Project Appleseed

We learn in Appleseed how to determine which eye is dominant.  In my case, and I'm sure for many others, my left eye is dominant and I'm right handed.

The NPOA and steady hold factors are learned skills.  In theory, the left hand is just as capable as the right hand when it comes to firing. 

Mechanically, there are some parts of the firearm that are optimized for working with your right hand.  On the 10/22 the bolt is optimized to the right.  On an AR, the magazine release but it could perhaps be reached with a left thumb.  There are also add-on kits to make an AR ambi if you want to. 

Would it be best for a left eye dominant shooter to learn the fundamentals with the left side?  I have noticed in my (somewhat futile) practice with irons that I have not been focusing on the front sight like I should.  Would I be better off to start over and move the rifle to my left side and learn to shoot that way?  The fundamentals are the same. This would place my dominant eye on the sights for better focus on that pesky front sight.  I do know that when I've shot AK47 style rifles that I cannot manipulate the safety effectively from my right shoulder so I always fire those left handed. 

Thoughts?

It's a personal choice.  I think dominant eye is probably better (changing your dominant hand).  Then again, what do I know...I have to shoot right handed due to blindness in the left eye.  I can model left handed fine, though (that's why I think it is probably easier).  Plus, now they make left handed ar's and 10-22's. 

I agree -- it's a personal choice.  I would recommend trying both and go with what works best for you.  I am left-eye dominant and right-handed.  I attempted to shoot left handed a couple of times and it was just too foreign to me.  I close my left eye when I am shooting.  A lot of people patch their left eye  or tape the left lens of their safety glasses, so they can still shoot with both eyes open.  When I shoot my handgun, I use my left eye and right hand and just adjust my stance to accomodate.  Good Luck!

I asked this question this past weekend...the Appleseed Academy video on Eye Dominance talks about covering the dominant eye and shooting with the (opposite) dominant hand. The instructor manual says that "closing one eye for aiming purposes over a long period could induce eye strain" and that placing tape over the dominant eye lens would allow the dominant eye to remain open while aiming.

Quote from: OldDominionIron on August 30, 2022, 11:51:10 AM
I asked this question this past weekend...the Appleseed Academy video on Eye Dominance talks about covering the dominant eye and shooting with the (opposite) dominant hand. The instructor manual says that "closing one eye for aiming purposes over a long period could induce eye strain" and that placing tape over the dominant eye lens would allow the dominant eye to remain open while aiming.

Rifles (and the rest of the world) are built right handed so if you can shoot right hand ,right eye it would be preferable.

I put a piece of tape over the eye I don't want to be using and force my brain to use the only available eye to determine position of my sights/target, etc.  This way I can keep both eyes open which I find much more comfortable and natural.  Over time I am finding that when I demonstrate eye dominance, I am slowly switching to what used to be my non-dominate eye.  This is perfect for me as I want to train my brain to match my dominate eye to the hand I use the most, the process is slow but it is working.  You may want to do that as well, in the beginning its a bit strange trying to look at things with only 1 eye, but over time it gets easier and easier as you adapt to it.

an important note regarding taping the dominant eye:  it's best to use translucent tape rather than, for instance, painter's tape or masking tape.

As a species with forward-facing eyes, we have binocular vision. Your eyes work together. If you block light in one eye, that pupil expands in an attempt draw more light in.  The pupil of your other eye will also expand, to a somewhat lesser degree. If you use translucent tape, you've blocked the vision, but allowed equal light to enter both eyes, ensuring that your pupils dilate evenly.  This is important for clear vision.

Scotch makes "wall-safe tape," the adhesive of which is essentially the same stuff they use on post-its, so it comes off cleanly and easily.  I keep a roll in my range bag at all times.

As for which is more important, at some point your equipment has a say. If you're right-handed but left eye dominant, it's a heck of a lot easier to find right-handed rifles, and train your eyes, than it is to find left handed rifles to train your hands. 

Quote from: Mrs. Smith on August 30, 2022, 05:21:10 PM
As a species with forward-facing eyes, we have binocular vision. Your eyes work together. If you block light in one eye, that pupil expands in an attempt draw more light in.  The pupil of your other eye will also expand, to a somewhat lesser degree. If you use opaque tape, you've blocked the vision, but allowed equal light to enter both eyes, ensuring that your pupils dilate evenly.  This is important for clear vision.

Scotch makes "wall-safe tape," the adhesive of which is essentially the same stuff they use on post-its, so it comes off cleanly and easily.  I keep a roll in my range bag at all times.

Thanks, Mrs. Smith for teaching me something today.  It's always a good day when I learn something new.

As for "wall-safe tape", I'll have to get some.  I've been  using regular Magic Tape, which works ok, too.

I had not considered the dialation effect of different tapes.  Thanks for teaching me something new.

Quote from: Mrs. Smith on August 30, 2022, 05:21:10 PM
If you use opaque tape, you've blocked the vision, but allowed equal light to enter both eyes, ensuring that your pupils dilate evenly.

Do you mean translucent?

clear = image seen, light passing
translucent = image blocked, light passing
opaque = image blocked, light blocked.

Quote from: 300berg on August 30, 2022, 05:31:48 PM
I had not considered the dialation effect of different tapes.  Thanks for teaching me something new.

Quote from: Mrs. Smith on August 30, 2022, 05:21:10 PM
If you use opaque tape, you've blocked the vision, but allowed equal light to enter both eyes, ensuring that your pupils dilate evenly.

Do you mean translucent?

clear = image seen, light passing
translucent = image blocked, light passing
opaque = image blocked, light blocked.

dangit, I was gonna fix it before anybody else noticed I got my terminology scrambled.  Now It's too late 

You're too quick for me, Berg!

I'm not thinking about a lefty rifle, I was just thinking about shooting a regular rifle lefty. 

I'm also left-eye/right-hand dominant.  The hardest part of learning to shoot left-handed (with right-handed rifles) was reprogramming my brain.  I went to an RBC several years ago specifically to learn to shoot well lefty, and it literally took all week.  The hardest part?  After sending so many thousands of rounds downrange right-handed I had achieved unconscious mastery in manipulating the rifle, particularly reloads.  So, every time I needed to reload, Surprise!, that hand is wrapped up in a sling!  Very annoying and distracting.

While I find an M1 Garand difficult to load left-handed, FALs, ARs and 10/22s are no problem.  On an AR, I like having the bolt release where I can operate it with my trigger finger!  Since I usually only use 10-round mags at an Appleseed, releasing and inserting the mag is no problem left-handed.  On a 10/22 the release is already "ambi", just insert the mag and swipe back with the left hand from below, catching the bolt handle with the end joint of your middle or ring finger.  BTW, if you try that on an M1 Carbine, one out of three times you'll pull the op rod out of it's channel.  Just sayin'.    

Heck, when I tried shooting lefty, I had a difficult time even getting into the sling and in positition.  However, I have only tried once or twice, but will not be trying that again.   .  I am so used to shutting my left eye, that even when I have it taped, I still close it -- just habit. 

If you insist on iron sights eye is more important.  3 of my 4 kids are cross dominant a plus for 2 a negative for one.  This forced me to learn to shoot and model from both sides.

So glad I found this thread! I lirerally just learned yesterday I have been shooting with my non-dominant eye for years now. Now that I have learned I'm really left eye dominant I have been lost on what to do as all my muscle memory is trained to being right hand dominant.

I shot bench 3 rounds same whole switching to my dominant left eye and way easier to get a sight picture. Trying to shoot Appleseed course of fire left handed is so frustrating! I keep trying to sling in right handed, set my nest up for rigbt hand, hold the trigger right handed. Ughhhh! Plus we have an event this weekend.

I'm just going to run it left handed and get in as much practice as I can before hand. Besides advice already mentioned, anybother suggestions are much appreciated.

I have worked with kids in 4-H for years.  Cross-dominance is more common than folks realize.  My advice is to embrace the fact and share your experience with your participants.  Having a new shooter switch is a lot easier than one that has figured out ways around it.  Shooting with both eyes open is nearly impossible if your dominant eye's shoulder is not on the stock.

geek

Mutants unite!  I've only been cross eye dominant for a couple years.  I don't know how or why I switched and I'd really like to switch back.  Seeing lefties struggle with their bolts is enough for me not to attempt using my left hand on a regular basis.  I'm way too cheap to get a lefty rifle.  I use the taped up glasses rather than closing my dominant eye to avoid a huge headache that comes with eye strain.  In a pinch (read too lazy to get the right glasses), I can close my eye, but I absolutely shoot worse.  I've had success with a red dot on a pistol with my dominant eye. I can't master iron sights to save my life without tape or closing my dominant eye.  I'm hoping more practice will help.

If I were a left handed/right eyed person, I think I'd shoot as a righty all day.

I didn't learn that I was cross dominant until after I got Lasik.

I am left handed. When I went to basic training, I started BRM shooting left handed.
M-16 A1's are miserable creatures when you shoot left handed, so I switched to right handed, and stayed with it for the rest of my life.
In my case, it didn't matter.

My wife, also cross dominant, absolutely cannot shoot rifles right handed.
She tried. She decided to shoot rifles with the non-dominant eye.
In her case, precision in body position and movement is more important than the eye dominance.

I'm pretty much left eye dominant and shoot left handed with my rifle. And to make it weirder I shoot a pistol right handed. I was right handed at one point but when I was working at a machine shop many years ago they put me on a defective 'press brake' and chopped of my right index finger. They were able to put it back on but I couldn't use my right hand for a long long time. So kinda can use either/or now.

Funny bit of trivia - although lefties make up about 10% of the population I've been at lots of events where 20-30% of the students were lefties. What does that mean? Dunno. However some shrinks say lefties make up a higher percentage of people with schizo conditions. lol.

I can shoot either left or right handed with a rifle although I prefer left handed. I started forcing myself to shoot right handed with the rifle since some run n' guns I attended had a COF that required you to shoot both left and right. Thanks Dan. As I said - I forced myself.

I also forced myself to start shooting with both eyes open about 2 or 3 years ago. It was really tough. But under certain light conditions I have to close one eye. Usually in low light conditions or when lots of glare and it's very bright.

So you can force yourself to function in various ways you never thought possible. It takes time, effort, & practice. To me there is no ideal way - just do what works. And with practice you can make all sorts of variations work. Even if you thought it wouldn't work.

Shoot - I need to shoot right handed the next few weeks when doing practice AQTs.

BTW: Forcing yourself to shoot using the side you aren't used to will give you more appreciation for new students that are struggling.

Late additition.

I too am left eye/right hand. I have been working this issue for a long time. I doubt my current solution will be my last. But end point: I don't want to be the purchaser of a left handed rifle. It is not a safe practice to shoot with a closed eye. You can't see what your neighbors are doing.

My current conclusion: I want to handle ANY rifle as designed. Most are right handed. Therefore, I add the 3M wall tape (translucent) to my left eyepiece and shoot right handed. Keeping both eyes open allows you to completely relax your facial muscles and sort of melt into the rifle stock. The translucent tape allows you to perceive peripheral events and allows alternate eye dominance.

When I'm confronted by a wall of zombies and all I got is your left handed Tikka, I'll be happy to have it.

Attended an Appleseed event this past weekend and shot left handed with a right handed rifle. First time shooting left handed for an event and it was a bit tricky.

As the weekend end progressed it became a bit easier. My best score was a 166. Not to shabby for the first time shooting left handed for the first time.

Attending another event in August. I'm going to tweek some things on my rifle to make it more left hand friendly. I'm also going to try the translucent tape and shoot right handed and see what difference that makes.

Thanks for the input everyone!