I'd love to have a decent wheel gun, but they all have ergonomics that seem specific to right handed shooters. How do most lefties manipulate the controls on your standard revolver where the cylinder opens to the left by actuating a release that is also located on the left? I've tried ruger sp101 and s&w model of 1905. I like the way they shoot, but switching hands to reload seems less than ideal.
Revolvers for lefties
- Thread starter Tony k
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Use your forefinger to operate the cylinder latch, push the cylinder open with your right thumb, continuing with your thumb through the window in the frame to grab the front of the frame by where the crane goes.
Tilt gun back and operate the ejector rod with your right fore finger or middle finger.
Tilt gun forward and reload with your left hand.
You will get powder and lead on you right hand between your thumb and fore finger, so make sure you wash thoroughly with soap and water when you finish at the range.
Tilt gun back and operate the ejector rod with your right fore finger or middle finger.
Tilt gun forward and reload with your left hand.
You will get powder and lead on you right hand between your thumb and fore finger, so make sure you wash thoroughly with soap and water when you finish at the range.
.338-06
Member
Every single action revolver is made for left handers.
bannockburn
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As .338-06 posted, the SAA seems to have been designed for left handed shooters. Bill Grover even built a number of SA revolvers that had their operating features, like the loading gate, on the left side of the gun. He believed this was a true SA designed for right handed shooters. In this way, the gun remained in the right hand while the left hand did all the loading and unloading operations.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
That's highly debatable. Although it is well-suited to either.
Past discussions:
www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=534386
www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=550388
www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=595036
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Spade5
Member
I'm a lefty too
I point the muzzle up at an angle, place my right hand over my left hand and push the cylinder latch/lock and push the cylinder out with the fingers of my right hand.
Hit the extractor with the palm of my right hand, lower the muzzle and drop my speed loader in with my right hand. Keep the cylinder from roating with my trigger finder and turn the speed loader know with my right hand thumb and forefinger. Some speedloader you can just push the knob.
Close the cylinder with the fingers of my right hand and I am done.
I point the muzzle up at an angle, place my right hand over my left hand and push the cylinder latch/lock and push the cylinder out with the fingers of my right hand.
Hit the extractor with the palm of my right hand, lower the muzzle and drop my speed loader in with my right hand. Keep the cylinder from roating with my trigger finder and turn the speed loader know with my right hand thumb and forefinger. Some speedloader you can just push the knob.
Close the cylinder with the fingers of my right hand and I am done.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Oh geeze, that old saw, along with the myth that Sam Colt was a leftie. There is no written record of whether Colt was a lefty or a righty.
Single action cartridge revolvers were simply an evolutionary advancement of the old Cap & Ball revolvers. It is far easier for a righty to cap the nipples on a C&B than for a lefty. The cut out for capping the nipples is on the right side of the revolver. A righty shifts the gun to his left hand, and uses his right hand, with its superior fine motor skills, to place the caps onto the nipples. Nobody was using cappers back then, you did it with your fingers. A lefty will have to turn the gun upside down to cap the nipples with his left hand. I do all my C&B loading with my right hand, while holding the gun in my left hand. Dumping powder in the chambers, placing balls at the chamber throats, and using the rammer, all with the pistol in my dumb left hand while manipulating everything with my smarter right hand.
Cartridge revolvers are simply an advancement of that design. The internal mechanism was almost the same, but the loading gate took the place of the 'capping cutout' on the right side of the frame. Again, I shift the gun to my left hand, flip the gate open with my right hand, and put the beans in the hole with my 'smarter' right hand.
Even with a double action revolver, I shift the gun to my left hand, and do all the loading with my smarter, and more coordinated right hand. No, I don't use speed loaders, I am a luddite and still handle cartridges one at a time.
RPRNY
Member
S&W Schofield.
MedWheeler
Member
I'm a left-handed ex-LEO who trained on a "regular" .38 revolver back in the day.
As was mentioned, the forefinger of the shooting hand can be used to actuate the cylinder release on some revolvers. There are three types of releases in common use.
One is the "push forward" release, used on S&W, Taurus, Rossi, and Charter Arms revolvers. The release is pushed forward, toward the cylinder and barrel. I find this to be the most difficult of the three.
The second is the "pull-back", found on Colt revolvers. The latch is drawn back toward the rear frame, and can sometimes be done so with the shooter's thumb as well.
For me, the easiest one by far, useable by the thumb (which is typically stronger), is the "press-through" button found on Ruger revolvers. This is simply pushed inward, as if trying to push it through to the other side of the gun, and can be done with the side of the shooter's thumb.
Personally, I'm so used to "normal" revolvers that, were I to be handed a SouthPaw (Charter Arms product), I'd be at a near-loss as to what to do with it.
Quick reloading of a "normal" revolver by a LH-ed shooter isn't hard, and can be taken down to mere tenths of a second longer than by a RH-ed one. I had ot develop my own technique, which has been "discovered" by countless others as well independent of me. I'll try to find a thread on here I'm thinking of regarding it.
EDIT: Here it is. Check out posts nine and twelve regarding my experiences. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthre...ight=rapid+reload++left++revolver#post8954341
As was mentioned, the forefinger of the shooting hand can be used to actuate the cylinder release on some revolvers. There are three types of releases in common use.
One is the "push forward" release, used on S&W, Taurus, Rossi, and Charter Arms revolvers. The release is pushed forward, toward the cylinder and barrel. I find this to be the most difficult of the three.
The second is the "pull-back", found on Colt revolvers. The latch is drawn back toward the rear frame, and can sometimes be done so with the shooter's thumb as well.
For me, the easiest one by far, useable by the thumb (which is typically stronger), is the "press-through" button found on Ruger revolvers. This is simply pushed inward, as if trying to push it through to the other side of the gun, and can be done with the side of the shooter's thumb.
Personally, I'm so used to "normal" revolvers that, were I to be handed a SouthPaw (Charter Arms product), I'd be at a near-loss as to what to do with it.
Quick reloading of a "normal" revolver by a LH-ed shooter isn't hard, and can be taken down to mere tenths of a second longer than by a RH-ed one. I had ot develop my own technique, which has been "discovered" by countless others as well independent of me. I'll try to find a thread on here I'm thinking of regarding it.
EDIT: Here it is. Check out posts nine and twelve regarding my experiences. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthre...ight=rapid+reload++left++revolver#post8954341
Last edited:
RustyShackelford
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Hogue....
Hogue has a cool new after market S&W revolver cylinder release.
Youtube.com gun channel host TheYankeeMarshal gave the new revolver part a glowing review. It's easy to install and speeds up revolver use. It looks fast and secure.
By the way, Im left handed too.
Hogue has a cool new after market S&W revolver cylinder release.
Youtube.com gun channel host TheYankeeMarshal gave the new revolver part a glowing review. It's easy to install and speeds up revolver use. It looks fast and secure.
By the way, Im left handed too.
I agree with clang and .338-06
The best way IMO for a lefty to load a DA revolver.
And with an SA, the shooting hand for the southpaw never leaves the grip. Index finger of left hand easily rotates cylinder while right hand extracts and loads. For a right hander to do the same, their index finger has to fight with the loading gate.
The single action revolvers I own all have the load gate on the right side. Not sure exactly which "handedness" that favors for all shooters, but for me it favors my right handedness. Maybe after shooting them for so many years I just adapted ... hard to tell.
The one top break revolver I have is truly ambidextrous.
Dframe
Member
I've shot pistols lefty all my life including competition.
I also push the cylinder out with the right thumb and with the muzzle skyward push the ejector rod with the fingers of my right hand(gravity is your friend here) I Then rotate my hand so the muzzle is straight down to reload (remember your friend gravity). After speed loader (operated with my left hand) is dropped I use the fingers of the right hand to press the cylinder closed as I bring the gun to firing position with my left. It's much easier to DO than to explain HOW it's done.
A friend of mine has a southpaw. It's great fun to hand it to a righthander and watch them fumble with it.
I also push the cylinder out with the right thumb and with the muzzle skyward push the ejector rod with the fingers of my right hand(gravity is your friend here) I Then rotate my hand so the muzzle is straight down to reload (remember your friend gravity). After speed loader (operated with my left hand) is dropped I use the fingers of the right hand to press the cylinder closed as I bring the gun to firing position with my left. It's much easier to DO than to explain HOW it's done.
A friend of mine has a southpaw. It's great fun to hand it to a righthander and watch them fumble with it.
hAkron
Member
The cylinder release on a Dan Wesson is forward of the cylinder allowing the right hand to come forward, the fingers come around the frame of the gun and flick the latch, while the right thumb pushes out the cylinder. The revolver can then be captured by the right hand, thumb through the cylinder window, tipped up and the empties extracted by hitting the plunger with the right index finger, then tilted forward and held by the right hand, now the left hand is free to load up the empty cylinder. Once loaded, left hand back on the grip, right hand slides back while the fingers on the right hand push the cylinder back in. Ready to rock.
The South Paw, and most single actions are pretty much for lefties. Another option a top break.
However, the S&W patterns are all single actions. There are some old top breaks from Iver Johnson and others that pop up from time to time. The largest caliber I've seen is .38 S&W.
H&R makes/made the 999. A pretty good 9 shot .22lr top break. 4" and 6" barrels. I prefer the 4".
Then there are the British top breaks from Webley and Enfield. Some of the Webleys come in big bore calibers. I belief the Enfields were all .38-200 (pretty much the same thing as the .38 S&W mentioned earlier).
Lastly there is the king of all top break revolvers. The Webley Fosbery. Available in .455 Webley, it is a semi-auto revolver. Last one I saw for sale was $7000.00 and it was in rough shape.
However, the S&W patterns are all single actions. There are some old top breaks from Iver Johnson and others that pop up from time to time. The largest caliber I've seen is .38 S&W.
H&R makes/made the 999. A pretty good 9 shot .22lr top break. 4" and 6" barrels. I prefer the 4".
Then there are the British top breaks from Webley and Enfield. Some of the Webleys come in big bore calibers. I belief the Enfields were all .38-200 (pretty much the same thing as the .38 S&W mentioned earlier).
Lastly there is the king of all top break revolvers. The Webley Fosbery. Available in .455 Webley, it is a semi-auto revolver. Last one I saw for sale was $7000.00 and it was in rough shape.
Nathanael_Greene
Member
"Then there are the British top breaks from Webley and Enfield. Some of the Webleys come in big bore calibers. I belief the Enfields were all .38-200 (pretty much the same thing as the .38 S&W mentioned earlier)."
For what it's worth, I have an Enfield break-top, and it's a .38 S&W. A left-handed person still faces the issue that the release is on the left side of the frame, but it's manageable for a lefty (like me).
For what it's worth, I have an Enfield break-top, and it's a .38 S&W. A left-handed person still faces the issue that the release is on the left side of the frame, but it's manageable for a lefty (like me).
Driftwood Johnson
Member
What part of my explanation why this is not true did you not understand?
Really? What would you call these?
RPRNY
Member
rswartsell
Member
...or this?
WestKentucky
Member
If DA revolvers are right handed, SA revolvers left handed, top breaks universal, what do you call a marlin rifle? It loads on the right with the right hand and ejects on the right to miss the face of the shooter...so the shooter must swap hands, reload, swap hands, fire...I guess its universally awkward? Nah, I love my 336
Lucky Derby
Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXUwI_d8JlA
This video by Mas Ayoob teaches a reloading technic. At the end of it He teaches a modified version for left handed operation. My wife, a lefty used this video to learn how to use a wheelgun.
This video by Mas Ayoob teaches a reloading technic. At the end of it He teaches a modified version for left handed operation. My wife, a lefty used this video to learn how to use a wheelgun.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
That Sam Colt was left-handed and designed all his single actions for lefties is just one of those unsubstantiated myths that won't die.
The SAA was designed strictly for the Army. Do you guys really think they would've let Colt build them for lefties??? How would the "Sam Colt was a lefty" crowd explain why Remington and virtually any other revolver maker configured their guns the same way?
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