Can I switch to left handed shooting?

[Crawfish]

I have not been on here for quite a while. Life has gotten in the way. My dominant eye is my right one. I have a bad problem with the retina in my right eye. It’s not going away.
My left eye is fine-I can see the sights very well. I have never switched to a lefty shooting position-anything I should look out for? Prob have to wear a long sleeved shirt to protect my right arm.
Any advice will be appreciated! Getting old is not for sissies!

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

Lefty here.... been shooting RH guns for a long time. Cap splatter and no cheek rest are the only things different to expect.

If your gun has a bolster on the breech for the nipple, it might not even splatter. The only guns that have really burnt me good are ones with powder drums instead of bolsters. That bolster really blocks/redirects a lot of fire.

Also, if you are shooting a gun with any amount of cast, you will know right away when you swap sides. Not really a worry if you are shooting modern factory made guns, not a lot of cast.

 

[garypl]

A shooter here in Georgia has bad vision in his right eye. Rather than switch to a left-handed position, he fabricated extensions for the front and rear sights that move the sights @3" to the left of the barrel. It looks strange, but he is deadly accurate with the rifle - just saw one of his targets from the GA Fall Shoot and he shot a 50-5x on the 25 yd slug gun offhand target!

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

A shooter here in Georgia has bad vision in his right eye. Rather than switch to a left-handed position, he fabricated extensions for the front and rear sights that move the sights @3" to the left of the barrel. It looks strange, but he is deadly accurate with the rifle - just saw one of his targets from the GA Fall Shoot and he shot a 50-5x on the 25 yd slug gun offhand target!

Do what you can with what you have where you are!

 

[TNGhost]

Another lefty here. Most guns I have ever shot were made backwards, so it's not a big deal. Never been burned or hit by shrapnel because of that. Worst problem I have had is with unmentionable semi autos, shotguns in particular being hard on my right ear.

Shooting a muzzleloader left-handed is not much different than a right hander shooting a SxS double barrel, aside from the aforementioned cast.

You are not going to see a big difference, other than getting used to a misplaced cheek piece as was mentioned. Cast is more relevant to shotguns in affecting shooting. With a rifle it's just a matter of getting a good grasp/position and repeating it. Shotgunning being more instinctive, the bend of the stock can be harder to adjust to going side to side.

You should always wear eye protection and that may be a bit more important shooting a right-handed muzzle loading rifle, left-handed, flint or percussion,

 

[French Colonial]

Had a good friend who lost his right eye (A cautionary tale about using duplex) and as an avid shooter learned to shoot everything left-handed.
It can be done just keep trying.

 

[Sam squanch]

get a pellet rifle and shoot left handed all you can. Every day. You will get good!

 

[pmccoywss]

Get a yardstick, ramrod, or long dowel and set it near a door that you walk through frequently. Every time you go through the door, pick up the implement as if shooting left handed, sight down the "barrel", say bang and set it down. In a few weeks you will have built enough "muscle memory" that it will seem natural to pick up the rifle and shoot that way. After that just the usual dry firing (left handed) with your own rifle with emphasis on the follow through.

 

[Crawfish]

get a pellet rifle and shoot left handed all you can. Every day. You will get good!

I will do that! I still have my old Sheridan, and it is still in fine shape

 

[TarponStalker]

I have not been on here for quite a while. Life has gotten in the way. My dominant eye is my right one. I have a bad problem with the retina in my right eye. It’s not going away.
My left eye is fine-I can see the sights very well. I have never switched to a lefty shooting position-anything I should look out for? Prob have to wear a long sleeved shirt to protect my right arm.
Any advice will be appreciated! Getting old is not for sissies!

I have the same problem. I've always shot right handed, but I have retina damage in my right eye. That causes blank spots in my vision and sometimes I can only see parts of the front site.
I am in the process of trying to shoot left-handed. It is very foreign to me, but at least I can see the sites and the target with my left eye.
I was afraid that shooting a right handed Flintlock rifle would be a problem, but I don't even notice the flash.
However, I shot my percussion rifle once and cap splatter all over my right arm was not fun. I won't do that again without long sleeves.

 

[SOLANCO]

Been there and done that. Detatched right retina and only 20/500 after surgery. Either learn to shoot lefty, or miss all the time, or stop shooting.

Yes to the comments about pellet rifles. A Daisy Red Rider is good enough for this and cheap at Tractor Supply. And .22 rimfire ammo is cheap. It has been a while since the problem and I have done a lot of LH shooting. Sad to say it still feels unnatural, but I can do it.

On the plus side wing shooting is still good. Both eyes open for that.

 

[Buckskinquin]

A shooter here in Georgia has bad vision in his right eye. Rather than switch to a left-handed position, he fabricated extensions for the front and rear sights that move the sights @3" to the left of the barrel. It looks strange, but he is deadly accurate with the rifle - just saw one of his targets from the GA Fall Shoot and he shot a 50-5x on the 25 yd slug gun offhand target!

Yep, and here’s a pic of him!

 

[Crawfish]

I have been shooting as a lefty now for a while, and, although a little awkward, no problems. Thanks for the tips!

 

[deerstalkert]

I had my right eye dilated for some reason i forget, and when i got home i wanted to shoot. being old and unreasonable i did just that. Left handed. I discovered i shot my right handed flint locks better lefthanded. Awkward yes. so much so i switched back to right handed, but i learned something.

 

[Dutch7]

My father had a detached retina in his right eye, twice. He learned to shoot lefty with a right handed flinter and on his first hunt shot and killed a running buck

 

[SOLANCO]

With age related disease my vision is flat out screwed. B U T if I can see you I can still kill you.

 

[Colonial Boy]

It’s fast approaching Christmas and our annual club novelty shoots, a feature of which is always ‘weak eye’ shooting I always did well at this but because the cataract in my left eye is gradually getting worse my problem is the opposite of most people. I was fortunate that in the infantry we were taught to shoot either hand, just in case the dominant side was put out of action.
Luckily my right eye has 20/20 vision, thanks to the removal of a cataract and the implant of a new lens; this incidentally allows me to take my glasses off to shoot
, which sometimes gives rise to someone who doesn’t know, saying, “Did ya see the old bloke, shootin’ without his glasses?
Adds to the fun

 

[dave951]

I have not been on here for quite a while. Life has gotten in the way. My dominant eye is my right one. I have a bad problem with the retina in my right eye. It’s not going away.
My left eye is fine-I can see the sights very well. I have never switched to a lefty shooting position-anything I should look out for? Prob have to wear a long sleeved shirt to protect my right arm.
Any advice will be appreciated! Getting old is not for sissies!

YES!! you can change your dominant eye. It isn't easy and takes time. Over time, your brain will adapt and "rewire" to the left. You'll likely have to shoot with some sort of eyepatch over the right for a while to force the left to take over. Dryfire practice will help. Do a quick googly search and you'll find quite a bit of info on this.

 

[Sam squanch]

Get a pellet rifle and shoot with the eye you want dominant every day, it will change.