Useful tip to retain Binocular Vision when Shooting if you shut one eye

I am currently reading Shotgunning: The Art and the Science - by Bob Brister an American, the 2nd edition dated 2 November 2008 althought the content seems a lot older but I have found a useful tip

In target shooting I use an opaque blinder for my left non-dominant non sighting eye but find that I have had to shut my left eye when clay shooting. Using an opaque blinder ensures that your right eye does not get over tired by doing all the work if you were to close it.

Brister suggests sighting the gun on something on a wall safely at home and resting the barrels on the back of a chair or something.

Keeping sighted in on your chosen object, then close the dominant right eye and look at the sighting bead with your left, non-dominant eye if you are a right-handed shooter. Whilst doing this take either some vaseline or a small sticker and put it on the left eye lens of your glasses where it will obscur the sight bead.

I chose a small Postman Pat stamp sticker from my grandaughters sticker book!

Now you can retain your binocular vision to advantage without fear of your left eye picking up the sighting bead to confuse you.

No doubt the experts know all about this but I found it useful.

Robert there had been Shotspot on the market for some time covering this, it's a small ocular film circle placed in the correct area, I use a little piece of frosted sellotape about 1cm square as the same.

Robert there is a tip you can get to shoot overhead birds from Robert6500 on the Shooting Times forum, you have to message him direct, and tell him your set up, dominant eye or a blinder patch etc.

Just saying as your are using a blinder, your barrels will obscure the clay and left eye is obscured from the clay by the tape and you have no idea how far in front or where the clay is on a driven clay type target. His tip definately works even for people with correct vision and a right master eye etc.

John Brindle has a book Shotgun shooting, techniques and technology which is a similar good read if dated for a few quid on amazon.

RobertBeard said:

I am currently reading Shotgunning: The Art and the Science - by Bob Brister an American, the 2nd edition dated 2 November 2008 althought the content seems a lot older but I have found a useful tip

In target shooting I use an opaque blinder for my left non-dominant non sighting eye but find that I have had to shut my left eye when clay shooting. Using an opaque blinder ensures that your right eye does not get over tired by doing all the work if you were to close it.

Brister suggests sighting the gun on something on a wall safely at home and resting the barrels on the back of a chair or something.

Keeping sighted in on your chosen object, then close the dominant right eye and look at the sighting bead with your left, non-dominant eye if you are a right-handed shooter. Whilst doing this take either some vaseline or a small sticker and put it on the left eye lens of your glasses where it will obscur the sight bead.

I chose a small Postman Pat stamp sticker from my grandaughters sticker book!

Now you can retain your binocular vision to advantage without fear of your left eye picking up the sighting bead to confuse you.

No doubt the experts know all about this but I found it useful.

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I must be a bit thick as I don't understand this. You have a dominant right eye and it seems that you shoot off your right shoulder, so why do you need to obscure your left eye in any way? Or are you not wholly right eye dominant, so that on an overhead your left eye pulls you slightly left of the line even before the target is obscured from your right eye by the movement of the barrels in front of the target?

I can understand you if it's the latter case and as the other poster has noted Shotspot can be useful in this latter situation. One of my clients tried this recently - he has moved from being wholly right eye dominant to a position where the left eye exerts some influence - and he found it useful.

Have a look at the Uni Dot sights on my website

webber

http://www.norgascartridges.co.uk

Possibles are his right eye is getting tired or summit.

I mainly have central vision so use a spot of tape. Don't want to hijack his thread so just gave him a wee tip if he did use a blinder.

However after trying this new trick I don't use tape or a blinder on over head birds.

Many rifle shooters find it hard to not close an eye when not using an occluder.

I used to use an occluder on my shooting frames, as closing an eye takes effort and creates stress in the eye, face etc which you don't want when target shooting...having an opaque one, allows the normal amount of light to enter the off eye, so not upsetting its balance.

Robert is used to using an occluder, which allows light to enter his left eye, keeping everything balanced, but stopping him from getting a sight picture with the wrong eye, while rifle shooting. So while he may have a fully dominant eye; habit prevents having both eyes open as being "normal", when not using an occluder.

So yes, if he is fully right eye dominant then he has no reason to use an occluder, but because of his other hobby...it might work better for him!

A little bit of magic tape is the stuff..

Looked at a few of those type of bead sights, not many work for me as i still see the red dot and the side.

Only one I have saw that looked good was a 12mm long bit of fibre optic plas and was totally open, just little ties to hold it on and screwed into the beretta thread. Don't know who do them.

When I do all the tests or someone else tests me for eye dominance I am right eye dominant but I can't target shoot without something like a very small bit of opaque plastic milk bottle that obscures the target from my left eye whilst my right eye looks through the iron sights to centre on the target. The left eye still needs to work to keep an eye on wind flags but seeing the target with the left eye is very off-putting.

I think its the same with shotgunning. I know that binocular vision is better but I don't want the left eye putting me off in the speed of the moment.

In target shooting there is plenty of time until you fire the bullet and can relax and start the aiming process again if you want to but in clay shooting once you call pull you are committed and need no distractions.

My greatest problem at present is stopping the swing to shoot at the clay because I'm a rifle shooter so I miss. So at 60 I'm trying to be a swinger again!

Right eye dominant and right handed? Really stupid to shut a left eye while shot gunning.. Simple.. Beginners problem is to stop the gun, unrelated to eyes..

CleverSC3 said:

Right eye dominant and right handed? Really stupid to shut a left eye while shot gunning.. Simple.. Beginners problem is to stop the gun, unrelated to eyes..

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Agreed. Don't shut your left eye at any time. Focus as hard as possible on the target. If you see the gun do so only in your peripheral vision. Don't be afraid to give it too much lead and whatever you do keep te gun moving as you pull the trigger.

Agreed......for clays don't shut an eye......The more light in the better.

Another tip......do not in any circumstance look at the bead..!!! Fatal....!!

Nicola said:

Agreed......for clays don't shut an eye......The more light in the better.

Another tip......do not in any circumstance look at the bead..!!! Fatal....!!

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Which is why you should avoid the unidot bead, and anything similar, like the plague.

MX8man said:

Which is why you should avoid the unidot bead, and anything similar, like the plague.

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Sorry, I seriously disagree.

If you have an eye dominance issue, the Uni Dot is the best option by far.

Many years ago I almost packed in shooting.

I'd tried various methods: closing my left eye; obscuring my left eye with my thumb; I bought some shooting glasses, smeered vaseline onto the left lens; stuck sellotape onto the left lens; stuck black insulation tape onto the left lens.

At the time, if someone had told me that it was necessary to stand with one foot in a bucket of urine and the other in a bucket of whitewash I would have tried it.

Back in the days when the internet was accessed via dial up and a fax type modem, I sent to America for a magic dot, I still have it. It worked to some degree. That was my first purchase on the internet utilising a Visa card. A further search found the Uni Dot. I read the testimonials, I was impressed, I bought one.

At the time I was mainly pigeon shooting or I should say trying to. Most Sundays would see me sat in a hide alongside a friend. I almost always missed, he almost always hit.

The Uni Dot arrived, I clipped it onto my Beretta 303 semi auto, went pigeon shooting and said nothing.

It was customary for me to take the first turn, the shots being considered as wake em up shots, as I wasn't expected to hit anything.

Bang, bang, two on the deck. "well done webber". on my next turn the same, and the next. Whilst we were sitting waiting for more pigeon I was asked when I had been for shooting lessons and where had I been. I told McF that I'd not been for any lessons for ages, but that I had bought a gadget.

There was some head scratching as to what the gadget was, McF still hadn't twigged what it was by the time we came to pack up. It was then that I showed him the Uni Dot sight clipped onto the rib. The Uni Dot transformed my shooting, and obviously my thoughts of taking up woodturning were shelved.

Over many years I have recommended the Uni Dot to numerous shooting friends etc. Some sent to America themselves, for some I sent for them. Over time other similar products have hit the UK market. I won't and can't comment on their effectiveness, I've not tried them.

I can say that the Uni Dot was the original, the one that others have emulated. Uni Dot was taken over by Lyman, they tend not to back horses that won't win.

I'm now selling Uni Dot in the UK. Its not the cheapest on the market, neither is it the most expensive. It is well engineered, unlike some, and it does work. If it didn't I simply wouldn't sell it. Yes I'm in the business to make some money; but anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a get rich quick merchant!

webber

For further details of Uni Dot sights, please visit: http://www.norgascartridges.co.uk

Never ever look at the bead or the barrels or you are dooooomed....!!!

The fibre optics do work for some but more often than not they get relegated to the bin as they tend to cause more problems than they fix. Personally there are other ways I'd go around fixing the problem but each to their own!

webber said:

Sorry, I seriously disagree.

If you have an eye dominance issue, the Uni Dot is the best option by far.

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Well to your credit you declare your financial interest, but many shooters have some degree of an eye dominance issue I.e. there aren't many people who have a completely dominant eye which matches the shoulder they shoot off. As Ed Solomons says there are other ways to deal with eye dominance issues, and I've yet to see anyone with an eye dominance issue where your Unidot sight was the best solution. So to say what you say above is frankly incorrect.

I have a right master eye and am a right handed shooter. No need for me to close left eye......puuuuuuuuullllllll

my master eyed changed as i got older and i ended up making it a bigger deal in my head than i think it was in reality. after trying marks on glasses, closing eyes and red dots. I eventually took everything off the barrel even the original bead. Now i forget all about master eyes and focus on completely focusing on the target. Which hopefully then appears as a nice big orange dustbin, then just wait until i can see it properly.

I think i caused myself more problems by letting myself become obsessed with eyes. just my experience.