Of all the skills I've neglected, I think this tops the list.

I shoot "both eyes open" with everything - pistol, rifle, scope, holo sight, etc.

I've decided to work on my weak side. I am right hand/right eye dominant.

In the past, when I've shot lefty, I simply closed my dominant eye - but I hate losing the peripheral vision. If I find myself shooting left-handed in the real world, I'd rather have it.

Anyway, I was dryfiring last night, and both eyes open didn't work without delay. Now - if I angle the gun towards my dominant eye, it lines up quickly, but its awkward.

I'd appreciate some thoughts on working the weak side.

Thanks

Cant the gun slightly to line up the sights with your dominant eye.  If you practice it, it is not awkward.  If you don't practice a lot, weak hand shooting will always be awkward.

This, it's how the NRA teaches weak-hand shooting.  My kid brother is right-handed and left-eye dominant as an infantry officer, he confuses his troops by carrying his M4 slung for left-handed use, but carries and shoots his M9 right-handed by canting the pistol to use his strong eye.



 

Understood - just wanted a little feedback before I reinforce bad habits. Thanks guys.

Actually don't cant the pistol. I did this for years rather effectively but just this month I've found a much better method. I taught the following method to 7 handgun students a week ago and they all performed much better with this technique...

Hold the pistol straight, tuck your elbow inboard and pull back slightly. You will feel a slight discomfort in your shoulder when you have it right.

Flag your thumb UP and press against the slide. Torque your pinky against the grip.

By doing this your muzzle flip will be vertical instead of diagonal which will make follow up shots much faster.

I borrowed this from Mike Seeklander. This is also how LAV teaches it, IIRC.

Good luck.

ETA - Found the video.

One handed shooting - Mike Seeklander

Why cant the pistol and not your head? I'm right handed but left eye dominant. To keep my wrists locked during fire, I just figured it was easier to tilt my head to align my eye with the sights instead of the other way around. I do this if I'm shooting with one or both hands unsupported.

With my support (left) hand, I don't need to do a thing since that is the hand that my dominant eye aligns with naturally.

The weight distribution and alignment make sense, but I'm not sure how this helps with the eye issue.
Thanks for the vid.

I couldn't get out this weekend, but will try a couple things out over the Thanksgiving break. With dryfiring though, it feels easier to pull the left wrist in (push palm out) than to get my head over there.

Moving your head affects your balance and puts you in an awkward body position.  You may get it to work on the static range but doesn't hold up to stress.   Try some sims sometime and prove it to yourself.  Closing an eye and losing peripheral vision isn't good either on a two way range, but will work fine on the static range.

Moving the sights is just a matter of slightly adjusting the attitude of the gun.  This is not homeboy cant sideways.  The recoil impulse is slightly different but most students do not seem to suffer from it.

Try both and report back to the class.

Canting the pistol will help align the bones and muscles in your arm, much like when you punch. I typically cant the pistol just under 45 degrees when I shoot one handed. Also when shooting one handed hold your non shooting hand in a fist against your chest or clasping your vest or shirt. This will increase the grip strength in your shooting hand by up to 25%. Also I find that putting your gun foot forard when shooting one handed help control the recoil.

Do not stop at just training with support hand shooting. Practice reloading one handed as well. Another important thing is to practice drawing your firearm with the support hand only.

People need to realize that in a real world situation you might not be ready when the fight starts. Action beats reaction and there may come a time when the first shot of the fight takes out you gun hand or arm. Getting hit is not the end of the fight, sometimes that first incoming round is how you know the fight has started.

I concur on canting the firearm to your dominant eye. We have been teaching SWAT officers this technique for many years and works well under stress. This will not alter our platform even in the slightest and we still use bone support and index to point the gun.  If you are a fairly competent shooter, the less we can change our delivery, the less it will change our thought process.  The easier the training will fold into habit and the easier the habit will work under stress.

And that's no BS (Meter)

cant the pistol and pull your strong hand into your chest.