Burris speed bead for cross eye dominance

J

Jakeismydog2

Member
I am one of those unfortunate souls who was born right handed and left eyed. I grew up learning to shoot with only my right eye open. I am not a great shot, not awful, but certainly not worthy to hunt over a hardworking dog. I have tried all sorts of things to remedy the cross eye dominance. None of them seemed to work.

I saw some info on the Burris speed bead and was intrigued. Most of the reviews online say the speed bead is a joke. That using a laser is not how you shoot a shotgun. But many of the reviews also threw in the caveat that it could be really useful for individuals with cross eye dominance.

A few weeks ago I broke down and ordered one for Benelli. I got it mounted today. I have not had a chance to shoot it yet. So it may still be completely worthless for helping me hit birds, I don't know. But what I can tell you is with the laser on, I am no longer cross eye dominant. It's crazy how easy it works. I showed my coworkers today. I had them act like they were left handed so they could see what it was like to be cross eye dominant, then kicked the laser on and watched them gasp at how it changed their vision.

Anyway I am excited to go out and shoot some targets with both eyes open for the first time in my life. I think it may be real challenging for me to keep both eyes open as I have been closing my left eye on the flush for 17 years.

Anyone else try one of these before?
 
I've shot clays with similar sights and on some targets I can hit then pretty consistent other targets not so much but it's mostly targets you won't see in the pheasant field that give you trouble.

Good luck and don't listen to the naysayers of which most of them haven't used a red dot.
 
I've used a fastfire which is the same as a speed bead but without the mount and just goes on a rail and is then mounted to the receiver, and also a doctor which also mounts to the receiver/rail. The speed bead might be the only one that mounts the way they do not sure.

Lots of companies making reflex type sights.
 
Jakeismydog2 said:
I am one of those unfortunate souls who was born right handed and left eyed. I grew up learning to shoot with only my right eye open. I am not a great shot, not awful, but certainly not worthy to hunt over a hardworking dog. I have tried all sorts of things to remedy the cross eye dominance. None of them seemed to work.
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Curious, what sorts of things have you tried if you don't mind me asking?
 
Cross eye dominance

I have used the EasyHit FrontSight (http://www.easyhit.com/page3/page3.html) for a number of years pheasant hunting as I am also left eye dominant but shoot right handed. It used to be called the Champion brand EasyHit Shotgun Sight that Tom Knapp endorsed. I have had great success with it as you only see the enclosed glow bead when looking directly down the tube so the bead has to be seen with your right eye. I believe they are sold at both Cabela's and Gander Mountain.
 
I tried the tape on the glasses. The Chapstick on the glasses. The oversize fiberoptic bead. I tried shooting left handed, it's amazing how uncoordinated you feel when doing that.
 
So the tape over the glasses didn't work i take it?

Scotch tape is usually best as it's translucent. But it needs to be right over the pupil.

You could also try keeping both eyes open until just before you pull the trigger then close the left eye. The easy hit fiber optic sight along with closing the left eye just before you shoot may be a good 1-2 combo. Should only be able to see the light with the correct eye.

Here's some remedies you can read about. Most of the simple ones you may have already tried: http://shotgunreport.com/2013/11/29/cross-dominance-2/
 
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david0311

Jakeismydog2 said:
I am one of those unfortunate souls who was born right handed and left eyed. I grew up learning to shoot with only my right eye open. I am not a great shot, not awful, but certainly not worthy to hunt over a hardworking dog. I have tried all sorts of things to remedy the cross eye dominance. None of them seemed to work.

I saw some info on the Burris speed bead and was intrigued. Most of the reviews online say the speed bead is a joke. That using a laser is not how you shoot a shotgun. But many of the reviews also threw in the caveat that it could be really useful for individuals with cross eye dominance.

A few weeks ago I broke down and ordered one for Benelli. I got it mounted today. I have not had a chance to shoot it yet. So it may still be completely worthless for helping me hit birds, I don't know. But what I can tell you is with the laser on, I am no longer cross eye dominant. It's crazy how easy it works. I showed my coworkers today. I had them act like they were left handed so they could see what it was like to be cross eye dominant, then kicked the laser on and watched them gasp at how it changed their vision.

Anyway I am excited to go out and shoot some targets with both eyes open for the first time in my life. I think it may be real challenging for me to keep both eyes open as I have been closing my left eye on the flush for 17 years.

Anyone else try one of these before?
Click to expand...

Only thing that worked for me after losing most of sight in right eye was to switch to left hand--not near as big a deal as one might suspect-- (shoot rifle and bow left handed as well--pistol still held in right) why not give that a try--regained a good deal of sight after many years due to surgery and special (very expensive contacts) but still shoot everything left except piston--JMO and experiance:)
 
I've been right handed and left eye dominant for my entire life. The tape on the glasses works for me. I've talked to people who say it didn't work but I wonder how they applied it. It requires a consistant gun mount. That's really the hard part. With that it only takes a small, pea sized dot to block out the end of the barrel for the left eye. Most people use way too much tape or blocking material and it defeats the purpose. The small dot rides above the eye in normal situations and you never see it. When you mount the gun and drop your cheek to the stock, the dot comes down and blocks only a tiny section of view; blotting out the left eye's view of the barrel. It allows two eyed shooting. As in most cases, the simplest solution is usually the best solution.
But whatever works is ultimately the best solution.
 
Those of you who use the tape on the glasses, how do you walk through the field? I never felt comfortable with that. When I tried using the tape while hunting I ended up with a throbbing headache after an hour.
 
Tape

sneem said:
I've been right handed and left eye dominant for my entire life. The tape on the glasses works for me. I've talked to people who say it didn't work but I wonder how they applied it. It requires a consistant gun mount. That's really the hard part. With that it only takes a small, pea sized dot to block out the end of the barrel for the left eye. Most people use way too much tape or blocking material and it defeats the purpose. The small dot rides above the eye in normal situations and you never see it. When you mount the gun and drop your cheek to the stock, the dot comes down and blocks only a tiny section of view; blotting out the left eye's view of the barrel. It allows two eyed shooting. As in most cases, the simplest solution is usually the best solution.
But whatever works is ultimately the best solution.
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+1

Exactly the same for me. Righty with a strong left eye dominant.

I use the small patch of translucent scotch tape on my shooting glasses. Same principle as the "Magic Dot", etc etc. Simple, but yet very effective. You just need to find the exact "spot" to put it and then practice enough with it to gain confidence in that setup. Never have had a headache from it and don't know why that would happen. And two eyed shooting is obviously the best setup too.

Sights on shotguns :confused: Sights are for rifles. :cheers:

NB
 
Jakeismydog2 said:
Those of you who use the tape on the glasses, how do you walk through the field? I never felt comfortable with that. When I tried using the tape while hunting I ended up with a throbbing headache after an hour.
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As before, you only use a small pea sized piece of tape. Use shooting glasses that ride high on the bridge of the nose. Walking around you never see the tape its above the center of your eye. Only when you drop you cheek onto the stock does your line of site bring the dot down to block the view of the barrel. It takes a consistant gun mount and some adjusting. I've been using the system for over ten years.
 
sneem said:
As before, you only use a small pea sized piece of tape. Use shooting glasses that ride high on the bridge of the nose. Walking around you never see the tape its above the center of your eye. Only when you drop you cheek onto the stock does your line of site bring the dot down to block the view of the barrel. It takes a consistant gun mount and some adjusting. I've been using the system for over ten years.
Click to expand...

Have either of you tried just keeping both eyes open initially to take advantage of depth of field. As you move the gun, tracking the bird and bringing it to your face, simply close the left eye shortly before you shoot. I'm afraid that short of learning to shoot left handed, the dot on the glasses or close the dominant eye just before you shoot are going to be your best options.
 
birdshooter said:
Have either of you tried just keeping both eyes open initially to take advantage of depth of field. As you move the gun, tracking the bird and bringing it to your face, simply close the left eye shortly before you shoot. I'm afraid that short of learning to shoot left handed, the dot on the glasses or close the dominant eye just before you shoot are going to be your best options.
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I have same condition. I just close one eye before I shoot. Works well for me. Have you ever tried that?
 
pheasanthunt said:
I have same condition. I just close one eye before I shoot. Works well for me. Have you ever tried that?
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I was asking the the other two guys above, fortunately I don't have a cross dominant eye issue.

But since you said it works for you, I have a question. Is it something you have to work at for a while to remember to close that eye right before you shoot?
 
birdshooter said:
I was asking the the other two guys above, fortunately I don't have a cross dominant eye issue.

But since you said it works for you, I have a question. Is it something you have to work at for a while to remember to close that eye right before you shoot?
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Nope, I have been duck hunting since I was 9 and pheasant hunting since I was 12. I just shot my shotgun with one eye closed, that's how we were taught as kids. Never really knew guys shot with both eyes open till about 10-15 years ago. I shoot sporting clays once or twice a year and last week I hit 46/50 (not trying to brag). Just saying people can shot well doing it. Now it might help I have been doing it for 30 years. But one change I have made in tHe last 5 years, is I keep both eyes open longer, almost right till about a second before I pull the trigger. Kinda like you were saying. I didn't even know I was cross eye dominant until about 10 years ago, cause it never effected my shooting because I have always closed one eye.
 
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Finally got to go shoot with the speedbead. My hunting buddy and I went out and threw some clays after the KSU UTEP game Saturday afternoon. I would say the results were mixed. my buddy who does not have cross eye dominance issues loved the speedbead. He did not miss when shooting my gun with the speed bead on. He raved about how much quicker he picked up the target and how easy it was shooting with the laser on.

I on the other hand really struggled with the speedbead. Although it reminds me of going to the driving range and trying to rebuild your swing completely. There were so many changes its hard to know exactly what is causing the problems and what is helping. One thing I know for sure is that about 25% of the time the speedbead worked perfect. I mounted the gun with both eyes open I could see the laser, see the clay, and crush it. Some of the time I would mount the gun see the laser, then not see the laser, then see it again. This seemed to be from my eye dominance fighting each other. The laser was not always "strong enough" to keep my right eye dominant. The eyes would switch back and forth while the clay was in the air.

I did on a few occasions close my left eye (as I have done for 15 years) and I shot fairly well. Of course I was closing my eye out of habit, so it was not really a good thing. Its going to take more than 50 rounds to figure out if the eye dominance fighting can be overcome.
 
sneem said:
As before, you only use a small pea sized piece of tape. Use shooting glasses that ride high on the bridge of the nose. Walking around you never see the tape its above the center of your eye. Only when you drop you cheek onto the stock does your line of site bring the dot down to block the view of the barrel. It takes a consistant gun mount and some adjusting. I've been using the system for over ten years.
Click to expand...

Yes thats exactly what I have done. Drove me crazy and gave me a headache. Just like a smudge anywhere on my glasses would do to me.
 
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