I took my girlfriend out shooting yesterday, and found out that although she is right-handed, she is left-eye dominant.  She does okay with a pistol, as she can hit the target sometimes (the misses are obvious flinching in anticipation).  Then I pull the AR out...

I had it set up with a bipod because it is a bit heavy for her now, and she is afraid of the recoil having never fired it.  I sat her down at the table, and she tried it right-handed, but didn't like it because she couldn't get a sight picture.  She wanted to try it left-handed...No problem.  We switch tables, and she sits down and immediately confuses herself by assuming a right-handed grip (right hand on grip, tried putting her left hand around the rifle and on the handguard).  She looks at me a little confused/surprised and said, "I have to use my LEFT hand to do this?"  Of course I chuckle, but she's learning, and she want's to learn, so I cut her slack.  In the end, she never fires it because she can't seem to see the sight.

For all of you out there in this situation (cross-eye dominant), how do you shoot?  Do you switch hands or do you force the non-dominant eye to sight?

Thanks!
Ed

I am left eye dominant too, funny thing is that I shoot better with my non-dominant eye. So I hold my rifle in the normal right handed way. Since I shoot pistol using a Weaver stance, sighting with my left eye is not a problem.

While born right-eyed, an injury as a child forced me to train my left eye to be dominant.
I shoot left handed (rifle & bow) as it is necessary if you want to shoot w/ both eyes open, (less stress on eye).

Use of non-dominant eye is possible as long as you learn to close the non-shooting eye. So she'll do better shooting right handed if her left eye is close. That said IMHO she'll shoot better/more consistently if she shoots left handed using her dominant eye with both eyes open.

Mike

I'm all screwed up.  I shoot pistols and rifles with pistol grips on my right side with the right eye.  I shoot rifles such as my Rem 700 with my left eye on my left side.

I hear and see people deal with eye dominance and left or right handedness and I wonder what it must be like.  I don't really have any significant eye dominance, and this was confirmed by my optometrist.  He said it happens, but it's rare.  Further, I'm completely ambidextrous - write, eat, use hand or power tools, bat, shoot, etc., with either hand and no difference.  I got it from my maternal grandfather, and my daughter is the same way.  In basic training in '72 when firing the 1911A1 I switched hands between strings and the gunny instructor didn't see it at first and flipped when I switched back to RT hand and didn't miss a beat.  People see me nail lumber and switch the hammer from LT to RT and back and ask "How can you do that?" and there I am wondering how they cannot.

With a handgun my wife shoots right handed but closes her right eye and tilts her head far enough over that she uses her left eye to shoot and she always hits center of the target just way out to the right outer edge of the target. Once I noticed what she was doing and she tried a few with her right eye she was putting them in the black. She says it is just easier and more natural for her to hold her right eye closed. I am trying to get her to keep both open but she is not comfortable with that yet.

Conventional wisdom, ie NRA Instructor Guide, says if your left eye dominant, shoot left handed.  

My daughter is right handed Left eyed.

We painted the left lens of her shooting glasses with black paint.

She now shoots GREAT right handed.

I'm left eye dominant, and right handed,, like someone else said, I just closed my left eye and used my right on rifles,, worked for years, ......until....now I wear bifocals and my eyesight has really went down hill in the last 5-7 years,,, my right eye is really bad, so what used to work doesnt anymore,,,I've just put scopes or red dot sights on about everything,, just can't shoot open sights anymore,, I may have to try left handed, but vision in left eye ain't too good...

I'm right handed-left eye dominant.  Never had a problem with rifle because that's all I knew.  Even when I started shooting both eyes opened, I was already used to using my righ eye.

Now when I picked up a pistol for the first time...that's another story.  I tried with my right but could never get a sight picture.  When I closed my right and raised the pistol the left eye had a sight picture right away, so now (until I get a better opinion) just squint/close my right eye when I fire pistol.

Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them (Ben Kenobi ANH)