Recovering from Stroke

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Dresden2001

New member
I need a little advice from the forum if I can get it. . . I am recovering from a small stroke that has not affected me too badly. I am right handed, but I am no longer able to shut my left eye independently to sight with my right. I can still squint with my right, but the left just doesn't have the muscle/nerve control needed to close it and sight with my right eye. I have equipped my main carry pistol with a laser sight, and have been practicing with taped sights at the range. I obviously can't do that with a hunting rifle. (Remington 700)

So, am I limited to shooting left handed with a right handed gun, or should I look for a rifle that ejects from the left? I have thought about using an eye patch, but that pirate look just isn't for me. . . and the loss of depth perception is an issue too.

I would really appreciate some creative suggestions or equipment ideas.
 
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spctim11

New member
Glad to see you are still active after your stroke.

I shoot left handed but all my rifles are right handed weapons it won't be a problem for you unless you try to soot a bullpup.

You can always shoot with both eyes open and still shoot off your right shoulder.
 
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hps1

New member
There are advantages to shooting w/both eyes open (less eye strain, ability to keep moving target in view better, etc.) if you can learn to do so. I shoot both eyes open w/both iron and optical sights.

If you have a problem accomplishing this, try placing a small piece of opaque scotch tape on your left lens of your shooting glasses. This is much more desirable than a solid blinder, as it leaves your peripheral vision intact but makes focus on sights w/right eye much easier.

Regards,
hps
 
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skeeter1

New member
My sincerest prayers to you for a full recovery from you're stroke. I'm currently recovering from cancer treatment myself.

I've always heard that it's best to try to keep both eyes open while shooting. Having said that, I've never been able to do it myself. Maybe I'm just too set in my ways.

BTW, the "pirate patch" is probably worth a try.

http://eyepatches.com/catalog/

They're not particularly expensive, and might give you a certain "panache" at the range. Wearing firearms-related caps when my hair fell out was often good for starting a conversation. Nurse at the hospital sees my S&W cap and asks, "Do you hunt? So does my husband." Yes, I do, and it starts a good and comforting dialog.

Think about it before you dismiss it.
 
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MacGille

New member
You might try using a stick on peep on your glasses. It is an old Army Marksmanship Unit trick. The peep forces your eye to focus on the sight but doesn't obstruct vision. congratulations on surviving what could have been a disastrous episode. Our prayers are with you.:)
 
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taylorce1

New member
There are advantages to shooting w/both eyes open (less eye strain, ability to keep moving target in view better, etc.) if you can learn to do so. I shoot both eyes open w/both iron and optical sights.
Click to expand...
I was never gifted with the ability to close my left eye while shooting so I've learned to shoot with both eyes open as well. It took a little bit to learn but I do like it better, and I shoot much better than I ever did when I tried to learn to shoot left handed.
 
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FS2K

New member
I don't have much in the way of advice

I just wanted to extend my well wishes to you for a complete and speedy recovery from your stroke. My dad just suffered a stroke earlier this week but is doing fine. Hope you get to feeling better soon.
 
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MrGee

New member
yes another one for 'both eyes open' been shooting all my life that way.. taught my son to do it as well when he was 12.. practiced with a bb gun till he got the hang of it..

hope you have full recovery from you're stroke....

Lord help me to remember that nothing
is going to happen to me today that
you an I together can't handle.
 
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JohnKSa

Administrator
Shooting with both eyes open is the preferable solution, a red-dot sight or a low power optical scope should allow this and will probably be superior for everything except pinpoint accuracy or very long shots.
 
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Bogie

New member
Both eyes open - How else are you going to see everything else that's going on?

Buy a brick or two of .22s, and if you don't have one, a .22 rifle. See if they'll let you write it off as therapy...
 
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Picher

New member
You hinted that you're left-eye dominant. That's the big problem, and what may have caused you to close your left eye when shooting right-handed.

It's hard to teach an old dog new shooting tricks. I think the magic tape patch in the upper left corner of your left eye might just do it for you. You could still see normally in the other portions of the glass, but when you turn your head to sight through the upper left corner of your right eye lens, the patch will block the left-eye image. That's probably the best you can expect, short of putting a hinged left eye-blocker on your scope (that won't work on a hurried shot).

Picher
 
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jeo556

New member
Two eyes open....Is there any other way??

As has already been expressed in this thread, I believe that everyone should shoot "both eyes open" when it comes to handguns. As far as rifles goes, I've been successful using the same concept with scoped rifles all the way up to
9x.... At lower magnification it's actually really easy. On the higher powers, I find that closing your "other eye" until you get the target in sight then opening it helps. It really makes for much better peripheral vision and It seems to give you a more stable image. I hope that you have a full recovery and that you adjust successfully to the wonderful world of "both eyes open"
Take care.
 
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Rifleman 173

New member
I had a mini-stroke in my left eye last January and am still going through treatment for that. Needless to say, my depth perception is off and doing things at all is a bit more challenging. One of the things that I have decided to do is mount scopes on my rifles. Nothing fancy or expensive. Just doing something like mounting a straight 4X scope works wonders for me. I'm not looking to be a competition accurate shooter but am looking for something that will take care of my shooting needs should I need it to work. The 4X scope takes care of 99.99% of all of my shooting needs for close and intermediate ranges. Give it a try. Oh... and think about getting scopes with illuminated reticles. The illuminated reticles can help with low light and night shooting needs.
 
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