Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Left bhanded/right eye dominant question

I've discovered that my left handed, 12 year old son is definitely right eye dominant. I suspected that was the case, but am now sure. What do you feel is better for him...learn to shoot right handed or continue shooting left handed? Anybody have experience with this?

Thanks,
Rob

Get him shooting right handed, follow the dominant eye. He's still young enough at this age.

besides, trying to find good lefty guns is a fuggin curse I wouldn't wish on anyone...

+1

I'm just the opposite: Left eye dominant, right handed. I shoot left handed.... The eye is where it is at!!!!!! I've seen guys with your sons same situation fight this tooth and nail in the sporting clays fields. Make him switch asap.....Trust me on this one....

After 35+ years of shooting right handed, I shoot much better switching to the dominant eye.

I'm right-handed, but left eye dominant and have been shooting left-handed since I was 13. After 30+ years of shooting left-handed, shooting right-handed is awkward for me now.

So, get your son to shooting right-handed. Soon it will be as natural to him as shooting left-handed was (actually more so, since he won't be fighting his dominant eye) and, as was previously mentioned, he won't have to deal with limited availability of firearms or having to operated right-handed guns left-handed.

I'm left handed and right eye dominant and I learned from the beginning to shoot right handed. I'm going through the same thing now with my nine year old, teaching him to shoot right handed even though he is left handed

BIG +1 on all three statements.

Im the same way, and have been at this for 40 years now, I can shoot both ways but he needs to shoot with his Dom. eye, just because there are fewer left hand guns is Bull! I can shoot bows too, and learned to shoot left handed, but because of a bad eblow I now shoot right handed compound!

I'm in the same boat as your son. Definitely go with the dominant eye.


Pete

I'm right handed left eye dominant.I have no problem shooting right handed except with a shotgun.As long as I can make my right eye focus on the sights,I don't have a problem.I my case,my left eye has clearer sharper vision than my right,even with corrective lenses.I used to shoot a bow without sights and a times my left eye would take over.But with sights,I have no problem.A shotgun shooting moving targets gives me hell though,this is where my left eye takes charge.With a scope,I never notice a problem at all.I'm the one who discovered I was crossed dominate after reading about it.Before that,I just blamed it on my glasses.I never shot left handed because it felt way to awkward for me with my extreme right handedness.Knowing you have this problem makes it easier to deal with.So really,it's up to the individual and what feels comfortable to the shooter.

Call Doc at MPI stocks. He may be able to make one for you. They offer a right hand, left eye dominant offset stock and can be laid up for just about any action. Check it out in the new products section on their site.

www.mpistocks.com

I'm left handed and right eye donminant and have always shot right handed, I have a friend who is the same way. Try training him to shoot right handed and see how he handles it. Starting with a light recoiling shotgun with both eyes open may be the easiest way. You'll have to be patient with him, specially if he's been shooting left handed. Buy a brick of 22rf and let him bang away at easy targets. Just my .02 cents worth.

I'm right handed, left-eye dominant, so I learned to shoot guns and bows left-handed. I buy rifles with the bolt on the left side. Semi-autos I don't care about, as long as the safety is left-handed. Right-side ejection doesn't bother me at all.

In our (the other instructors too) experience teaching 4-H trap it's better to teach kids to shoot from their dominant eye side. I continue to be amazed at how quickly kids adapt to shooting "wrong handed," so much more quickly than adults. Physiologically it has to do with still developing brains. We have had parents insist that their child shoot from their hand-dominant side and problems, problems, problems. Same with archery.

I recently figured out that my 5 yr old son is right handled/left eye dominant. He just started shooting a .22 rifle with open sights and a .22 pistol with a red dot. I noticed it on the rifle because of how he was mounting his face to the stock. Trying to figure out what to do. He will eventually be shooting scoped rifles, handguns, shotguns, compound bows, traditional bows, etc. He is still young enough to train either way, but it sounds like the consensus is to train him to shoot everything left handed. I know it sounds funny, but I almost hate to turn him into a lefty when it comes to rifles.

That young I'd wonder if you can expect eye dominance to change, I don't know. I have noticed shooters change in the strength of eye dominance through the early teens. Visual acuity can affect eye dominance, that's how squinting or fogging a lens on shooting glasses can shift mild dominance. So a visit with an optometrist to make sure both eyes are working their best is a good place to start.

An issue that I think 95% of parents fail to recognize given the students we see in our hunter ed classes.

Go to the dominant eye. With plenty of time one can compensate and use the off eye. I sometimes go to the off eye with a rifle when I don't have the luxury of switching positions, but it takes 3 times longer to get everything aligned and execute the shot. When things are happening in a hurry though, like shotgunning etc, going with the proper eye will be much more efficient.

I'm totally screwed up and do several things left handed even though I'm right eyed. The hardest switch was going from lefty with a bow at about age 30 over to the right hand. It really improved my accuracy though, and after about a week of practice, it felt absolutely natural.

For some reason, parents often seem to fight this issue. I think their justification is simply economics, and young lady in one of my hunter saftey classes nailed it one evening. Her comment was that she was left eye dominant and "her cheap bastard dad would not buy her a left handed rifle."

If he's done much shooting, muscle memory with make it seem awkward at first. Get in a ton of short term practice though, and he should come around easily. Let us know how things go if you give it a try.

Concentrate on the dominate eye, but teach ambidexterity.

Go with the eye.

Being left-handed has kept my gun purchases to a reasonable level. If I was right handed, I'd be broke.

If you think you can't find nice LH rifles, look at some posted here.