC2FF9A67F458

  9. #9
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    That Gehmann cross-over R/S prism illustrated in the link looks to be a more sophisticated version of that supplied by P Hale all those years ago.

    Gehmann describe it as ".......for those shooters with one defective eye wishing to shoot with the other".

    Aubrey

  10. #10
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    right handed and left eye dominance since early teens.....joined navy and shot the SLR left handed and have been shooting like that ever since.
    A few years ago i tried to shoot right handed which is a pain as my right eye has blurry vision etc. it took longer to focus on a 24 mag scope with my .308 but i shot it perfectly.......different point of impact but not too far away and grouped perfectly.
    so i can shoot both handed.....i shoot revolvers right handed and play golf cack handed lol
    All my rifles are right handed too lol

  11. #11
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    Left eye dominant

    Hi
    I shoot right handed both eyes open Airguns, Rifles & Shotguns
    golf left or right clubs makes no difference (crap anyway)
    snooker right handed
    fishing left handed
    would love to shoot both ways but cant line up consistently from left side been trying for years i have 2 left handed guns both Daystates the roll over cheek piece makes them impossible to line up usually end up with 2 groups an inch apart at 35 yds
    when i was young i wrote left handed but was untidy so my teacher made me use my right hand,
    left to my own devices i would have been a lefty im sure, bit more ambi than most is how it is now.
    Interesting thread
    Thankyou

  12. #12
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    Right handed left eye dominant; I shoot 10m pistol with both eyes open, always have with .22 LR standard pistol, .22 short rapid fire and 50m free pistol.

    Anyone remember the days before Dunblane when we had a well supported sport with Olympic champions in various disciplines?

    I currently shoot a Pardini K12 at 10 metres, 7degree cast Rink grip to help left eye dominance.

    Daystate Mk4 with left handed sporter stock ( Custom Stocks rather than Minelli strangely) built in 2009.

    HW 100 full length with thumbhole stock 2014 vintage, Ratworks cylinder and Huggett shroud and moderator.

    Both rifles have MTC Viper Connect 3 -12 X 32 scopes, no eye relief necessary so touching one's nose to the side of the eyepiece gives a good field of view.

    Seems to work OK for me.

    ATB
    Mike.
    Nowhere to go ........in no hurry to get there; www.rivington-riflemen.uk----- well I suppose it is somewhere to go.... founded by I.J. - let down by the tainted blood scandal

  13. #13
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    im left handed and shoot left handed and load with right hand but when i want to adjust my SFP focus i allways go for my right hand to do it , same goes for turrets adjustment .
    i load pellets with right hand .

    i pull my antique 12g hammers back with my right hand and shoot it left handed .

    as a lad i used to fish left handed with rod but then went right hand grip on rod and now cant fish them left handed .
    i remember when fixed spool reels were all mostly right handed with left hand winding but multiplier reels were all left hand on rod and right hand winding , funny thing is that i use a centrepin reel with my right hand .

    nowadays multiplier reels seem to be mostly sold in left hand wind , weird to use for me being a 1960s born generation .

    now, pistols i can shoot left or right handed and i can mig weld with both hands .

    evidently left handed swordsmen are a thing to be worried about due to the left arm having faster reflexes to the right arm , i can use a sword in either hand .

    i find it great driving big left hand drive american cars , allways used to have one back in the 1980s , i also ride english motorbikes with right foot gearchange but as a lad i rode japanese bikes with left hand gearchange .
    rear brake seems more natural on the right to me though , its going to get complicated when i get my DT175MX back on the road and want to swap between bikes .

    being left handed i didnt have a problem changing gear in a "column change" gearbox car though , like the old fords and the mazda pickup had etc , try racing one of those up the road and going through the gears , there is a youtube video of a fella in an NSU 2 stroke rally car giving it what for with column change .

    its strange what one question on here can conjure up in the mind when it comes to dominant eyes and hands , very interesting though .

    cheers , ian

  14. #14
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    I am left handed /footed and left eye dominant. I shoot rifles and shotguns left handed but prefer to load right handed- unless I'm wearing a shooting glove when clearly loading with a gloved hand is not on. However I'm finding that my left handed grip is getting weaker so I'm starting to shoot a pistol right handed.
    Funnily enough I eat right handed and use scissors right handed. I can easily swap when eating but I just cannot use scissors in my left hand. If I were to play golf I would square up right handed. The same applies holding a cricket bat or hockey stick.
    'It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others'.

  15. #15
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    Its amazing how many shooters are right handed / left eyed, myself included..

    I shot right handed for many years before even discovering eye dominence, and when I was advised to shoot left handed, tried it, didn't like it, went back to right handed.

    I can close my left eye and use the right for scopes and irons, but if I'm shooting pistols, i hold right handed, but bring it across in front of my left eye... weird, but it works for me.

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