Left eye dominant right handed youth shooter?

[Rmauch20]

Trying to teach the basics on shooting to my 8 year old son. He is left eye dominant and is right-handed. At this time I am just having him shoot left handed. We tried shooting right handed and he rolls his head over the stock, we tried using a eye patch and it seemed to be a hassle.
The current problem that we're having is when shooting our 22 semi auto every once in a while a case will come back and hit him on the cheek. No injuries, I think it just scares him more than anything which is understandable. Any left handers have this issue or recommendations on gun type or other solutions you found would be much appreciated. I thought about picking him up on 22 bolt action but there again he be running a right-handed bolt gun shooting left-handed. Another option would be getting an AR style 22. That is a little bit more than I want to spend. I think they have a case Deflector so maybe that would help.

 

[mvmnts]

Is getting him a left handed gun not an option? I am right handed, and just found out I was left eye dominant and I wish I had started shooting left handed. I started with bow left handed and it's easy, but I am stuck shooting rifle right handed so it's hard for me to keep both eyes open. If he's shooting left well, just stick with that and get him a proper left handed gun.

 

[Rmauch20]

Yes that's an option. Just checking locally I haven't had much luck finding a left-handed 22.

 

[Broomd]

RM, do your diligence and get him set up now with lh equipment.

As a L.E.D./right handed guy myself, I dealt with zinging brass, debris in the eye... and everything else all of my life. I wish I would have had the opportunity to have LH rifles/shotguns, but I was on my own with that stuff. As a teen my pop bought me my first .22 and Mossberg 600, and those are still cherished, but he never really realized that I needed LH stuff. He kept trying to change me, and I flat out couldn't see out of my weak right eye!
I put off LH guns until I was 46 y/o. My LH bows I bought much younger.

 

[AustinL911]

Yup. Gotta switch to left hand stuff. A big group of us at work (nurses) go shooting sporting clays a lot. We almost always check for eye dominance on new shooters and if it's RH/LED, we have them shoot LH and they do MUCH better.

I got lucky as I'm RH/RED, but I never realized the amount of folks that aren't.

 

[MtnMuley]

I'm right handed in everything. Very left eye dominant. I've been shooting right handed guns since 5 and have never had issue whatsoever. Hunted archery for 30 years and have never had an issue with right handed bows either. Is this normally that big of issue?

 

[CCH]

My son started that way and we went with RH shooting/eye patch. As he grew older, his eye dominance changed and now he is right/right. I have heard that is not uncommon.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Your son is exactly like my oldest boy. When he was 8 I realized he was left eye dominant. I bought him a left handed Matthews bow to practice archery with. He had no problems after a short introductory period. After he passed hunter safety, I got him a left-handed bolt action Savage .22 to shoot and hunt with. There was a slight tendency for him to want to hold the gun like someone who is right-eye dominant would, but he quickly outgrew that. In my opinion, eye dominance is far more important than him being right handed. I base my opinion on a lot of research (that I did at the time) as well as talking to coaches.

At the time, I was pulling up scholarly articles on the Internet suggesting that boys like yours (and mine) have potential to be extremely athletic, because they are more "balanced" than average kids. For example, the Army knows that a special forces soldier who is right-handed and right-eye dominant, doing land navigation through a jungle will have the tendency to eventually veer to the right and come full circle back to the point where he started, unless he is well trained in dead reckoning with a compass. Discipline with a compass keeps him balanced on a straight course.

A person who is split-dominant like your son will walk in a straighter line over distance. There was a study done on elite track stars which determined that a number of them were split dominant, giving them a very slight edge in speed when running.

My son graduated high school last year as an all-state athlete at a 5A school. Pitched baseball and was captain of the golf team. Go with the eye dominance and spend the money on proper equipment, not what hand is dominant.

 

[Michael Pawul]

I am right handed and was right eye dominant until I lost my right eye at 18 (over 10 years ago now). I switched to left handed shooting for everything, but still shoot all of my right handed rifles. I do shoot a left handed bow, and I would highly suggest buying left handed rifles or bows for your son instead of making due with right handed. Bolt action isn't too difficult to deal with (or lever), and I personally would suggest either of these or a single shot over a semi-auto for teaching a kid to shoot anyways.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

I forgot to mention, I had two eye doctors (including an eye surgeon) in my family who urged me to respect his eye dominance over his hand dominance in shooting sports.

Good luck!

 

[arri1942]

I forgot to mention, I had two eye doctors (including an eye surgeon) in my family who urged me to respect his eye dominance over his hand dominance in shooting sports.

Good luck!

I am an eye doctor and agree with this. I would get him left handed guns and bows and go with his eye dominance.

 

[fishslap]

I'm left eye dominant and right handed. I shoot right handed rifles left handed (left eye on the scope). I just use rifles with an ambidextrous fit and rear center tang safety. Browning A-bolts and savages work pretty good. I shoot a savage 22WM righty. I think it's a 93. Never had any problems. I bought a right handed x-bolt in 270 WSM thinking the stock would be the same as the a-bolt but it had a pronounced right hand palm swell and maybe some cant. Didn't work for a lefty. So...I had a boyds stock put on it that's for a right handed rifle/left handed shooter. I can't believe they make one but they do. Works great but after my struggles on that rifle I've decided to finally go with a left handed rifle. I'm having a 6.5x285 built from a new savage 116 270 in left hand. If that works I might get rid of my righty 270 WSM and go with a lefty. The boyds stock and ambidextrous rifles I mention are options but agree with others that learning lefty is probably best.

 

[mathews8pt]

I am right handed and strongly left eye dominant. I went through the same stuff with my dad when i was learning. We tried the eye patch, hated it. I just shot right handed guns left handed. There were very few that would actually give me problems with brass in my face. I had plenty of small caliber semi auto rifles that i didnt have a single issue with. I recommend getting a gun he can shoot left handed, be it a right or left handed gun.

I am very odd with my shooting of bows. I have shot a compound left handed since i started, but i shoot traditional bows right handed(instinctive). My wife is right handed and shoots her compound left handed as well.

 

[TexanSam]

Your son is exactly like my oldest boy. When he was 8 I realized he was left eye dominant. I bought him a left handed Matthews bow to practice archery with. He had no problems after a short introductory period. After he passed hunter safety, I got him a left-handed bolt action Savage .22 to shoot and hunt with. There was a slight tendency for him to want to hold the gun like someone who is right-eye dominant would, but he quickly outgrew that. In my opinion, eye dominance is far more important than him being right handed. I base my opinion on a lot of research (that I did at the time) as well as talking to coaches.

At the time, I was pulling up scholarly articles on the Internet suggesting that boys like yours (and mine) have potential to be extremely athletic, because they are more "balanced" than average kids. For example, the Army knows that a special forces soldier who is right-handed and right-eye dominant, doing land navigation through a jungle will have the tendency to eventually veer to the right and come full circle back to the point where he started, unless he is well trained in dead reckoning with a compass. Discipline with a compass keeps him balanced on a straight course.

A person who is split-dominant like your son will walk in a straighter line over distance. There was a study done on elite track stars which determined that a number of them were split dominant, giving them a very slight edge in speed when running.

My son graduated high school last year as an all-state athlete at a 5A school. Pitched baseball and was captain of the golf team. Go with the eye dominance and spend the money on proper equipment, not what hand is dominant.

Well that sure is good to hear for me! Unlike most of y'all, I am left handed but right eye dominant. I always shot right handed despite being left handed and everything works good.

So yea buy him left handed equipment. Everywhere I go always seems to have the left handed stuff on sale anyways.

 

[orionsbrother]

Just an FYI for parents. When you check the eye dominance of your kids, do it several times at different times of the day. My middle one is mainly RED/RH but just barely RED and is part of the minority of people who can have their eye dominance shift during the day with fatigue or whatever.

 

[Nickziegler]

I started young shooting right handed. Dad never thought about what eye was dominant due to me being right handed. I ended up finding out a few years later I am left eye dominant and switched right away. Most of my guns are left handed except a semi auto shotgun I have and once in a great while I also get some blow back from it, but with eye protection it is ok. I would keep him left handed and just look for left handed guns. It is defiantly a pain though that left hand guns are harder to find and generally slightly more $

 

[Jskaanland]

I'm right handed and left eye dominant(not strongly). I shoot right handed and have just trained myself to close my left eye at longer distances.

My oldest is left eye dominant and I plan on getting him left handed equipment(and trying it out myself) For shotguns check out the ithaca featherlight Ithaca Gun Company Official Website

 

[Low_Sky]

I'm a left eye dominant and left handed shooter. Lots of good advice already in this thread, but just wanted to add a couple things. First, just another vote for "go with his eye dominance". I didn't see you mention what kind of .22LR is giving him brass to the face, but I've never had that problem with my 10/22. Have you tried different brands/weights/velocities of ammo in your .22LR to see if there is a load with an ejection pattern that doesn't give him brass to the face?

As he gets older and you start buying guns specifically for him, or for yourself that you intend to give to him some day, keep in mind that there are some good guns out there that are ambidextrous or are RH designs that are lefty-friendly with minor changes or no changes at all.

Here are a few based on my experience.
10/22, fully lefty friendly with no changes.
Browning BPS shotguns, ambidextrous, bottom feeding and ejecting with a tang safety
Rem 870 shotguns, I swap the cross bolt safety button for a LH version, but you can really get by without it. There's no need to feed and eject out the left side of the gun.
Break action shotguns, ambi, but watch out for the stocks. Some of them have cast-off for RH shooters.
Ruger No 1, ambidextrous, breech loading
AR-15, lefty friendly as long as the upper receiver has a brass deflector (they almost all do), and I add ambi safety levers, Norgon Ambi-Catch mag releases, and extended or ambi charging handles. "Left handed" AR-15's are a boutique item for people that don't know better and are not worth the hassle of having a goofy rifle that needs a special bolt carrier.

 

[boom]

i'm all jacked up.

i actually used to be left handed!! i think let the kid shoot naturally. go left.

little tidbit info..old school chinese parents felt being lefty was wrong and would force you to change up.

 

[idig4au]

I'm left handed but right eye dominate. I shoot all guns right handed. My dad had the good sense to teach to shoot right handed when I first started shooting as a child. Its second nature for me now. I do everything else left handed. I tried shooting archery left handed and had to give it up. Strongly recommend teaching him to shoot based on eye dominance