Does Anyone Really Shoot-Practice Using Their Weak Hand/Side?

[vytoland]

always. i practice DAO, single handed, both eyes open, at the range and at home (dryfire). it may take several hundred rounds and a lot of C O N C E N T R A T I O N !!

stay focused on the front sight and the target. DO NOT anticipate the shot. continue to "improve" your front sight image as you squeeze the trigger. the shot should come as a surprise.

i am right eye and hand dominate. when i shoot with my left hand, i cant the revolver slightly (35 - 40 degrees) to bring it in line with my eye sight

i only have limited sight in my left eye but, with practice, i am now able to put six rounds within a 4 inch circle. at 30 feet, using either hand.

 

[snakeman32]

I practice shooting weak side alot. I wasn't very good when I first started shotting like that. Just remember to keep practicing and don't get frustrated when you are doing it. It is one of those things that takes time to learn.


snakeman

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Yes, also, I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, so I also include some practice at close range without my glasses. By the way, one thing that really helps me a lot are laser grips. If you have a J frame revolver, you have 2 choices: LaserMax and Crimson Trace. If you have any other frame size, or any other brand revolver, you're talking Crimson Trace laser grips. I have both brands and neither is perfect, but they have more advantages than disadvantages.

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[1x2]

I found that simply practicing the shot with either hand was not enough. I alternate, shooting 5 RH, then 5 LH, etc. I found that simply shooting the revolver was not enough to build coordination and confidence, so I practice loading and unloading the revolver, picking it up and putting it down, drawing from a holster, etc. also with alternating hands. I also practice all the above with only one hand, holding the revolver between my knees, sometimes tucking it into my belt to load it, to have prepared for whatever eventuality. I also switch hands when I mark my targets, write RH on one, then LH on the next, whatever I can do to build that coordination.

It takes a while, but it'll come- with patience.
Good luck,
1x2

 

[DJINCO]

I do for all of the posted reasons.

 

[USAF385]

Not only do I practice with my left as well as my right...

......... I practice shooting two guns at one!

ok... not really.. But yes I do practice with both hands

 

[perrazi]

+1 to all the reasons to do it. start close to the target,no more than15 ft. start 2-handed and get someone to help coach during this process. it's harder for the shooter to see what they are doing wrong sometimes than an observer. start with a light recoil gun,22 or k-frame 38 with wadcutters. don't get discouraged, everyone has a problem with this at first and some take longer than others to hit anything. 3 last things,practice,practice,practice as often as you can. better to shoot more often than more rounds less often. good luck and let up know how you come along.

 

[lwt210]

I have days when I go to the range I call Lefty days. I will only shoot with my left hand on those days.

I shoot mostly .22 LR but try to shoot some centerfire on those days.

It is a challenge but I have found I get better with practice. Work on it and see if you don't get better over time.

 

[call me al]

Just did it last week at the range and always include it whenever I go. As a retired law enforcement officer and firearms instructor over thirty years, I can't stress enough the importance of firing accurately with weak hand. Revolver Fan at the top of this thread gives you excellent advice on buillding up strength, coordination and muscle memory. Just like any skill you've ever attained, handwriting, throwing a baseball or skipping a rope, practice-practice-practice. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Best of luck and don't get frustrated.

 

[38-44HD45]

Yes. I've done it for years, but not as much as I should. When I was very active in USPSA, any major match would have some weak-hand work, so it was a necessity. Further, one never knows if the strong hand may be incapacitated or otherwise unavailable at the eruption of social festivities. One thing one learns with enough weak hand practice is that the weak hand may not have learned the same bad habits as the strong hand, such as flinching, trigger jerk, heeling, etc., and at least in slow fire, accuracy may even improve.

I'm just beginnning to pick up the amount of my weak side practice, since I have more nerve damage and carpal tunnel syndrome in my strong hand.

 

[Ron H.]

Some have told me it's mental while others have stated it's technique. Whatever it is I don't get it cause I ain't got it.

Sir, I ain't got it, either, despite doing a little weak-hand shooting most every range trip. I manage OK in single-action (revolver or auto) at close ranges, but double-action and magnum loads are still somewhat ragged. I'm persistent, though, and it seems the more I do it, the "less bad" it gets.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[jrd1976]

Yes, and I advise all my CCW students to practice some with the weak hand. Many are long time shooters that have never fired a gun with the weak hand. It is just one more part of realizing your safety is your responsibility. I also advise them to practice some in low light conditions.

 

[stevieboy]

Yes, I do. I'm actually a slightly more accurate shot shooting with my left (weakside) hand that I am shooting with my right hand. The reason? I'm cross dominant, meaning that my left eye is my shooting eye. When I line up my sights shooting left handed there's a straight line from my left eye to the front sight. When I shoot right handed, I have to tilt my head to the right in order to line up my left eye with the front sight.

My first advice to anyone who wants to learn how to shoot weak handed is to dryfire several thousand rounds with the weak hand or until it feels comfortable to shoot from the "wrong" side. That will improve your muscle and trigger control and train your brain not to feel as if something's terribly wrong when you attempt to shoot with your non-dominant hand.

My second piece of advice is to get your hands on a .22 revolver, preferably a Smith model 17 or 617. Then, take it to the range and shoot as many rounds as possible with it with your wrong hand. Pay no attention to accuracy, at first, just concentrate on trigger control and gripping the gun. When that feels comfortable you may then start working on accuracy.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I'm one who doesn't bother with weak hand shooting. In years past I've made a few attempts and was fair at it out to 10 yards.

 

[Joe in SC]

Yes, I practice weak hand, but as many here have said,"Not enough!" I have been doing this off and on for about 30 years and I can do fairly well left handed. Not good enough to be confident though. Hope I never have to try it in real life.

 

[glypnir]

I'm just about as good left handed as right. Unfortunately, that's not very good. I've been falling off on the weak side shooting, and I need to get back to it.

I also practice weak side with rifles, at least semi-autos. Haven't tried my bolt action yet

That way both shoulders hurt the same amount the next day.

 

[teufelhunden]

Yep!

I busted my right hand in a fight in high school and, because I had no skills or power with my left hand, I received a thorough beating. After recovering, I took up boxing and learned to punch hard with both hands. Now I try to work all defensive skills with both sides of my body.

I usually finish up my range time with some malfunction drills (I shoot semi autos most of the time), followed by one handed shooting, both strong hand and weak hand.

My groups from my weak hand are almost as good as those with my strong hand. However I'm working these drills at fairly close range, and I'm only shooting .40 S&W and .45 ACP. I suspect I will find it harder with my new DA .357.

Many of the videos I've seen of actual shootings indicate that one-handed shooting is surprisingly common in real-life, especially when the shooter is responding to a surprise attack, and doesn't have time to assume a "proper" stance.

 

[VAdoublegunner]

I do every range session. It is a natural outgrowth of shooting Cowboy Action Gunfighter category, where you are firing sequentially with a gun in both hands. So, I practice weak hand with DA revolvers and autos at least some every range outing unless I'm accuracy testing or doing long range shooting. Because of increased centerfire ammo and reloading costs, I practice more often with a pair of 5.5" Ruger Single-Sixes these days.

Shooting with a gun in each hand can be a lot of fun. With single actions, it is not so difficult and easy to score decent groups once you get the muscle memory down, even with larger calibers. With a pair of autos it can be more difficult to do well, and I find it slower than SAs, at least if I want to do it well. I have two HK USPc pistols in 40 S&W that I have used on occasion. Interesting, but autos seem more prone to twisting torque in my weak (left) hand and are far more difficult to learn to shoot well than SA or DA revolvers.

Of course, the most fun to be had is when you are firing a pair of Ruger Old Army revolvers with full BP loads with both hands. The recoil is not bad, the guns are heavy, so they are easily controllable and can deliver excellent accuracy. The smoke, fire and boom are just outrageous!! It makes it worth having to clean 2 BP revolvers.

 

[devildog66]

Absolutely, I work draw, reloads, and shooting with weak hand. It ain't pretty but necessary.

 

[2000Z-71]

I've done quite a bit both in cowboy action shooting as well as IDPA matches. Of course I also "cheat" when I do it. Having had corrective eye surgery for lazy eye at an early age, I can switch eye dominance. So in cowboy matches when I shot Gunfighter class with an SA revolver in each hand, I never had to deal with right eye dominance and left handed shooting.

I'd suggest starting and practicing with a .22. I've noticed the same thing as VAdoublegunner, my 1911's seem to torque more in my weekhand than a single action revolver.