left handed ar's?

[Tulric]

Question for you left-handed shooters like me: I want to get into an ar rifle. I have no experience with one. I'm also on a shoe-string budget so I'm looking at DPMS or Double Star, but I've seen the adds for the Stag left-handed models which look very appealing but are more expensive. Stag makes a deal about hot, stinky gas blowing in the faces of lefty shooters using righty AR's. Is this an issue to be concerned about, or can I proceed with the cheaper DPMS? Thanks for your replies!

 

[KW]

I've never really noticed it when shooting mine from the left side. It would probably be much more noticeable if you were running a suppressor.

 

[Schleprok62]

Stag isn't the only one that has one... Check out Del-Ton

 

[DarkCharisma]

I'm a leftie, shoot my DPMS AR-15 without any discomfort. I can honestly say I don't think I have caught any brass that has left an impressionable mark enough to deserve being reserved in memory.

 

[taliv]

<---- sinister (well, sinistral at least )

do yourself a favor and stick with the standard

 

[creekerdoug]

Another lefty here and I only use right handed ARs. The only modification I do is to install an ambi safety. The "gas in the face and getting hit by brass" is a marketing ploy designed to sell the higher priced left handed guns.

You'll be able to sell a right handed gun faster and at a better price if you have to and right handed bolts are much easier to find and cheaper, if you ever need one.

 

[Javelin]

ARs are ambi.

 

[Tulric]

You guys have made up my mind to get a standard AR. Any thoughts on DPMS or Double Star?

 

[DarkCharisma]

For what I paid I couldn't be happier with my DPMS. Hits whatever I point it at, gobbles up all kinds of ammo, no hiccups whatsoever with it, I've fired it in single-digit temps, rapid fired, dropped it in the snow, etc. and she keeps on shooting.

 

[Pawdog]

<---- Lefty also.....Mine is a standard home build, Doublestar lower, with a Del-Ton upper. No issues at all with mine. I do have a scar on my upper chest from hot brass caught in my shirt while qualifying in 2007 with my agencies M-16. The shooter to my left was too close, and his brass struck me, causing the burn which scarred to this day.....

 

[MrCleanOK]

As a lefty that actually owns a lefty AR, and has shot righty ARs too I can tell you that the lefty upper is nice to have, but not neccessary. You can shoot a righty upper as much as you want and never regret it. The advantages to having a left handed upper are mostly creature comforts, the advantages to having a right handed upper are pretty legitimate: parts availability, resale, commonality with almost every other AR out there, etc.

 

[Animal Mother]

I'm also a lefty with a righty AR, DPMS lower on a Del-Ton upper. I've never had any problems with the standard AR. I imagine a lefty AR would be nice to have, but like everything else in this world, we left handed people adapt pretty readily to whatever tools those right handers use.

 

[JonB]

+1 to all this.

Lefty shooter, but no way I would buy a lefty AR. The ambi safety selector is a nice to have (I haven't done this yet either). Never been hit in the face by brass or hot gasses either. That's just marketing silliness.

 

[Brazos]

I am LH to

I have never had any problems w/ my RH Ar's and am LH. The only reason I would get a Stag LH rifle would be to show my appreciation in a company that cares enough about LH people to make a rifle for them. I wish other gun companies would treat us Left Handed people with the same respect.

Brazos

 

[vzwnnj]

I thought about the Stag, but my Oly Arms works just fine and never and issue shooting left handed

 

[RP88]

I'm lefty. every gun I have is in standard/righty configuration - both ARs, AK, etc. Never had a problem with any of my guns. No shells popping into my face, no awkward ergos, etc.

if anything, being left-handed actually makes the AK much more ergonomic for me, so thats a nice plus.

 

[hadmanysons]

I'm a lefty shooter (shoot left, right handed) and chose not to get a left handed one because of the special bolt carrier group you'd need. If i've been bump firing or sighting in then I DO get smoke in my face and my snot is black when I blow my nose. Doesn't bother me though. Thankfully my brass deflector shoots 'em forward or they might hit me in the face. Even considering all this, I would still buy a right handed AR.

 

[bgeddes]

In basic training, I had to use this little plastic gadget to keep the brass out of my sleeves. Then the Army figured it out and cast the brass deflector into the receiver. Left or right side, no issues, unless you get a really old A1-ish piece.

 

[12Bravo20]

I shot the M16 A1 and A2 while in the service and have an Ar and don't have a problem shooting them left handed. The M16A1 is the only one that I had a problem with hot brass hitting my right arm (even with the plastic deflector). I would just make sure my right sleeve was down when at the range.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Lefty here. I own both right and left handed rifles. You can shoot a RH eject rifle off your left shoulder in all cases except-

1. If you have an upper reciever without the brass deflector bump just behind the ejection port.(HIGHLY unlikely, unless you specifically order an upper without it).

2. If you supress the rifle. Bad ju-ju there. I know this one from personal experience. One magazine of ammo, and I looked like Two Face.

 

[Dirty Dawg]

The only reason I would get a Stag LH rifle would be to show my appreciation in a company that cares enough about LH people to make a rifle for them. I wish other gun companies would treat us Left Handed people with the same respect.

Amen!

Having spent a lifetime as a left handed shooter in a right handed world, I've slowly begun to rebel. It's not that I can't shoot right hand just fine, I just don't want to anymore. So, about two years ago, I bought a left handed bolt action 30-06. Since then I've bought two o/u shotguns, a lever action and ordered a left hand Stag (still waiting...) With the exception of a Beretta 390, all my long guns are now left handed or ambidextrous. Yes, I've heard the argument that they are harder to sell but if there weren't a market for them the manufacturers wouldn't be making them. Besides, it's not like I ever intend to sell any of them. I suppose one day my family might have to deal with it, but I never expect to. So, the only good argument I see against buying a firearm that's designed to fit a left handed shooter as naturally as standard weapons fit right handed shooters, is the availability and compatibility of parts. For that reason, if I expected to deploy to the sandbox with my rifles, I'd go back to right hand in a heartbeat. But since I plan on punching paper, hogs and the occasional deer, why shouldn't I have the same experience as the rest of the shooting world? But that's just me.

Now, having said all this, I think I'll place an order for a couple of left hand bolts just in case.

 

[Seafarer12]

I have shot AR's and M-16's left handed. Semi automatic and full auto. Never had a problem with brass hitting me or gas blowing in my face.