Sight picture is full of the left side of barrels.

[Red696]

I’m struggling to shoot with both eyes open as my sight picture is filled with the lefthand side of the o/u barrels, at an angle from right shoulder across to my left. If I close my left eye then the sight picture changes and is along the length if the rib with the glow bead just floating.  I’ve spent 40+ years shooting scoped rifles so closed eye does feel natural..

Is this an eye dominance issue or gun fit.  I’m working on a consistant mount with 5 or 10mins practice each day so hopefully this will pay dividends on the clay ground and I’ll start to hit more ( don’t seem to have an issue on rough shooting with a long recoil Franchi )

The gun has an adjustable comb, but no other adjustment such as shims, LOP is 14 3/4” which feels right in the hands.

 

All advice and opinions gratefully received.

[enfieldspares]

How to check eye dominance. With both eyes open point with outstretched arm at a distant object. Now whilst still pointing close your left eye. If you are RIGHT eye dominant your finger will not "move".

Now with both eyes open point again. But now close the right eye. If you are RIGHT eye dominant your finger will appear to "jump" to the right of the object you are pointing at.

Now if you find that, as a right handed shot you are left eye dominant the easy, quickest, cheapest solution is to keep both eyes open until you've are confident you know how far the bird is away (two eyes are needed to establish distance) just shut the left eye, mount the gun, take the shot.

[London Best]

This sounds like an eye dominance problem. 
As our friend has already said, the simplest route is simply to close your left eye. 
After 40 years of rifle shooting...........stop looking at the “sight picture”.  
Look at the target!

[Scully]

When you say “struggling to shoot’’, what exactly do you mean?
That looking down the left hand side of the barrels happens to me also ( I am right handed but left eye dominant ) but I am only aware of it when practising my mount as there is no target. I can’t recall ever seeing it in the field as I’m concentrating on the target.
My advice would be to ignore it and concentrate on the target. 

[Yellow Bear]

question - are you missing more left to right than right to left.  If yes it could be a cast problem.

[Westley]

Go and see a GOOD Instructor, take your gun with you, be guided by his conclusions.

[Yellow Bear]

I would totally recommend this man   https://www.clayshootingcoach.com/page_4350944.html

• clayshootingcoach.com
• Bingley
• West Yorkshire
• United Kingdom
• clayshootingcoach.com
• Bingley
• West Yorkshire
• United Kingdom

[Red696]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

When you say “struggling to shoot’’, what exactly do you mean?
That looking down the left hand side of the barrels happens to me also ( I am right handed but left eye dominant ) but I am only aware of it when practising my mount as there is no target. I can’t recall ever seeing it in the field as I’m concentrating on the target.
My advice would be to ignore it and concentrate on the target. 

I should have put hit not shoot..  now you mention it I don’t recall happening on the ground just when doing practice mount.  

 

1 hour ago, Yellow Bear said:

question - are you missing more left to right than right to left.  If yes it could be a cast problem.

Yes I am, very straight stock.

 

1 hour ago, London Best said:

This sounds like an eye dominance problem. 
As our friend has already said, the simplest route is simply to close your left eye. 
After 40 years of rifle shooting...........stop looking at the “sight picture”.  
Look at the target!

As a newbie to shotguns this is one skill I’m finding difficult to adjust to, any tips.

 

1 hour ago, Westley said:

Go and see a GOOD Instructor, take your gun with you, be guided by his conclusions.

I’ve looked at a few but wouldn’t know a good one from a bad one, any recommendations around the merseyside area?

[Fil]

6 hours ago, Red696 said:

I’m struggling to shoot with both eyes open as my sight picture is filled with the lefthand side of the o/u barrels, at an angle from right shoulder across to my left. If I close my left eye then the sight picture changes and is along the length if the rib with the glow bead just floating.  I’ve spent 40+ years shooting scoped rifles so closed eye does feel natural..

Is this an eye dominance issue or gun fit.  I’m working on a consistant mount with 5 or 10mins practice each day so hopefully this will pay dividends on the clay ground and I’ll start to hit more ( don’t seem to have an issue on rough shooting with a long recoil Franchi )

The gun has an adjustable comb, but no other adjustment such as shims, LOP is 14 3/4” which feels right in the hands.

 

All advice and opinions gratefully received.

It's eye dominance. I never thought I had it until I did my coaching course and then I found out why I was seeing what you do. Seek a good gun coach who really understands eye dominance. Like Anne Litchfield who does the Lantra coaching courses. Too many weekend ticket experts out there. See someone who has been doing it over a number of years. 

[ditchman]

put a bit of wet tissue over the lens of your shooting glasses ..for a short term fix

[Gunman]

8 hours ago, Fil said:

It's eye dominance. I never thought I had it until I did my coaching course and then I found out why I was seeing what you do. Seek a good gun coach who really understands eye dominance. Like Anne Litchfield who does the Lantra coaching courses. Too many weekend ticket experts out there. See someone who has been doing it over a number of years. 

Agree .

[ianspire]

It does sound like an eye dominance issue or the comb is too low so not able to see enough rib with your right eye

[Smokersmith]

Did you do the eye dominance test as suggested in an earlier thread?

Understanding that will allow better guidance.

If you’re right eye dominant … practice mounting at a distant target and don’t look at the gun … stare at the target … when you shut your left eye you should be bang on.

If you’re left eye dominant the easiest thing to do is squint that eye as you mount. Other solutions involve tape, glasses etc …

Hard focus on the target is good advice.

[Red696]

7 minutes ago, Smokersmith said:

Did you do the eye dominance test as suggested in an earlier thread?

Understanding that will allow better guidance.

If you’re right eye dominant … practice mounting at a distant target and don’t look at the gun … stare at the target … when you shut your left eye you should be bang on.

If you’re left eye dominant the easiest thing to do is squint that eye as you mount. Other solutions involve tape, glasses etc …

Hard focus on the target is good advice.

after trying, several times, the test it shows me as Right eye dominant.  

To make matters more confusing for me…

I bought an ATA Venza late last week to use on a rough shoot, it mounts great and I’m looking flat right down the rib.  Where as with my ATA o/u with the buttpad in my shoulder I’m having to duck my head to the stock to get the same sight picture.

I’ve bought some lining paper and wooden stakes to set up for pattern testing before adjusting the comb.

[Gunman]

So its gun fit then ?

[Scully]

Stand in front of a mirror, close both eyes and mount your empty gun as you would normally. Without adjusting your mount, open your right eye. If the fit is good and your mount is even better, you should see your open eye looking back at you sitting just above the top barrel. 
There is absolutely no point in adjusting the comb if your mount is inconsistant. 

[Red696]

33 minutes ago, Gunman said:

So its gun fit then ?

Either that or my mount.

 

1 minute ago, Scully said:

Stand in front of a mirror, close both eyes and mount your empty gun as you would normally. Without adjusting your mount, open your right eye. If the fit is good and your mount is even better, you should see your open eye looking back at you sitting just above the top barrel. 
There is absolutely no point in adjusting the comb if your mount is inconsistant. 

waiting on the wife going out so I can take the wardrobe door off and use the mirror on it, not enough room in front of it amd shaving mirror just ain’t cutting it

[Scully]

2 minutes ago, Red696 said:

Either that or my mount.

 

waiting on the wife going out so I can take the wardrobe door off and use the mirror on it, not enough room in front of it amd shaving mirror just ain’t cutting it

😄 No, shaving mirror won’t do it!

My kids grew used to me pointing my shotgun at the mirror in the hall! 
 

[Poor Shot]

16 hours ago, Red696 said:

after trying, several times, the test it shows me as Right eye dominant.  

To make matters more confusing for me…

I bought an ATA Venza late last week to use on a rough shoot, it mounts great and I’m looking flat right down the rib.  Where as with my ATA o/u with the buttpad in my shoulder I’m having to duck my head to the stock to get the same sight picture.

I’ve bought some lining paper and wooden stakes to set up for pattern testing before adjusting the comb.

Gun fit in that case. Also a gun should come to you and not you to the gun when mounting. 

I had similar with a low combed Beretta which meant my right eye was being partially blocked by the back of the action with my left eye taking over to compensate. The action was only slightly impeding the view of my right eye but it was enough to cause the left eye to take over. 

It took a visit to a gun fitter to pick this up. He then bent the stock to provide a higher comb and the issue disappeared.

You'll probably find that you're lifting your head from the stock slightly when shooting in the field to get a better/ correct view. When mounting to a mirror you'll be making a conscious effort to do it properly which is then causing the issue because the comb is too low. 

If the O/U has an adjustable comb then raise it a little and check again, rinse and repeat until you get the right result. 

If you do raise the comb then you'll be seeing a lot more rib than the relatively flat shooting Venza S/A and your sight picture will change. You'll need to spend some time shooting clay targets to get used to keeping the target above the bead rather keeping it in line with your barrels. In any case you should be shooting a shotgun rather than aiming it but it will still take some getting used to. 

[ph5172]

Slightly off topic but I know a guy who would rifle shoot with an eye patch (like a pirate) as he found it impossible to only close 1 eye!?