Help a lefthander out

H

Husqvarna

New member
Seriously thinking about switching from left to right shoulder

I am 28 years old, been shooting since I was a kid. I always used my pops rifles and shotguns. But I am a lefty so I fired from my left shoulder. . I have passed all the tests to hunt/get a license here, among them the Bear-test which is both time and accuracy based. But it is not smooth, I want it smoother. I have been hunting pigs mostly and roedeer and I have not had to use a second fast shot yet but it almost feels unethical that I am not as fast as I should be. and I have stayed away from certain kinds of hunting.

I am left handed of course but I play golf and baseball like a righty, I am left eye dominant but it is not by much and the kicker is that my vision is better in my right eye (my glasses have different lens strength

It is such a hassle finding guns, new ones costs too much, it stings because there are tons of good to great bolts out there for cheap.

Only have 2 guns at the moment a rem1100 and I am not to bothered by the ejecting shells but don't care much for the maintenance, it only likes strong loads etc etc, I am assuming a rifle semi auto would bother me more with the ejecting. and I figure it is somewhat of a safety issue aswell, if gasses escape or something goes wrong my face is in the danger zone?

Shotguns (SbS/OU) always have right handed buttstocks

Double rifles are intresting but c'mon I am a humble teacher:p

How would a lever work? it doesn't eject as hard as a semi auto right? And with a lever in a bigger calibre I am bound to a 45-70 right? no commercial ones in 30-06 or .308? (We have different calibre requirments for different game)

I thought I found the answer with a rem7600 but just loaned one and ran into problems(http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5071673)

Would the switch over to the right shoulder be too hard? Anybody done it? I guess practise makes perfect but is it really feasible? Can I ever get the accuracy by shooting my non dominant eye?
 
Shotguns (SbS/OU) always have right handed buttstocks
Click to expand...

Not always, many have a neutral stock, and there are some who offer a LH stock - Cesar Guerini is one

I am also LH and I use both RH and LH bolt actions with no issues - I tend to like the RH ones because I can keep a grip on the stock with my trigger hand and use my off hand to work the bolt from off the shoulder.

Current mainstream rifle makers in the US that might export are Remington, Ruger, Savage and Browning - you might see if there are used ones in your area
 
I just never encountered a left stock for a shotgun. I guess you could always pay for someone to make one but I don't have much of a budget, the toplever isn't that much of a problem. I used a OU for years that I mcgyvered to fit with alotta foam and duct tape, it looked hideous thou

It is really strange, roughly 10% of the population in any given country is left handed but the supply is like 1%

I guess I am just too cheap:p Every shop I go to I see decent bolts and nice shotguns for under 150usd, and the cheapest USED lefty in a desirable caliber has been over 1000usd:(
 
One other reason I was thinking about switching is that I have hired semi professional help for my trap shooting, something is ****ed up with my shouldering and aim when doing trap. regular claypidgeons from my own little machine works fine, and haven't missed/wounded any birds yet. But trap is so much fun and I can't seem to get it

So I figured that if I have to relearn I might switch shoulders anyway and start from fresh instead from bad habits
 
I've been a true lefty all my life. Never made it a problem for myself. I don't and won't own a left handed gun. I suppose it is part of my " adjust, adapt, and overcome " mentality.

Browning BLR in .308 comes to mind for a lever gun. Also Marlin, the .45-70 and .444.

If recoil bothers you stick with a semi-auto shooting the lightest bullest you can get away with.
 
recoil ain't a problem, I am a big dude and have fired safari calibre guns a few times

how do you get the reload smooth? I can't seem to keep a sight picture when doing the reach over and tilt the rifle, pressing it to my shoulder with the left hand and working it with the right hand is woobly

or by adapt did you mean you just switched shoulders?
 
I'm a lefty and have been shooting for over 30 years and have never had an issue shooting right handed guns. A few years ago I bought my very first left handed bolt gun and felt like a spastic idiot trying to shoot it. After one box of ammo through it I cleaned it, put it in the safe, and never shot it again.
 
I'm a lefty and dont have any issue with most guns. My shotgun is 12 ga Mossberg that is pretty ambidextrous. I do own a left handed bolt action Savage that cost no more than their right handed rifles but I grew up hunting and shooting all sorts of right handed shotguns, bolt action rifles, semi autos and handguns without problems.

Lever actions are mostly ambidextrous and so are single shots. In my opinion, I'd find a gun that works for me, left or right handed, and stick with it. I wouldn't try to change shooting from left handed to right handed since adapting is pretty easy to do.
 
Shooting clays or winged critters, it is better to shoot with a gun that fits and is designed for your dominant eye, unless you get a custom "dog-leg" stock - It takes some practice to get used to it, but in the long run it is worth the effort
 
Browning makes their "long action levers" in .30-06, 7mmRem Mag, and I think even the .300 Win Mag. I have one in .223 (short action) and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have a 760 in .30-06 that I bought about 30 yrs ago. I have taken many deer with it and had very few problems. It has been a strong and reliable gun.

For shotguns, I like the Browning and Ithaca pump guns because they have the bottom feed and eject. They are great when shooting from a duck blind with a partner. You don't have to worry about kicking an empty into his face. As a lefty, none of these have ever presented an issue for me.
 
I am a lefty...

and of my 3 center fire rifles, only one is a right hand bolt. The other 2 are left hand bolts. I am comfortable with both configurations.

I have a righty shotgun (Rem 870), but getting to the safety required me to hold the gun upside down, with the middle finger of my left hand curled around the trigger guard. So I had a gunsmith reverse the safety. Then I painted the "fire" side of the safety button bright red. Hopefully if a right handed shooter ever tries to use that gun, he/she will discover that the safety is for a lefty. Now I carry that shotgun right side up. I average one dove per 3 shots. I never notice the ejected shells, when they fly past my face. Never been hit in the face by one, either.

One of the lefty bolt rifles (Win Mod 70) has the safety on the wrong side. Actually, the safety on the right hand bolt gun (Win Mod 70) is on the correct side for a left handed shooter. I don't know why rifle designers have never discovered that homo sapiens has opposable thumbs. In other words, for any bolt action, the safety, when on safe, should be on the side of the action which is opposite to the bolt handle, which is also the side opposite the trigger finger, unless it is a cross bolt design (see following) or a tang mounted design. Think about it.:rolleyes:

My other lefty bolt rifle has a cross bolt safety, mounted in the forward base of the trigger guard. All I have to do to move it from "safe" to "fire", is press the ball of my trigger finger on the button, which then allows me to move the ball of my trigger finger backwards about 1/2 inch to contact the forward surface of the trigger. Minimum movement, totally silent, does not require you to lose your cheek weld on the stock. Much better arrangement than the 3 position safety of Win M70 design. Also better than the Rem 700 safety design. And, better than the Browning and Ruger M77 tang safety design.
 
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as a lefty i find the line of remington pumps satisfactory. eastbank.
 

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cross dominant

My Dad was crossed up, left eye dominant, right handed. NObody ever caught it (or was likely aware of same) as he came up and he learned to shoot right handed. Poor guy, he missed a ton of game. When things were calm and controlled, he did fine. But on flushing game he had real trouble.

My boy has the same issue, and I started him on his left shoulder. He hasn't handled a lefty rifle, and we don't own any. He's come along quite well.

I would not give up the addvantage of shooting off your dominant eye shoulder.
 
A red dot or long eye relief scope that you can use with both eyes open would go a long way to taking care of the eye dominance problem.
 
My Dad was a lefty. His first rifle was a Savage bolt action (right hand of course) and he just learned to operate the bolt with his left hand with a strong hold with his right hand. He was pretty quick with it. He said in the Marine Corps there were no lefties, according to drill instructors anyway! So he had to learn to shoot an M1 as a righty.

He later bought himself a Remington 760 pump action in .308 and loved that. He also bought a Mossberg 500 shotgun which has the safety mounted on the tang/rear of receiver.

He also had a Win 94 .30-30 lever action (no safeties except half-cock) that obviously worked well for him. Marlin makes lever actions in several big game calibers:

336 in .30-30 and .35 Remington
1895 in .45-70
XLR in .308 Marlin Express, .338 Marlin Express, .30-30, .444 Marlin Express, .45-70, and .450 Marlin

Browning BAR semi-auto comes in left hand models as well, and has ShortTrac, LongTrac and Safari models for cartridges from .243 to .338 WinMag including .270, .308, .30-06, and Win Short Mags.

Browning BLR lever action also comes in a range of cartridges from .223 Rem to .300 WM, .450 Marlin and .325 WSM.

I think the pump and lever actions especially make it easy to either share between lefties and righties or for the same person to switch between them. The Mossberg 500 is also a natural switch hitter.
 
My wife is right handed left eye dominant and has been learning to shoot left handed. It's tough to find a truly ambidextrious gun but the Ruger #1 goes right or left w/o incident.
 
I too am a lefty shooter and have learned to love shooting my bolt, Remington 700P, without having to get off the trigger to cycle it. Handguns are a little trickier. For semi-autos I have developed a technique that i use my trigger finger to release the slide and for revolvers I just flip it to the other hand right quick.

When it comes time to buy an AR later this year, it will be my first left-handed specific gun. I have decided to get a StagArms Model 8L upper and most lowers can be made ambidextrous very easily. AR's are the only right-handed gun's that have irritated me when shooting, whether its the brass crossing my field of view or the fumes that blast you in the face. After researching it, the only difference is that the bolt is spun 180* so its not a proprietary design/parts needed.

The only other time being a left-handed shooter has screwed me is when I ordered a Bell and Carlson stock for my Ruger 10/22. No where in the description did it say that is was ergonomically a right-handed stock and when it showed up, I immediately sent it back and went with a Boyd's Tacticool that was an ambi.

Hope this helps.

-Robb
 
Husqvarna, I am quite similar to you in many ways. I am mainly left handed, but throw a ball with my right, and play hockey right handed also. As a kid and into my teens, I shot left handed exclusively. I learned to work a right handed bolt with my either reaching over with my left hand, or by holding the grip with my left and working the bolt with my right. (being sure to flip my left thumb to the side.)


In my late teens I found the same frustrations of finding lefty rifles and began to teach myself to shoot right handed. It took a few years to get the muscle memory down, and get to feeling natural, but it can be done. I have retained the ability to shoot southpaw, but now I actually shoot better and more smoothly right handed.

Our difference is that I am right eye dominant. When I shoot left handed, I close my right eye. So that eye dominance may have made the transition easier for me.

Remember, for many, many years most militaries taought left handed recruits to shoot right handed. It can be done.

As for a rifle, I don't know what you have access to, but have you looked into rifles that have top eject?
 
Left handed and right eye dominant here. I shoot rifles right handed and pistols left handed. I play golf and baseball right handed. I think eye dominance plays a big role in what feels comfortable.
 
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