Left eye dominate/right handed?

T

TrxR

New member
I am 27 years old and have always tired shooting off my right should because it felt natrual but was never accurate so recently I started trying to shoot off my left shoulder and have been getting better. Keep in mind that this is using open sights on a 22. My question is should I continue shooting left? When doing benchrest or f-class styles shooting will it be much of a problem using a right handed bolt action gun? I dont plan on doing any hunting just target shooting.


Thanks
 
I forgot to mention that a buddy of mine is going to be taking me out shooting before I get my own riffle and his guns are right handed will I have any problems with that?

The rifle I am contemplating on buying myself is this one http://www.savagearms.com/12PrecVarm.htm Which is a right bolt left port would I have issues with this gun shooting it left?

or

this one http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_rifles/model_700/model_700_SPS_varmint_specs.asp which you can get right or left handed.

Thanks
 
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I am right handed and left eye dominant. I have always shot left handed, although I can shoot right, it just takes more effort to deal with using my off eye. From a bench or bipod, a right right action is easier to use (for a shooter shooting from the left shoulder)than a left left. I have both, as well as a left right bench rifle. A right left would be my last choice. If you look on Bob White's List, there are some good deals on right right rifles.
 
So you are saying a rifle with a right port is easier to use when shooting from the left shoulder? So basically I should be able to stick with a typical right handed gun with no problems? If so that is nice as they are easier to find.

Thanks
 
Trx,
When I was a kid I got jabbed in the right eye with a kitchen knife,that eye has always been a little dim and not as sharp as the left.Naturally I have become left eye dominant. I shoot right handed,RBLP and have found with my dominant eye on the flags and my "veg-o-matic"eye in the scope I rarely lose track of whats happening on the range.
I think shooting Right handed with your dominant eye(left) watching the flags might take a little getting used to,but you should be better off in the long run. Part of the fun of BenchRest shooting is getting your eyes to see both the flags on the range and the dot on target simultaneously.
Joel
 
dominance

I just hafta say that I'm left eye dominant and have never had any luck looking thru the scope and watching the flags at the same time. (I shoot a RBLP and shoot right handed). Other shooters say it comes with practice, but nobody has said HOW to work on it.
For me, heads up is the only way I can shoot.
BA
 
Well.......

Try blacking out the lens on your shooting glasses of your dominant eye. Shoot with booth eyes open. The non dominant eye should take over and it should start to feel natural after a while. YMMV
 
i'm with bryan....
shoot with your dominant eye,
learn the mechanics of bolt operation. most of my rifle are right, but i have started buying and building left hand rifles. i think a left port right bolt might work lefty, but will look at left bolt left port, and left/right.

mike in co
 
shoot your dominant eye side,Dom left shoot left etc. You can teach yourself by practice a LOT. As a firearm saftey instructor we see this quite often,actually it's getting to be quite previllent as are Left hand shooters (more every year).We have been advised by a local Optomitrist (we asked him)that it's better to shoot dominent eye side ,reason ,less eye strain.
 
I'll be contrary

Me thinks that a right handed BR rilfe shooter gives the left eye more of a workout then the right eye anyway, as that's what looks at the flags, or should be! I'm left eye dominant too but so what. We aren't shooting pistols or shotguns here. The flags are moving, not the target.
 
I believe that someone told me that Speedy shoots left and prefers a right right action.

Another factor in all of this seems to be that some cross dominant shooters are so strongly one handed that switching must pose a great difficulty. I guess that I am lucky in that way. I have always been able to use either hand pretty well. On the other hand, when I have experimented with shooting with my off eye, it became obvious that in a very short time, the strain became a major distraction. I don't think that there was much of a problem for a quick shot or two, but when I spent a lot of time behind the scope, at the bench, that is when I began to notice the strain.
 
Common Problem?

I am also right handed and left eye dominate.

I learned to shoot left handed with right handed guns as a kid and have done so all my life, HOWEVER I have never been so happy or shot so well as when I got my bench gun with a left bolt and right port.

If you are going to shoot fast using one hand to work the bolt and the other to feed the gun is better than using one hand to do both.

Gary
 
To avoid the excessive eyestrain.........

by looking through a scope while shooting on the "off" side requires you to readjust the scope, & that's sometimes a lengthy process!! Shooting left -hand w/a right-hand rifle isn't bad from the bench, but if you go into something like F-class, or NM shooting & sometimes even live-varmint shooting, its easy to get tied up when a quicker second shot is required. :eek::D
 
TrxR said:
I forgot to mention that a buddy of mine is going to be taking me out shooting before I get my own riffle and his guns are right handed will I have any problems with that?


Thanks
Click to expand...

Be sure to wear good eye protection shooting either way. Especially on shooting semi-auto guns if you are shooting left shoulder and right auto eject. Wear good eye and hearing protection in either instance, plugs and muffs are best as well as shatterproof eye protection.
 
I was re watching the movie Saving private Ryan, with Barry Pepper as a sniper and watching him work that scoped Springfield left handed was inspiring. I wish Barry would come out of the closet, He has to be a long time shooter to work a bolt that well and fast. Shooting right handed reaching over the action and working a right bolt that fast, that man could be scary shooting off a rest.
 
which eye...

I have always taught that rifle or pistol, off hand shooting open sights both eyes are open. With pistol its easier to shift your hold to your dominant eye, on a scoped rifle or pistol again, both eyes open. With a scope as long as the same eye meets the scope every time there is no shift in aim point. I'm a right hand left eye guy...scoped I use my right eye, and as many have stated my left eye can cover everything outside the scope within reason. Good shooting, Gary
 
I am naturally right handed but lost my right eye about 25 years ago so had to change from shooting right handed to left handed. It took a while, I used to bring the rifle up to my right shoulder quite often through instinct.

Anyway I always found it awkward shooting a right handed rifle left handed so in the end I sold my right handed rifles and bought left handed rifles........It didn't take long to learn to operate a L/H rifle instinctivly.

One thing I really like about shooting from the bench is the R/H loading port, I always found it slower to load a cartridge ito the L/H port.

The best thing to do, if you can, would be to try different rifle configurations and see what seems more natural to you.........Ian
 
Right hand and Right Eye dominate

I am Right eye and right hand dominate. I shoot a rifle pistol and shotgun right handed but use to shoot a bow left handed. After shooting a bow left handed for 20 years I forced myself to shoot right handed. Now after shooting a bow right handed for 20 years I can shoot either way. But better right handed because of the eye dominance. I can play baseball, golf and water ski on one ski either way equally bad.

Nat Lambeth
 
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