Being a lefty, I was happy for my 6 year old son to be right handed and not having to worry about the things us south-paws do with firearms being made for right-handed people. Yesterday I started teaching him safety, trigger control, body mechanics, etc.. since I was sighting in a new scope on my AR at the lease. No live firing, just dry-firing snap caps. As of now he's been shooting a youth recurve pretty well. No sights of course so I didn't notice the eye dominance problem. With the rifle in a tripod saddle I set him up In a kneeling position right handed and noticed he was putting his face across the stock the look through the scope with his left eye. So had him do that test where you make a small diamond with your hands and bring it towards your nose but it looked pretty centered on his nose. He said he cant close his left eye and only open is right but he can do it the opposite way. Couldn't get a clear picture through scope with right eye. When I switched him to lefthanded form he said he was able to get a nice clear picture through scope. I would like him to learn how to shoot with both eyes open eventually but that takes some training that he can eventually learn. But anyways I'm assuming it will be best for him to shoot left-handed due to the eye dominance. Do yal agree with this? I ordered a Ruger RPR rimfire 17HMR that he will start shooting with once I feel comfortable with his safety and everything else.

Following.........my grandson is cross eye dominate.

Shoot with the dominant eye.

You can make the arms, legs, hands, feet do anything. You can't force the eyes to focus.

Left hand bows, and left hand bolt action rifles are out there. Sometimes there is a wait, sometimes not. I do not buy anything else that is built for lefties. AR's and shotguns I might have an advantage. Semi-auto pistols are not a problem at all.

Right handed left eye dominant here. From personal experience I would start him left handed with a rifle and never look back. I never shot left handed until later in life and could never get comfortable behind a rifle or hit anything until I switched. I am now a very competent shooter until buck fever hits me. I’ve competed to 1000 and even won one match. If you start him left hand he will never have to deal with it being awkward switching later.

Surprisingly this also showed its face batting in little league. Couldn’t hit the ball at all until the coach made me bat left handed. After that I did pretty good but never had the power I wanted behind it.

Jason and wp75169, Great advice. I had to do this with my daughter and now a lady friend, FRIEND !!!

Dated a girl years ago who tried to take up sporting clays. It's similar to golf in my industry. She had this issue so I asked around to all sorts of sources and this is basically what i was told too. This one goof ball I used to work with was a good ole boy from A&M. Right handed writer that shot clays left handed and he was good too. Not surprisingly, he did well when we went duck and dove hunting. Also an average to good rifle shot too. He did all this for years mostly with right handed guns.

I agree with this^^^.

My wife is left handed and left eye dominant. She refuses to shoot left handed and her shooting shows it. Takes her forever to get on target and struggles with consistency, but nothing I can do makes her shoot with the left eye.

Get him a lever action rifle Works the same from either side...

I'm cross dominant (left eye, right hand) and I was started out shooting shotgun and rifle left handed -- now right handed feels weird. Honestly, shotgun and rifle are easy to be cross dominant at if you start someone out on it to begin with. I shoot both eyes open, left handed on ARs just fine, and there are certain advantages to having your strong arm/hand at the forestock since that is the hand carrying the weight. Changing mags is easier because I'm right handed, etc.

Being cross dominant doesn't ruin your chances on clays either -- I am "fairly" proficient and it seems natural to shoulder left, lead, and shoot without thinking about it. Also, I use right handed guns for almost everything so don't think that you have to buy LH rifles. That obviously changes on a compound bow though.

The area I have the most problem is pistol. It does not feel natural to shoot left handed, so I have a technique where I pull up in mostly isosceles, bring my right arm to my chin, and it positions the pistols sights perfectly to my left eye.

I’m right handed and left eye dominate too

I’ve never practiced left handed but I know I should

It’s what I’ve always been told is to start shooting lefty

I have to agree with most of the other posts about shooting the rifle with the dominant eye.

As a youth, I didn't even know I was left-eye dominant. The moment it really clicked was about age fourteen. My cousin and I were shooting a 10/22 at his dad's ranch. Like everything else between me and Cory, it soon turned into a competition. He was winning until we started shooting left-handed. We were talking about it with my uncle that evening and he suggested I was left-eye dominant. The next day, he accompanied us back to the shooting berm. From that day forward I've shot long guns left handed.

Another right-handed, left eye dominant. Thank goodness dad noticed me crawling over the stock to see the scope when I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. 'Switched to shooting left handed and never looked back. I have RH, LH, and lever rifles; none throw me off that much.

My son is 8 and started shooting a bb gun at 5. He does everything right handed but, like yours, was using his left eye so I let him shoot lefthanded. Now, he's a pretty good shot with a .22.

I'm slightly left eye dominant but very physically right side dominant. I shoot right handed with no issues.

I would go with whichever dominance is more pronounced. If the eye dominance is really pronounced and physically less so, I'd go with that. If vice versa, then go with the physical dominance.

100%! My son is left handed but right eye dominant. I have him shooting right handed. He does fine with it with a little practice.

The hands can learn, the eyes cannot.

I have forced myself to weld with both hands, swing a hammer with both hands, shoot with both hands, and even write with both hands. Injure your dominant hand and the other one is forced into unfamiliar territory. Eventually it becomes familiar.

Have a friend who is left handed, right eye dominant. It was easier for him to switch to shooting right handed than it was for him to try to use his left eye. He is 35.
Teach your son to shoot left handed with his dominant eye.

I am right handed, right eye dominant, and can shoot with both eyes open. It took a while to train myself to do so, but I like it for long shooting sessions as I don’t get fatigued by trying to hold my left eye closed. Especially helpful when it’s windy and you’re watching wind flags. Can focus left eye on flags, then switch focus to right eye for shot.

I don’t agree with this. What do people do who lose their dominant eye? They learn to use the other eye.
As I stated previously, I can choose which eye to focus when shooting. No, it’s not easy to do or learn, but it can be done.

I do pretty much the same thing. Although I do practice with my weak hand a lot, I don't think I'll ever be as proficient shooting a handgun with my left hand as I am with my right hand. I'm just so much faster on followup shots with my right hand.

One reason that I feel blessed about right hand cross-dominance is that my strong hand is always free if I need to use my side arm.

I am also left eye dominant but shoot right handed. The eyes/brain can adapt. I shoot with scope and with sights no issue. You can teach your brain what to do and not the other way round. I have shot left handed but only as a needed basis. Strange thing though, In high school I killed everyone in ping pong right handed. I got bored and started playing left handed and got pretty good at it also. So I guess it can go either way, I just would not force the issue. It is supposed to be fun.

Ok.

I can shoot just fine with my right eye, but it takes it longer to focus. People that lose a dominant eye do not gain strength in their non-dominant eye.

Rifles it doesn't matter as much and even less when a scope is involved.

Shotguns/Pistols where you should shoot with both eyes opens it causes all kinds of issues. The advice above about making the transition to left handed will help significantly and the younger they are the easier that transition will be.

Good luck!

I’m unsure from your post if it’s a dominance problem or just can’t close his left eye. However, the important thing to consider is that eye dominance is affected by age and at 6 his dominance may not have set in yet, (hence the test seeming to focus on his nose). I can’t quote exact %s but pretty sure males that are right handed are also right eyed well beyond 90% of the time....much less for females. Before making any real decisions you may want to visit the eye doc. P_102

Thump him in the forehead and force him to shoot rightie.

As usual im somewhere between confused and ignorant but always hoping yall can help me out. Im right handed and left eye dominant and on scoped rifles have always just closed the off eye. I never dreamed I may be able to shoot better with the other eye. I understand there are situations where you want both eyes open. Just assume you close the off eye no matter what, would there still be a possible improvement in using the dominant eye. I would assume not but im no expert marksman nor eye doctor either one so im listening.... Mostly out of curiosity cause im too old to change and I shoot "good enuf."

That's a good point and I was thinking the same thing. In a few minutes I am going to have him try both and see if he really just cant isolate the action of only closing his right eye. And have him look through a scope that isn't mounted on a rifle and see which way focuses better for him. On the way home yesterday I was explaining to him he can keep both eyes open when he shoots his bow because there Is no sight on it and he told me that he has been closing his right eye and aiming with his left (shooting right-handed though). My fault for not noticing this but his form and everything has been good, but the fact hes doing that makes me think he really is left eye dominant.


Well never mind, I just went to get him and he is passed out haha the tough life of a 6 year old boy. Well try that tomorrow with the scope.

Build an eye patch for him, when you have him see which eye focuses better. Cut out all light, and his concentration will go to the eye in the scope.

For me personally the answer was yes. Shooting with the dominant eye is significantly better than the other eye. Closed, patched, or otherwise. My right eye has trouble staying focused when used alone and the strain is significant enough that it starts to wander in just a few seconds. I never realized any of this until I started shooting left handed and saw the difference. I was literally pulling the trigger as my eye passed in and out of focus which was less than 10% of the time after the first couple of seconds looking through the scope. This also causes poor trigger control. Until this point shooting was for hunting. Now I enjoy shooting.

If he is pretty good with his archery he will most likely improve switching to left handed there as well. Have setup a lot of cross dominate guys and gals with archery gear. One thing eye dominance varies, I have seen some that cannot close their dominate eye without shutting both eyes. In that case they are always much better off shooting with the dominate eye.

I struggled with this for years being left eye dominate and very right handed. With enough practice I learned to cope with it to the point it really doesn't matter which shoulder I shoot from or if I pick up a right handed bow or left. It still feels awkard though shooting left handed. Now though my vision has changed enough I had them put the defib on the left side, taking away shooting guns left handed is a no-no.

When in doubt though hane a new shooter ise their dominate eye

If you are left eye dominate learning to go lefty is obviously the best way to go. I am left eye and have always shot guns left handed but shot bows right handed until I started shooting only long bows and recurves instinctively and had to learn to shoot left handed... very difficult but doable with practice.

To address changing your eye dominance mentioned above, my son when in high school damaged his right eye ,detached retina etc and vision in that eye went from 20/20 to 20/200 and he found that his eye dominance changed to his left eye. So he learned to shoot left handed or really be ambidextrous but mainly shot lefty. He has now had surgery and his vision is back to 20/20 in both eyes but he mainly shoots left handed. He regularly shoots competitions like 3 Gun and Run N Gun and being able to shoot ambi is very advantageous.

I'm right handed and left-eyed dominant. I shoot pool, a rifle and a bow left handed. Echoing an earlier post, lever action rifles are good training tools.

This, he's young, he'll adapt quickly and it will make shotguns easier for him

I'm a natural right hander that is left eye dominant. I shoot mostly left handed and have since I was about your sons age.
Not being able to close the left eye does not necessarily indicate eye dominance. Stand about 15' in front of your son. Point to your dominate eye and have him point his finger at your pupil with both eyes open. His dominate eye will line up with his finger and it will be evident to you. Have him do it half a dozen times in succession.
If he is truly left eye dominate it will be to his advantage to shoot left handed. Down the road when he learns to shoot pistols, iron sights, and especially shotguns and bows, shooting with both eyes open is a big advantage.
It takes both eyes to fully see three dimensionally. Without both eyes, accurately judging speed and distance is severely limited. Also through a scope for extended periods is much easier with both eyes open. Yes you may be able to master it with time and effort. Why would you want to fight what comes natural, in order to use the eye that does not see as well or naturally take the lead.
I shoot shotguns a lot. I regularly see guys with cross eye dominance struggle to cope with it. There are workable solutions but they all give up something. Some get pretty good on a clays course where distances are known or can be evaluated prior to shooting. In the field where distance and speed must be seen and acted on in the same instant, they are at a distinct disadvantage that shows.
Check him out to determine which eye is dominate. Then set him up for an easier learning curve by shooting with his dominate eye.
That's what my dad did for me and I am grateful he did.

I am left eyed, right handed. I was a hell af a batter, never knew the advantage till years later.
Shooting a scoped rifle is easy, I shoot as good or better than most. But shooting a shotgun takes serious concentration.
If discovered early, switch shooting to match the dominant eye, I can see the advantage now.
FJG is correct

Thanks for all the replies..I still haven't checked him out anymore to verify he is left eye dominant, it's been a busy week. But we were playing catch (baseball) yesterday and noticed he was closing his right eye when throwing to me (throwing with right arm). He said he is "aiming" his throw haha. I just explained he should keep both eyes open , you don't aim a throw like shooting. But i don't want to stress him out over it. Over the weekend I'll have him look through some scopes and do that test smokey bear mentioned. I hope he adjust well to shooting the bow Lefty, he's been working on that for almost a year.