Own a few Hawkeyes and one MKII. Some are stainless and some blued. To me they're a staple because they're lefties and the ones I have are no longer available and not the easiest to aquire. Two of them get get a lot of use.
At one time back in the 90's, I sold every rifle I owned and just kept a left handed 300wm. I used that rifle for everything. I could never get used to the left hand action though and built my collection back up.. Old Craig Boddington's writings convinced me I only needed a left handed rifle. Boy was he wrong!!!
I can go right handed if needed but it feels unnatural still and not dominant eye. I'm used to left hand actions because I dry fire and practice speed and bolt manipulation without ammo. It becomes extremely ingrained into muscle memory.
I wonder about safety issues and keeping my face and eyes as shielded as possible from the port of the receiver and I like the idea of a proper sided action. Could it be an safety issue? Maybe? I'm not 100% sure but I thunk about it. Then again I have leveraction and they're not anywhere near as safe and strong as any sided bolt action.
Yeah, that is definitely a consideration. Just growing up with right handed bolt actions engrained that into my muscle memory. There's no right hander that is faster off the bench, but that only makes sense. Think about it.... Of course shooting offhand the righty is faster in bolt manipulation. However, Since most of my shooting is off the bench or prone or supported, shooting a right handed bolt works out better. The funny thing is it's never really been an issue while hunting either. Grew up shooting running jackrabbits with my m1917 sporter 30-06, so I've probably had more practice than most running a right handed bolt gun..
