Shooting With Both Eyes Open

Please, no!
For iron sights, yes, focus on the front sight with a blurry target.
But, for both laser sight and red dot sight, your focus should be on the target, not the sight. With a laser that means yes, the laser dot will also be in focus. However, for RDS, the target should be in focus and the dot in the sight will be a bit blurry.
Using iron sights works well with either one or both eyes, depending on how you handle the view (for most folks this means close one eye.
However, for dots, whether laser or RDS, using both eyes open with target focus seems to work better for most.
Also, remember with RDS do not try to put the dot in the center of the sight frame, or on top of the iron sights (if you have bot)h. If the dot is anywhere in the window frame and on target, you are sighted in.

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What I mean by “you should be looking for” is more, you should be looking for it because you need to see it for your shot to be aimed and be as fast and accurate as possible, as opposed to point shooting or just winging it without observing your sighting system at all. On an RDS you may not necessarily want to focus on the dot, and in fact don’t have to at all thanks to the wonderful awesomeness of a dot allowing you to focus on a single plane while having the entire sighting system and target all in focus at the same time.

IME focusing on the target and focusing on the dot, when the dot is on the target, are the same thing. I may take it for granted that pretty much no matter what I’m doing, I can present to where the dot is already over the target somewhere close enough to not have to even think about whether I am focusing on the dot or the target because I see both (can’t do that with irons! too many focal points)

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Perfect. Yes, I slightly mis-read your statement.
Now, as for “looking for” the dot, that is where practicing presentation with good grip comes into play. Repeatable grip and presentation is the key to bringing the dot into your view as quickly as possible.

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correct video…

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I will note that looking through a higher powered scope may not be the same experience or recommendation, RE: eyes open/closed, as low magnification or zero magnification. Although even then I (who never really uses more than 4x mag lol) often have both eyes open even when using the scope.

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I’ve been shooting only for about 8 months, but over that time I’ve been to the range probably 25-30 times. I shoot about 150 rounds each time. Whenever I go I always try to shoot a few with both eyes open and some with one hand, but I haven’t gone to the range and worked on that skill specifically. That’s mostly because I still need a lot of work just handling the gun, the recoil, and the trigger pull etc…so I always revert back to that pretty quickly. I guess I subconsciously think to myself “okay, let’s just get back to the basics and get that right first”.

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It takes time and patience. For now, keep both eyes open as you bring your firearm up to the extended position. Close your non-dominant eye and sight your target as you move your trigger finger from the holding position down to touch the trigger, then press the trigger rearward until the round is discharged. Open both eyes. Repeat.

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I’m envious! I try to go once ever few months, and that usually fails.

Consider focusing on a few foundational things while you change hands, stance, how many hands you use, etc. You mentioned trigger as one of them. You’ll get some quality and reliable muscle memory when you’re in each of those positions. Take your time while you have it so that you won’t need time when you don’t have it.

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Just remember: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

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Great question. Others here have many more years experience at the range than I do.

I read that ideally, both eye should be open in a self-defense scenario.

I find it gets easier with practicing that way at range time, I feel my body, and mind become more used to it, whereby my accuracy improves and with enough practice, I think I’ll be just as accurate as with one eye.

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I relatively recently went on this journey. My end goal is proficiency in defense. I started by practicing holster draw with a red dot for a couple months (at home dry fire and range) which got me used to rapidly presenting, posturing, positioning, and shooting both eyes open. After a while, it started to get much easier to draw both eyes open, while landing very near dead on target with a minimal adjustment period needed.

Then I practiced with irons, closing my non-dominant eye after presenting so I could adjust as needed. Over time and with frequent repetition, I suddenly found myself not closing my non-dominant and naturally “focusing” with my dominant eye during that minimal adjustment period after presenting. Are my shots so tight I put a 2” hole in the center of the target? No. Are they well within the acceptable defensive zone? Yes. And I’m sure they’ll get better with more practice and more training.

It was not easy or quick for me to adjust but now it feels odd to shoot one closed. I have worked on this for months and it’s ongoing. For me, slowly introducing the concept to other motions (holster draw, how I posture & grip to present my firearm, etc) worked. It’s all about practice and repetition. Hope you can find something to use in my experience

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Great post. Welcome to the Community. We are glad to have you. We have a good bunch around here.

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Much appreciated!

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I know at first it’s even hard to believe that a body’s behavior cannot change, but as you wrote, with practice, and patience, it can become one’s natural response; Body, hands, eyes, mind — learning the motion.

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Welcome to the family brother @John1332 and you are in the right place at the right time.

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