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Both eyes open except for magnifying scope on a rifle.

I'm like you I grew up shooing a shot gun instead like most people grew up shooting rifles. In fact I never touched a rifle until I was about 10 years old. First gun i shot was a double barrel .410 then my dad moved me to a single shot break open 20 and then to an 870 20 and then 870 12. I never had any interest in rifles. All I've done is duck and dove hunt my whole life and it wasn't until I was about ten when I started to deer hunt as well. As for pistol I Shoot with both eyes open. I shoot my Ar with both eyes open as well and it has a fixed 3 power on it but if I have to get really precise I use one eye. Deer rifle always use one eye. I'm left eye dominate and a right handed shooter so it throws me off if I close me left eye. It feels natural to shoot both eyes open to me.

I'm right handed, right eye dominant. So I've always felt more comfortable and been a better shot with only one eye open. I can damn near sharp shoot with my Walther if I shoot w/just 1 eye.

However as other have pointed out, and I know this as well, when its a real scenario, I won't have the luxury to take my time. So I do shoot to hit the target w/ both eyes. Still a pretty good shot, but not near as effective/accurate.

Not sure how people aim scopes with both eyes open... I can't do it.

Yes

I'm left handed, left eye dominant. I had to train myself to use both eyes, and it's a discipline that I still have to maintain through practice, otherwise I find that I'll revert to one-eye shooting by default if I stay away from the range for too long.

That said, it is easier for me to use both eyes over iron sights and RDS optics than magnified optics. There is an exception, and that is with my 4x32 ACOG which was specifically designed to be used with both eyes open, as in the Bindon Aiming Concept. I find that it works remarkably well that way. It's interesting how your brain accepts the reticle from the eye on the scope, and then either superimposes it over the unmagnified field of view, or automatically integrating the offside eye into the magnified field of view as necessary depending on range to target — making it usable at any distance from CQB out to 600 yards. So with that scope, it is now second nature to use both eyes. But with my other scopes, it is a conscious act of will each and every time, a part of my mental checklist as I settle behind the scope for the next shot to make sure that my right eye is open.

I've found though that, as my eyesight continues to deteriorate, trying to use both eyes open sometimes works poorly because I can't get both eyes to focus properly. Closing the offside eye fixes the problem. But I always try both eyes open first.

After years of using only one eye, I'm currently retraining to shoot with both open.

It's a bit of a struggle.

Pariah3j wrote:
Not sure how people aim scopes with both eyes open... I can't do it.

My scope is mounted forward of the loading chamber. Intermediate relief scope (Leopold FXII 2.5 28) Low power scope makes it pretty easy to keep both eyes opened.

both eyes open for me, all the time with handguns

With long guns, depends if it is iron sights or optics.
if iron sights, both eyes, if optics, 1 eye

Yes. And sometimes I sleep with one eye open....

But seriously, if you have a cross-eye dominance issue, your choices are to close one eye, use an assistive device/technique, or torque your neck sideways like Jeff Cooper so your master eye is the one in line with the sights.....

One eye, I tried both and had focus issues and did better with just dominant
The exception is rifle with red dot, I use both open as it's the only way I can easily get a good picture with the dot over the target . Which going slightly off topic, red dots can be a real pain when you have a stigmatism in both eyes

bmwrdr wrote:I shoot handguns with both eyes open. My dominant eye is left and I am right handed.

At least I am not the only one.

Both eyes open with all weapons. My Dad was cross dominate and that is how I was taught.

One eye, when I shot in competition I would use a black patch over my shooting glasses to keep both eyes open.

Usually both eyes open. Notable exceptions being a telescopic sight, or a peep sight.

One eye only - I have at various times tried both eyes open but parallax and focus issues make it too difficult and that was years before I started wearing progressive prescription lenses. While I can appreciate the tactical advantages of using both eyes I have to accept that if I tried that my chances of hitting the BG would lower.