Left hand rifle/right handed

[ajd3530]

Howdy folks. I have considered getting a compact little .243 for a while, with the Ruger American compact being one of them I have looked at. There is a place running a sale on them right now (stainless none the less) but they are all left hand models. Has anyone who shoots right handed ever owned/shot a left hand rifle right handed?

Thanks

 

[lpsharp88]

Doesn't apply to me, but being a lefty in a right handed world, I actually find that using the "other" handed models are actually advantageous. It allows you to to weapon manipulations with your support hand and keep your trigger hand indexed. You may find that to be the case

 

[BigBore45]

well im left handed and right hand bolts dont bother me to much. i would like to know where this sale is. i would like to buy one. Never seen the compact model in LH before.

 

[jmr40]

My brother is lefty, but shoots mostly right handed guns. He has adapted quite well so it is possible. But I'd wait on a right handed rifle personally.

 

[judgedelta]

There was a left handed sniper in one of the war movies, perhaps "Saving Private Ryan" , who could work a wrong-handed bolt over the top pretty well. All of my bolt action rifles are left handed, as am I, but I shoot a semi mostly, so I can't personally offer any advice.

 

[readyeddy]

Lefty's are good at using right hand equipment because they often don't have options. I'm righty and tried using my friend's left handed rifle, and it was very awkward. But if you can switch hit or swing a lefty golf club, then it should be easy.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I shoot left handed due to a dominate left eye. Shooting right hand bolts is OK but I would rather avoid it, especially when hunting.
Most left hand shooters have had to get used to at least a few right hand guns. If this will be your first and only left hand gun it might drive you nuts.

 

[VoodooMountain]

New
well im left handed and right hand bolts dont bother me to much. i would like to know where this sale is. i would like to buy one. Never seen the compact model in LH before.

Cdnn

 

[burrhead]

...

 

[greyling22]

I'm a lefty. I have left and right handed bolt guns. My take is this: if you are going to carry it around and shoot offhand, buy the correct handed gun for you. (if left, buy left, if right, buy right) If you are going to shoot off a bipod or bench, buy the opposite handed gun.

 

[GoPappy]

If this particular gun has a cross-bolt safety on it, that may bother you more than the bolt itself. Instead of pushing the safety with your trigger finger, you will have to reach under the trigger guard and push the safety back towards you. Not ideal by any means.

I have an old Wingmaster 12 gauge and a Remington 7600 30.06, both of which have the cross bolt safety. As a lefty, I hate that safety.

 

[eastbank]

try using your middle finger on your left hand as you raise the gun to push the right hand safety off. being a lefty and having to use right hand rifles and shotguns(rem 870-rem 760) in my youth, that method was the best for me. now i have factory left hand firearms(rem 870-1100--rem 700-581-- savage 110--winchester 70-- heym mauser 3000). eastbank.

 

[Bart B.]

If you know that USA Olympic Rifle Team Member Gary Anderson (gold medalist in 300 meter free rifle, NRA, rep, too) came close to winning the NRA High Power Rifle Nationals in 1971 shooting a rebuilt right handed pre '64 classic Win 70 left handed, it's easy if you put your mind to it. He's a south paw being left handed; the opposite of you being a north paw wanting to shoot a left handed rifle. People were amazed watching him reach his left hand over to the right hand side to operate the bolt shooting rapid fire 10-shot matches in 50 or 60 seconds winning them as well as close to the aggregate record. His rifle tested about 1/2 MOA at 300 yards.

Here's his rifle on the 200 yard target showing his 200-15X record score shot standing (offhand). X ring's 3 inches.

 

[cocojo]

Being a lefty I always prefered the lever action rifle. I found them more conducive to left hand users than right. I do own on left handed bolt gun but prefer the levers.

 

[I6turbo]

I'm right-handed but I also own some left-handed rifles for my left-handed son. I don't think I would ever actually, deliberately buy a LH gun solely for my own use, BUT on the bench the LH guns actually make more sense for a RH shooter because you can retain your trigger-hand grip and work the bolt with your left hand. Still, they just generally feel a bit weird, and when shooting/handling and not on the bench, they are just awkward. I'd definitely never buy one for hunting or off-hand shooting.

 

[Varminterror]

While it's easy to say a righty shooting a left handed rifle is no different than so many of us lefties being stuck shooting right handed rifles, I would never recommend a righty paint themselves into that corner. If the rifles were available, us lefties would never shoot right handed rifles. Right hand rifles are available, so a righty should shoot a right hand rifle. Not all models are available for us lefties, so sometimes we get stuck - righties do not.

 

[Qball16]

I'm another left eye dominant right hander. I shoot lefty. I mostly shoot from the bench, doing load development. I finally bought myself a lefty bolt a while back but in some ways, from the bench, wrong handed is better. The bolt is right there for your available hand to work, and the cases eject in front of you so they are easier to grab. Hunting, I'd prefer a correctly-handed gun.

 

[Laphroaig]

I have an old Wingmaster 12 gauge and a Remington 7600 30.06, both of which have the cross bolt safety. As a lefty, I hate that safety.

Left hand safeties are available for both of those firearms. One of my sons is lefty and he changed his 7600 safety over. They are available for the 870 too:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/46...nversion-remington-552-740-760-870-1100-11-87

I'd go as far as to bet that most, if not all, common firearms with a cross bolt safety have lefty replacements.

But back on topic, I know at least two lefties who shoot CMP games bolt guns with much success in the rapid fire portions of the matches. They struggle, but still pull it off regularly. But I know that neither would shoot right handed guns if a left hand model was available.

 

[Zach S]

Lefty's are good at using right hand equipment because they often don't have options. I'm righty and tried using my friend's left handed rifle, and it was very awkward. But if you can switch hit or swing a lefty golf club, then it should be easy.

True, due to the lack of options we have found ways to use right handed guns efficiently. Some are easier than others.

That said, where I've been shooting right handed guns off of the wrong shoulder for so long, southpaw guns are awkward for me as well.

 

[1KPerDay]

Being a lefty I always prefered the lever action rifle. I found them more conducive to left hand users than right.

why?

 

[eastbank]

being a lefty i always liked the the remington 760-7600 pump rifles, more speed then you realy need, easy to scope, load and unload in the field and more than accurate enough for field use(hunting). i have a rem 7600 carbine in 3006 that will shoot better than 2 "three shot groups at 100 yards. that being said i have and shoot lever action rifles too. eastbank.

 

[cocojo]

1kperday, the reason why I prefer them is the loading gate location. I keep my shooting hand where it is and load with my right. A right hand shooter has to roll the rifle over to load or switch hands. I also like the ejection to be on the right i can see everything much better than it being on left side. In regards to the bolt guns there was a rifle made with the bolt handle by the breach on the right side, which was really nice for lefties to operate. The gun might have been an early Sig Sauer takedown bolt.

 

[Offfhand]

Doesn't apply to me, but being a lefty in a right handed world, I actually find that using the "other" handed models are actually advantageous. It allows you to to weapon manipulations with your support hand and keep your trigger hand indexed. You may find that to be the case

Mr. Ipsharp88 is on target about that. I'm right handed but prefer a bolt on left side for some types of shooting as it speeds up rate of fire in some situations. Attached is photo of varmint rifle I had built by Dakota with left bolt, which is deadly in prairie dog patch. When shooting is fast and furious my left hand works the bolt while my right hand guides the crosshairs to next target.

 

[Bart B.]

That picture reminds me of a rifle I saw in a prone match with the scope twisted 90 degrees left in the mount rings. The left handed shooter had also switched adjustment knobs so the elevation direction arrow would be correct for changing bullet impact. Windage is reversed. And the objective focus scale was easy to see on the left side instead on top where it normally would be.

Any lefties out there doing that?

 

[Kaeto]

I'm left handed, and I've found that in my milsurps a straight bolt handle is the easiest for me to work. It reduces how much I have to reach over to grasp the bolt.