One Eye or Two?

[GunnyGene]

Most people have difficulty with parallax with both eyes open. Some, like Kyle, have trained their brain to overcome that. That said, whether you keep both open or not often depends on the situation. Defensive pistol, it's advisable to keep both open and train for short range point and shoot (instinctive), and not waste time trying to acquire a "preferred" sight picture or stance.

[BigAl52]

Another one with one eye closed and its the left one.

[Vaquero]

Another one with one eye closed and its the left one.

Well I hope ya shootin with the right then.

RP

[Ernie]

I shoot both ways, but I was taught to close one eye and it feels more natural to me.

[markiver54]

Thanks for the responses. It is sounding like a personal preference issue and what works best for an individual, given the circumstance.
Interesting though, that Marine said the were taught one eye closed in the Corps.
All responses have made sense to me. Maybe there is no right or wrong on this one?

[North Country Gal]

I use both, but to shoot with both eyes open requires just the right setup as far as sights. I can do it with red dots, though the red dot needs to be placed at just the right distance from the eye and, surprisingly, I can do it with some scope setups, usually low power setups, with scout scope rigs working the best. Unfortunately, have never been able to do it with iron sights.

Yes, there are advantages to keeping both eyes open. Closing one eye and keeping the other open can and will produce eye fatigue over extended shooting sessions because you are working the muscles of the two eyes, differently. That's why a lot of target shooters who do close one eye wear a patch over their non-shooting eye. It allows them to keep that eye open while shooting and thereby reduce eye fatigue.

I also find that my follow through technique is better with both eyes open. It allows me to concentrate and focus more on the sight picture all the way though the shot. When I can do it, there is a noticeable difference.

That said, I don't force myself to use one method or the other. If the gun and sight combo won't allow me to comfortably keep both eyes open, I just close one eye and get on with my shooting. When I do close one eye, however, I am careful to do it as relaxed as I can, rather than scrunch it shut.

[North Country Gal]

As for right or wrong, keeping both eyes open is generally regarded as correct in wing-shooting for the sake of depth of field. It's one type of shooting that puts those of us who are cross-eyed dominant at a disadvantage. For me, very hard to do without seeing a double image of the barrel.

For rifles and handguns, yes, most of us use what works.

[markiver54]

Thank you NCG. Definitely wanted your input on this one.
you mentioned the ability with two eyes using low power scopes. That would explain the reviews I read on the Weaver I mentioned. It sits atop my BBS 357, which I might try this afternoon.
The eye patch sounds like a good idea as well!. I have noticed many times, after squinting for a while, my left eye gets blurry upon opening it back up between shots. Guess that would be the fatigue issue. Thanks again NCG, Yours, and all other responses have been an eye opener. Truly, no pun intended.

[North Country Gal]

You're very welcome, Mark.

[Mags]

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I was taught one-eye as well. I've tried both open, but the brain has some difficulty putting a sight picture together.