I would think that being same side dominant that your gun should pretty naturally line up with your right eye but you should definitely make that happen if it is not.
The accepted wisdom for accurate shooting is that your front sight should be clearly in focus with equal light and equal height between your slightly out of focus rear sight while pointing at your slightly out of focus target. There are other schools of thought for defensive shooting at shorter ranges but I think it is likely best to learn traditional sighted fire first.
If you focus on an object 25’ away & hold up a finger in the view but keep your eyes focused on the object 25’ away, you will see two fingers. Close your left eye & the finger in the right will be gone. So with both eyes open you will see two sets of gun sights as you focus on your target. Use the sights on the left. They are the ones that are in line with your target. Practicr
I think it’s a swell opinion — do what works. Forty years of “practice”, and an intellectual belief that two-eye sighting is better for many reasons, has not changed what does and doesn’t work for me.
I believe my issue is that I have nearly no eye dominance, and my brain is perfectly willing to line up anything for either eye. As a consequence — when a target or aiming point is small enough for the sights to nearly cover it — my strong-side eye has no idea where the target is, while my weak-side eye has no idea where the gun is pointed. Tell the weak-side eye to take a nap, and the problem is solved. If the target is large enough, then there is no confusion. When lighting is challenging, I can shoot a 2" group at 10yd to the center of an unmarked 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper, but I can struggle to shoot a 5" group at 5yd to a 5" circle (if I have two circles on the same sheet it can be almost hopeless) — at about the same cadence. Close an eye and the 5yd group drops to an inch.
I think the ticket is to learn what your capabilities really are, then practice enough that you don’t hesitate what to do in a critical moment — retention or extended? one-hand or two-hand? head or chest? one-eye or two-eye? In a defensive situation, you only have an instant to decide and another instant to act — the path you take doesn’t matter if it leads to your goal. In bullseye shooting the path matters even less — just the holes in the paper.
I’m a 2 eyes open shooter going way back to the late 80s. I am cross-eye dominant, too. I designed and implemented award-winning adult and continuing education programs in the outdoor recreation sector. I have written and/or edited and published multiple books and numerous articles on the topic of outdoor adventure therapy for people with disabilities, and have been a featured speaker/presenter at numerous continuing education and professional trade meetings in the Independent Living side of disability and rehabilitation.
Not everybody needs to shoot like a commando or a cop. Some folks don’t even have 2 properly functioning eyes. Most people should not even set a goal for themselves of ever shooting like a Navy SEAL or a Marine Scout Sniper or what have you. It’s impractical and unrealistic…but it does sell stuff to folks who don’t know any better!
Sure…you bet…if you are going to be kicking doors hunting bad guys and that sort of thing, you better learn to shoot with both eyes open! And it is smarter and more efficient to never close one eye over the sights of a firearm if that is your goal. Of course.
BUT…
The 2 eyes open thing is all about preserving your peripheral vision while aiming a firearm at a target. Does a hunter need to preserve this level of situational awareness for the second before she squeezes the trigger? If so, I’d argue she should not be considering taking the shot. There’s too much going on. A safe and humane harvest of a game animal should be a low-risk proposition. Can you defend your home or take out an active shooter from cover with one eye open? YEP! And if that is easier and more reliable FOR YOU, then I agree that this is how YOU should do it.
Kudos, Mark! I don’t know where you are located, but you are the kind of TC I would be looking for if I wanted to renew instructor certifications. But…alas…I have retired from all of this nonsense.
We tried it at the range last week, aiming (one eye) and then pointing (two eyes). Interestingly, pointing seemed to work just fine especially in the 5-10 yard range, we were hitting a 4-6 inch circle. I did OK pointing in the 10-12 yard range but after that it was one eye and sights. Kido was a little better out farther. That said, we were both using compacts so I’m sure the short barrel has an effect on how far out you can point before you have to go to aiming.
…holy 
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