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Forums10
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Most Online9,918
Jul 28th, 2025
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,714 Likes: 347
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,714 Likes: 347 |
By just chance, I had my copy of 'An Insight to Sports' by Martin out, that was mentioned in one of your links. I've had it for at least twenty-five years, probably near thirty. It's very helpful for understanding and improving what the old eyes are doing during wing shooting, and can be had for a very modest price. A true reference piece for me. Nice topic Doc Drew.
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 911 Likes: 45
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 911 Likes: 45 |
Because it seems my dominance will change on a whim I have greatly improve my shooting closing my left eye at gun mount. The only drawback is forgetting to close it during the excitement of a real bird flush, or just closing both. ymmv
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 290 Likes: 12
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 290 Likes: 12 |
My dominance will shift at times and I can't explain why; maybe fatigue. My answer is chap stick in the center of the left lens. I can wash it off after the shoot as I don't have dedicated shooting glasses.
My shooting glasses were stolen when someone liberated my shell bag..from the back seat of my buddies truck in his garage.
W. E. Boyd
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,896 Likes: 653
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,896 Likes: 653 |
Due to a major flinching issue I learned how to shoot left handed. Not that big of a deal as I am ambidextrous. Fully capable of missing with either hand. But learning how to shoot without cross dominate eye shooting was a bit of a problem. A slight squint would distort the non shooting eye enough that the left eye took over completely. It was harder to go back shooting right handed when major left shoulder injury made that the only solution to keep shooting. The flinch was almost completely gone by then right handed. I did have a left eye dominant issue but squinting the left eye did the trick on most birds. When I forgot on the Skeet field I found on many birds I just needed the normal amount of lead on the back side or on half of the stations I could just shoot right at the bird. Unless you are trying to be an All American shooter you can adjust your shooting style to compensate for a lot of physical short comings. Ive seen extra parrell ribs added to allow left eye sighting when shooting right handed.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 643 Likes: 94
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 643 Likes: 94 |
Are crossover stocks a solution for cross dominance?
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481 |
I wouldn't think so. They were originally devised to compensate for the loss of vision in the right eye if a right handed shooter, and have been around a long time Heinrich Ebert, Wien/Vienna, c. 1820-1837  "The Breech-loader and How To Use It" 1892 by William Wellington Greener  More recent devices Carey Sidesighter  I found this on an English website, but no name or maker; possibly home made. Any of our British correspondents aware of the maker? 
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481 |
A not very good image from an early 1930s FN ad - "The Superposed Non-Crossfire Ventilated Rib is sloped downward to the eye for some inches, so the eye picks up the sight line and follows it to the front bead...an infallible cure for cross-firing." 
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 643 Likes: 94
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 643 Likes: 94 |
Thanks Drew. That was also my understanding but I recall seeing reference to using them for cross dominance - perhaps from Eightbore?
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,805 Likes: 481 |
There was a thread some time ago about cross-over stocks. I believe Bill used/uses a Carey device.
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,566 Likes: 360
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,566 Likes: 360 |
I shoot right handed, and I'm sure that I'm right eyed dominant. I do however use a frosted dot that is sold for shooting, and blink momentarally when hunting just in case my dominance should change occasionally. Thankfully my vision is still reasonably good.
Karl
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 197 Likes: 5
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 197 Likes: 5 |
Drew, you must have started this thread to arouse me from my current torpor!! As an ex eye doc (and looong time shooter / hunter) I find all these vision threads, articles, advice etc, etc to be rather interesting or at least entertaining. Especially since I was blinded in my very dominant / shooting eye nearly ten years ago.
P.S. How is the wonder dog Dirk these days? I will email you to catch up on things. Your hunting opportunities have expanded greatly since I moved...
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,896 Likes: 653
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,896 Likes: 653 |
A machinist friend of mine made me up a short ribs sighting system like the Carey one to use. His idea was that I could shoot left handed and use my dominate right eye. I found having two ribs and two sight was too busy for me. I kept looking at both sights and ribs at the same time. Had I only one good eye it might have been the perfect solution to shooting left handed using my right eye sight with. I have used several sight blinders over the years to make cross sighting impossible. Some worked well and many were just junk to throw away.
What I find interesting are the central vision stocks you see at auction sometimes. Be fun to shoot with one for a while.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,085 Likes: 1873
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,085 Likes: 1873 |
I feel for you guys that have eye dominance issues. I have never had a dominance shift, that I am aware of. It might be cool to have it once, and recognize it. Then, when I am having a bad day I could blame it on eye dominance shifting.
I believe that it is real, so please don't think I am poking fun at you. It must be very frustrating.
SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,200 Likes: 55
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,200 Likes: 55 |
I am cross-eyed dominant. I don't know how but I pick things up and automatically know which eye I should be using. A camera left eye, gun right eye, reading well that's an interesting thing. About 10 years ago my eyes started to deteriorate like all of us over 50. To compensate I just used a contact in my left eye for distance vision. My right eye for close up reading, etc with no correction. I became mono-vision. When I hunted I had a special contact for my right eye so it would start focus at the front bead and reach out about 40 yards. With big game I use 15/20 in each eye and adjust my scopes according. Now my right eye had deteriorated to the point I need a special contact for reading. The problem I'm having is the focal point from reading to using a computer screen is different and I haven't got the right contact yet.
My point in all of this is that I have trained my brain to accept different ways of seeing with each eye and I think if I can do it many of you should also be able to do it and train your brain to use the eye you want to use for the specific purpose.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 309 Likes: 136
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 309 Likes: 136 |
I am cross-eyed dominant. I don't know how but I pick things up and automatically know which eye I should be using. A camera left eye, gun right eye, reading well that's an interesting thing. About 10 years ago my eyes started to deteriorate like all of us over 50. To compensate I just used a contact in my left eye for distance vision. My right eye for close up reading, etc with no correction. I became mono-vision. When I hunted I had a special contact for my right eye so it would start focus at the front bead and reach out about 40 yards. With big game I use 15/20 in each eye and adjust my scopes according. Now my right eye had deteriorated to the point I need a special contact for reading. The problem I'm having is the focal point from reading to using a computer screen is different and I haven't got the right contact yet.
My point in all of this is that I have trained my brain to accept different ways of seeing with each eye and I think if I can do it many of you should also be able to do it and train your brain to use the eye you want to use for the specific purpose. Interesting post, and interesting thread. I've had a lot of eye issues the past 25 years, starting with presbyopia, then astigmatism, cataracts, and then the artificial lens scarred over. I can't shoot iron sights on anything. If I get glasses to focus on the front bead, the rear will be a blur, and the target will really be a blur. But I've never had dominance issues, and thankful for that. I think it's due to the fact that my left eye is weak and lazy - it only opens about 75% as wide as the right one. I have a picture of my great, great grandfather, who died decades before I was born, and he had the same lazy left eye. I had never thought of it as being a good thing before reading this thread.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743 |
Everything I do in life I do as a right hander. I am not cross eye dominant but so far as I can tell trying all the simple dominance tests I have ever seen I simply do not have a strong dominant eye, they seem to be for the most part about equal. This does make it a bit difficult to shoot with both eyes open as I am never quite sure which eye is going to take over at any given time.
Even in my younger days when I still had excellent eyesight I was never good with open sights on a rifle, I could do well with a proper peep, just couldn't manage those open ones. Now I use a scope exclusively for rifle shooting.
Miller/TN
I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,661 Likes: 1099
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,661 Likes: 1099 |
I'm a southpaw and shoot accordingly, but...I most-likely started out right-eye dominant. Made for some fairly crappy shooting situations in my youth. Over time, I seem to have become cross-dominant. I do know that if I shoot a SXS, the left eye becomes the dominant one (something to do with that broad plain of the barrels?). If I happen to pick up an O/U then I seem to get some confusion with my right eye. I have learned to ignore that confusion for the most part, and single-tube weapons aren't a problem. It appears that my boy has exactly the opposite situation. I'm starting him as a lefty to (hopefully) avoid the problems I've experienced.
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 415 Likes: 54
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 415 Likes: 54 |
I'm right handed with a dominant left eye. I shoot long guns from the left shoulder and handguns with my right hand using my left eye, all I do with handguns is tilt my head to the right. I've never really grasped why so many people go to such lengths to avoid shooting this way
Last edited by Chantry; 05/14/18 09:36 AM.
I have become addicted to English hammered shotguns to the detriment of my wallet.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,189 Likes: 70
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,189 Likes: 70 |
I've never had a problem with cross dominance shooting guns but I have with a bow, always have to shut my left eye before releasing the arrow.
My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.
- Errol Flynn
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Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 70
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 70 |
I have a lazy eye, and normally look at everything through my left eye. I shoot right handed, but when shooting handguns I sight with my left eye. However, when I am hunting I have to put a patch over my left eye to force myself to use my right eye all the time. Otherwise I see a tasty critter, raise the rifle, and then lose sight of said critter when I switch eyes to sight down the rifle barrel. This isn't so much of a problem with larger critters, but it's a show-stopper for squirrels, especially in the early season. 
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 251
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 251 |
I know it is not recommended practice, but due to sporadic eye dominance problems, I have always closed my left eye during almost 60 years of shotgun, rifle, and handgun shooting. Given my relatively low level of ambition, it works well enough for me.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,200 Likes: 55
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,200 Likes: 55 |
Vangulil,
I'm with you. I close my other eye when shooting all the time. Rifles and shotguns left eye closed, hand gun right handed, right eye closed. I don't like bragging but talk to my hunting buddies, I take my fair share of the game and usually run 22-23 in trap. Most fun is repeatedly taking 3 decoying geese with 2 rounds. I think the sleepy eye opens a bit when looking for the crossing geese.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,085 Likes: 1873
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,085 Likes: 1873 |
I have been told by several shooters with eye dominance problems that going to a (rather long) fiber optic front sight has helped their problem tremendously. The sights I mention do not "glow" to the off eye, but only seem "bright" to the eye directly in line behind them. I would give one a try if I had dominance shift issues, but they would sure have to grow on me. I think they look like death eating a cracker on a nice shotgun. But, I'd never belittle a man for using one........................especially if he outshoots me!  SRH
Last edited by Stan; 05/11/18 06:13 AM. Reason: clarification
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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devoted to double guns and (mostly?) wing shooting, we never discuss eye dominance issues.
