Teaching air rifle puzzle

[redscabbard]

We have a puzzling child at shooting sports, and could use some help solving his frustration.

10 year old with no rifle experience. right handed, left eye dominant.

We have a hard time getting him to focus past the sights on the air rifle, he can't see the target past them.  He looks down the sights then moves his head to see the target.   

Thanks!

[mtnbkr]

I'd consider a scope or red dot until he gets more experience with guns.  I have a couple hunting buddies who are cross-eye dominate due to eye issues, they both have to rely on scopes for rifles.

Chris

[Tuco]

Either teach him to shoot left handed or to close the left eye when the cheek hits the stock.

I was right handed and left eye dominant.
As I began to age, I acquired central vision, that would switch to left dominance with fatigue.

Shotgun sports (which demand having both eyes open during sighting) were problematic.  
Luckily I shoot Churchill (English) style, that is tracking the target with my eyes, buttstock at my side, pivot body, mounting the gun and firing as the buttstock hits the shoulder.

At 28 years old, after the dots on the glasses, trying to shoot left handed, leaving one contact lens out, etc. I finally hired a coach for three hours.  
He told me to keep both eyes open until the wood hit my cheek, then slam the left eye shut.

I actually began to run 25+ at skeet, was amongst the last men standing and splitting the pot at cutthroat trap, and was mailed a tiny bit of  NSCA $$$.

Rifle shooting, which I was okay at  but never pursued competitively, was always a right-eyed affair.  
If the boy can see fairly well out of the right eye, let him use it.
If there is a compelling reason, give him a left handed rifle.

[red headed stranger]

Either teach him to shoot left handed or to close the left eye when the cheek hits the stock.

I think these are you two main options.  If going with option 2, and he is one of those folks who can't close his left eye, you can put a piece of scotch tape on the left lens of his saftey glasses.  

With a young beginner, I would try to encourage just shooting left-handed.  

[brimic]

Either teach him to shoot left handed or to close the left eye when the cheek hits the stock.

That.

My son has this issue as well. I have him shoot left handed and he does very well, he shoots right handed, he starts missing.
 Better to get them used to shooting left handed, because if they take up shotgunning, they will be severely handicapped shooting wrong handed.
One thing that can be done if right handed shooting is a must is put a piece of scotch tape on the left lens in the middle of his shooting glasses. It will cause the left eye to go out of focus and force the right eye into dominance while shooting without causing the eye strain from closing one eye.

[Chuck Dye]

I am right handed, strongly, amblyopically, left eyed.  I began shooting seriously at age 11 in 50 foot indoor competition with a right handed Winchester Model 75 Target.  The immediate response from my instructors was to shoot left handed.  That worked well, though relegated me to the far right end of the firing line if a prone stage was involved.  When I began shooting scoped rifles I started shooting right handed.  As my eyesight deteriorates, I can predict more left handed shooting, even with optics.  Surprisingly, I seem to be genuinely ambidextrous with the M1, my only iron sighted rifle.  Ambidextrous is good.

Try your kid on left handed shooting.  If a left handed or ambidextrous rifle is available, give it a try.  My 50 foot experience, single loading over the top of the action, made a right handed rifle a very small nuisance.  Shooting the M1 is more or less an ambidextrous proposition.  Shooting the scooped, right handed, .30-06 bolt rifle is something I only do right handed.  Let your kid find what works for him.

[Chuck Dye]

I am right handed, strongly, amblyopically, left eyed.  I began shooting seriously at age 11 in 50 foot indoor competition with a right handed Winchester Model 75 Target.  The immediate response from my instructors was to shoot left handed.  That worked well, though relegated me to the far right end of the firing line if a prone stage was involved.  When I began shooting scoped rifles I started shooting right handed.  As my eyesight deteriorates, I can predict more left handed shooting, even with optics.  Surprisingly, I seem to be genuinely ambidextrous with the M1, my only iron sighted rifle.  Ambidextrous is good.

Try your kid on left handed shooting.  If a left handed or ambidextrous rifle is available, give it a try.  My 50 foot experience, single loading over the top of the action, made a right handed rifle a very small nuisance.  Shooting the M1 is more or less an ambidextrous proposition.  Shooting the scooped, right handed, .30-06 bolt rifle is something I only do right handed.  Let your kid find what works for him.

[HankB]

Quite a number of years ago, one of the gun writers mentioned that he was cross-dominant; right-handed and left-eyed. He addressed this by wearing a patch over his left eye for around a week; he said this switched his eye dominance and it never flipped back.

If I'd had that problem I might have tried it myself, but for a kid . . . I'd ask an eye doctor first before trying this solution.

[griz]

Kind of separate from the left eye/right handed issue but I'll mention one more thing.  If none of the advise seems to help, you might see about getting his eyesight checked.  Very adaptable kids can go a long time working around vision problems that they don't even know they have.  If that's the case, it will help with other aspects of his life as well, like being able to see the board in school.