How the hell do I shoot with both eyes open?

[TheBiggness]

I was hopeing someone can tell me the correct way to do this. I remeber when i was in NJROTC they had us shoot with both eyes but I could never do it. Thats when the Senior Cheif taped paper over one eye and told me to keep em both open.

[yellowwing]

During Second Phase of MCRD Training, your Primary Marksmanship Instructor will show you everything. He will have a solid two weeks with you to get it down pat.

Meanwhile your PT and Corps knowledge always can be improved on.

[Marine84]

wear an eye patch

[YLDNDN6]

Back in the day we were issued an eye patch...are we being taught to shoot and qualifying with both eyes open now???

[rvillac2]

Our best advice to you is to not try and learn shooting on your own. The Corps creates the finest basic marksmen in the world from scratch. You are far more likely to pick up bad habits than prepare yourself for our range.

Eyepatches are useful when you spend hours practicing on a KD (known distance) course. Other professional marksmen use glasses with a blacked out lens or view shield. This allows their primary eye to focus on sight picture without any interfering strain from the secondary eye.

YLDNDN6, qualifying is done with 1 eye. Practical shooting, MOUT, and CQC is done with both eyes open. "Train as you fight"

Sgt Villacorte,
Primary Marksmanship Instructor

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

When shooting on the range, most people close one eye. However, if doing surgical shooting or CQB type stuff they will try to get you to shoot with both eyes open.

For most people your dominant hand and eye are on the same side of your body. However, some people have cross dominance. (I am left eye but right handed) This can make it difficult to shoot a rifle. If you change to the other hand, you will be able to do it. However, I simply could not learn to shoot a rifle with my left hand. So, I just close my left eye. With a pistol it isn't a problem, I just look down the sights with my left eye.

I would assume this is the problem you're having. It has been for everyone else I know that has the problem.

[TheBiggness]

no I'm right eye right handed and I've been shooting with that eye for 12 years now. I figured since they had us qualify with both eyes open in NJROTC, that it was a military standard.

[MIKECHRY]

I was hopeing someone can tell me the correct way to do this. I remeber when i was in NJROTC they had us shoot with both eyes but I could never do it. Thats when the Senior Cheif taped paper over one eye and told me to keep em both open.

that's the problem. you were trained in marksmanship by a "senior chief"

[Quinbo]

It is possible that you are trying to shoot using your non-dominant eye. Don't worry about if your non-sighting eye is open or closed. You won't get to wear a eye patch on patrol. The easiest test you can do to test which eye is dominant is make a small window with your hands at arms length then sight in on some object through this window. Make sure you are looking at something distant. Now that you are sighted in close one eye.... if you closed your dominant eye you will be looking at your hand .... if you closed your non dominant eye you will still be looking at the target. If this is not working for you then have someone observe you through this process. There are people that will unknowingly move the window so that they can still see the target with their non dominant eye.

If you find you are trying to aim with your non dominant eye then learn to shoot the opposite hand that you are trying now.