[Rogeritall]

I shoot left handed for some pretty obvious reasons (if you look at my profile photo). I lost sight in my right eye at about five years of age due to a parasitic infection, and lost the entire eye due to a Tumor just last March. So, I learned to shoot a rifle left handed, even though I'm naturally right handed, at a very young age and never looked back.

My question is... Do most of the Left handed rifle shooters on this Forum just settle for right handed rifles (bolt actions, semi autos) and adapt? Or, do you just patently wait for a rifle you like in the caliber you want to come along that just happens to be in left hand, or is available from the manufacture in left hand?

I've personally found that the single shot breach break rifles adapt well to left hand use, but have their limitations. I can shoot right handed rifles, but somehow it just always seems like I'm compromising when I do...

How many of my fellow left hand rifle shooters feel the same way, or am I just being too picky?

 

[garydude]

I've always used right handed rifles shot with my left hand. It hasn't been an issue, other than some powder residue thrown in your face once in a while (especially semi-automatic shotguns). One type of rifle that I enjoy is the lever actions- doesn't matter if you shoot them left or right handed. I also have a couple pump shotguns made by ithica. They are great in that they bottom eject, so nothing flies into or in front of your face.

Another consideration is if you plan on handing the guns down as keepsakes for your children. Both my kids are right handed, so I generally just adapt, suck it up and make do.

That said, at some point I wouldn't mind owning a left-handed bolt gun or AR. I've never shot either one.

 

[GunHugger]

I have a good friend with the same situation as you, right handed, right eye dominant but lost sight in his right eye.

He still deer hunts with his old Remington 700 bolt action. But he has been buying lever action and pump action rifles. He bought a AR15 a few years ago and doesn't have any problem shooting and operating it left handed.

I shoot both ways. As a kid I shot toy and BB guns left handed. As I got older I learned to shoot right handed on the HS rifle team after the coach and I figured out that I was right eye dominant. Same thing with pistols and bows, I shoot either way.

Personally I would stay with right handed rifles. Only the bolt actions really require you to do anything out of the regular way, operating the bolt. My friend just keeps it in his left hand and works the bolt with his right hand. He's really quick too since his left hand stays gripped, he just moves his trigger finger off the trigger while operating the bolt.

The only other thing that I can think of is the Safety on some right handed rifles can be a problem for left handed shooters.

I was just at the local gun shop, out of about 500 guns in stock I only noticed one left handed bolt action rifle.

 

[Old Grump]

Next door neighbor is left handed and other than his lever actions his guns are all left handed bolt guns. I can shoot them but I understand what a left hander goes through when shooting right handed rifles. My dos centavos other than the break action single shots like my H&R it is worth it to look and ask for a left handed gun, they are out there but sometimes you gotta ask for them because they aren't out in the open.

 

[hstout1143]

I'm right handed and I shoot right handed, but I also practice shooting left handed because I've had a few instances where I only had a left handed shot. My youngest son is left handed when he started shooting shotguns and bolt action rifles I looked for used left handed firearms, they are nearly impossible to find. Then I looked for new, he was 8 then, left handed guns cost more, so instead of buying a left handed gun that he would use for a couple of years I've waited. Now he's 14 and has been shooting my right handed Tikka 7mm08 for several years and is used to it. I've always felt bad for not getting him a rifle made for his dominant side, so the next shotgun and rifle I get him will be for left handed and he can decide which he likes most.

 

[firefighter1635]

My son is 10 years old and he's left handed but shoots right handed. That's just the way he's learned to shoot and he's very good at it. It looks akward when he shoots a right handed bolt gun, reaching over the bolt with his left hand to rack the bolt but he's very efficent at it.

He's all kinds of mixed up, lefty shooting right, and right eye dominant but hey it works for him.

 

[Bindernut]

Like the others so far, I predominantly use right-hand firearms.
I have had one left-hand bolt (a 788 Remington) and a lifelong friend of mine also has a lefty Ruger M77MkII, and I wasn't any more adept with either of them than I am with a righty bolt action. Besides, as hstout and gunhugger posted, it's awful hard to find used lefty bolts on the racks.

Lever guns or break-action single shots (like the NEF Handi-Rifle). No problem with them either as they're inherently ambidextrous be design.

ARs & most other semi-autos that I've tried, I haven't had a problem with the brass kicking back in my face. The occasional powder spitting but I can live with it.
The only semi-auto I've had problems with is the Ruger 10/22. They like to bounce the ejected brass off the edge of my shooting glasses.

 

[Rogeritall]

The only semi-auto I've had problems with is the Ruger 10/22. They like to bounce the ejected brass off the edge of my shooting glasses.

LOL... this reminds me of a time I took out my Marlin 60 to the range. It was just a perfect combination of the ammunition, the wrong seating position, and the wrong T-shirt. No matter what I seemed to do, about every third spent casing would wind up going under my shirt and into my right armpit. I'll tell you this, those little devils are still hot when they wind up in your armpit.

 

[bmnas]

Yeah im left handed or as they say wrong handed and have been stuck using guns and rifles meant for right handers.

 

[Sandman]

Bolt action centerfire rifles - I get left handed models always. My .22's are right handed (I don't think they make a left handed bolt action .22). Shotguns, I just use right handed models, and have never had a problem. Same with semi-auto rifles.

 

[Old Grump]

Bolt action centerfire rifles - I get left handed models always. My .22's are right handed (I don't think they make a left handed bolt action .22). Shotguns, I just use right handed models, and have never had a problem. Same with semi-auto rifles.

Savage, Stag, Remington, Anschutz, Weatherby, Dakota all make left hand models. You might like the Ruger M77LH. Not likely you will find it on the shelf, it almost always has to be ordered.

 

[Left Handed]

I talked to Savage Arms this month about getting a Left-ejecting .22 semi-auto, like the Savage 64F. While they said they do not make them they did make a prototype to present to corporate (a few months ago) and it was rejected because they didn't believe there to be any demand. If you want a plinker I would suggest contacting Savage or leaving your message on their facebook page. If they percieve a demand for these guns they may begin producing them. They already produce lefty bolts rimfire and centerfire.

www.savagearms.com/customerservice/contact/

 

[TheGunClinger]

I just adapt. No biggy for me.

 

[jlloyd73]

I am right handed but have a dominant left eye...so I shoot rifles left handed. I have never felt or had the need to get a left handed gun. Luckily I have never had any accidents with a piece of brass or anything.

 

[bamajoey]

Bolt action centerfire rifles - I get left handed models always. My .22's are right handed (I don't think they make a left handed bolt action .22). Shotguns, I just use right handed models, and have never had a problem. Same with semi-auto rifles.

CZ makes excellent lefthanded bolt action rimfires in several models.

 

[fmcd]

Rogeritall,

Lots of good replies but my 2 cents worth is that I've only ever shot RH rifles and mostly bolt action, I guess I'm saying it's a matter of simply buying in and getting used to them (yes, I shoot left). I have several Sako bolt actions and find it easy to support the rifle for a follow-up shot since the bolt handle is central to line of sight this way. Keeps the buttstock firmly situated and I maintain the crosshairs while cycling another round.

Lefty shotgun shooting is easier but I have always preferred sxs being easier to visualise the swing path.

Franco

 

[Guest]

I think most lefty's are stuck ordering new guns and they don't get rid of them.

Dpms makes a lefty AR and every one makes lefty bolt guns.

 

[GrandpaPete]

In my Army days, as a lefty I always carried my winter scarf with me all year long, just to wrap my neck against my M-16 brass squirreling down my shirt. Talk about hot! I still have a few burn scars from those days. I'm learning to shoot right handed now, since cataracts have screwed up my eyes pretty bad. The VA cleaned up the right eye for me, so now I'm trying to do things right handed and it's like starting to learn everything in my life all over again.

 

[Rogeritall]

Strangely I've noticed that being a natural "Right Handed", but left eyed person, I can work a Right handed bolt action rifle Left Handed, much easier then my naturally "Right Handed" friend can work my Left handed bolt action Rifle, while trying to shoot it Right Handed. (I hope that made sense)

I guess it's just because I've had much more practice at cross handed shooting. Maybe its' made me somewhat ambidextrous over the years of shooting.

 

[Petergunn]

I'm a lefty only owned 1 bolt rifle and that was a mistake, in .22 I favor semi-auto, center fire first choice would be lever but I want to try a Ruger #1, muzzle loader I've used RH but prefer LH.