macs beretta Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 My mates me and our kid were doing a bit of clay shooting today at our local gaff,i shoot with one eye shut as in shooting a rifle. A very nice chappie gave me a bit of advise and said i might benefit ( stop missing ) from opening both eyes as this is what shotguns are designed for. I gave it a go and found it a bit tricky. Is this how its done ? The chap who gave me the advise is **** hot and doesn`t seem to miss many so it obviously works for him. Cheers dudes. Oh yea clay shooters i have found are very helpful, polite and more than willing to past on their experiance its nice that, in this world where a lot of people don`t really give a **** about anyone else. Regards Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Normally yes, two eyes open to aid in judging the speed and distance of a moving target. Shotgun shooting is more instinctive than the precise, static, one eye closed method normally used with a rifle. You also focus on the target, whereas with an iron sighted rifle you focus on the foresight. However both eyes open only works if you are right handed with a right master eye, or left handed with a left master eye. If your eye dominance is opposite to your 'handedness', you may need to close your master eye. Other work arounds include masking one lens on shooting glasses, special sights or a crossover stock. Edited May 13, 2009 by Blunderbuss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddan Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Hi,, I am no expert but believe that it is because in order to work out distances and angles your brain uses the information from both eyes. If you close one you lose some of that information. There isnt anything wrong with shooting with one eye closed, might eb worth getting your eyes tested tofind out eye domanance etc. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macs beretta Posted May 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Outstanding chaps thank you very much for your quick response and informative comments. Me thinks more practise at Catton Hall is needed. Ta Regards Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilishdave Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 I am Right Handed with a left master eye. What I should do is shoot off of the left shoulder but I had been shooting rifles for years before I got in to shotguns and this felt alien to me. I shoot off of the Right sholder and close the left eye. I can manage 24s on English skeet on a good day and shoot better than most at my local ground on the sporting so dont get to disheartend if you are left eye dominant. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippo Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 some good advice given there, the main thing with shooting with both eyes open is that you are aware of the depth of field of your sight picture, as I have got olderI have now, to dim my left eye when clay shooting, I have also tried obscuring my vision from my left eye by putting a small patch on the left lens of my shooting glasses, Keep both eyes open, when you shoot and you will see that you can pick up the distance of the target instantly, compared to one eye shut. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 I am Right Handed with a left master eye. What I should do is shoot off of the left shoulder but I had been shooting rifles for years before I got in to shotguns and this felt alien to me. I shoot off of the Right sholder and close the left eye. I can manage 24s on English skeet on a good day and shoot better than most at my local ground on the sporting so dont get to disheartend if you are left eye dominant. Dave Ditto that Dave. What I tend to do is squint my left eye so I don't lose the perspective of distance too much, it's just enough to force my right eye to be dominant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaseone Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 I close my left at the last moment and I shoot 90s-96 over the past 2 months, or get one of those Easy Hit sights and try it £30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrybarry Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Hi Andy i was at catton hall yesterday and i was sure you had both eyes shut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abductee Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 I close my left at the last moment and I shoot 90s-96 over the past 2 months, or get one of those Easy Hit sights and try it £30. yeah same here I just think its important that you pick up the bird with both eyes... then I squint at the last moment (I'm right handed but have equal eye dominance, no matter how hard I try when point at something in the distance I see two fingers with equal strength, I think its all those 3d and magic eyebooks I had as a kid) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George1990 Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) Yup, I close my left eye at the last minute, or at least dim it. I can sometimes hit with both eyes open when i try (i know I should shoot eyes open) but don't like to risk misses on my score chart! Seems to work ok though. Edited May 14, 2009 by George1990 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Clavata Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Left eye dominant, right handed shooter who can't squint his left eye. Had a lesson yesterday, opinion of my tutor was that the eye dominance is not causing me any issues whatsoever - LOTS of other reasons why I miss, and I do miss quite a few, but nought to do with the dominance. Just gotta find what works for you. If I could squint my left I think I'd only do it very briefly on the mount to be sure I'd mounted correctly. Started out with a patch jobby over some shooting glasses - drove me nuts and always felt I was in danger of whacking the end of the barrel into things whilst walking around and lost nearly all perception of depth on the moving clays. If I'd kept going in that mode I'd probably have sold all my guns by now... ATB Raja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macs beretta Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Thanks chaps some good advise given,nice one. Regards Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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