Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Why do you want a LH bolt gun?

Is it because you're left eye dominant? Or because you're left handed? I ask, because my daughter is left eye dominant, but right handed. In fact, she's lead guitar for a classic rock band, and folks who know more then me, say she's a natural (playing RH of course). She just continues to impress.
She shoots archery and shotgun LH, though an OU she might shoot RH now.

If shooting a bolt action with a scope, why not just shoot it RH, if she's right hand dominant?

I shoot lefty because I am a true lefty. I am near-sighted with astigmatism, and who know what else. Depending on the day my eye-dominance seems to change, but many years ago an NRA instructor who tried to recruit me to help with instruction put me through his tests and told me I am in fact right-eye dominant. He kind of preached to me about learning to shoot right-handed or I would never "shoot my best", but when given the opportunity I don't miss the vitals. If I were a competition shooter, maybe. But unless my eyesight really turns south, this old dog is not ready to learn a new trick.

My 2 cents - if switching shooting posture to accommodate eye dominance really made someone struggle to the point that they may lose interest, don't bother as long as they can still knock cans off a fence post. If someone were completely open and willing to put in the time and "continues to impress" as you put it, making the switch would probably be worth the effort - something that may reap greater rewards down the road.

Right handed, blind in the right eye.

I'm left eye dominant and conduct finer motor skills with left hand like writing, eating with utensils, etc. Right side I do heavier athletic work like throwing, batting, and other endeavors. I can kinda shoot right but my eye doesn't like it and it's awkward but doable.

Left handed rifles are so much more natural for me. Of course they are. KK Alaska has already mention this but if your a lefty user you really should get an lefty bolt action for safety sake. If gas happened to get directed backwards out of the chamber and into the receiver it couldake a difference.

I don't. I hate them..

Definitely left eye dominant here. It was discovered when I was in school and they do the hearing and vision tests on the kids. I’m legally blind in my right eye. Since it was known at such an early age, my dad that’s right eye dominant and shoots right handed, taught me to shoot left handed. I can’t imagine anyone shooting left handed that doesn’t need to or that wasn’t trained to shoot that way from the beginning.

You are not a "true lefty", if you were diagnosed with right eye dominance. The NRA instructor also didn't know what he was talking about. Unless he was talking about wing shooting, but shooting off the bench it does not matter. That is all about muscle memory. I shoot right handed with irons because my left eye sucks. Then I shoot left handed with everything else. Had to give up competitive trap shooting because of the eyesight in my left eye. Again:

Right handed with irons:


That is with one of my AR's set up with irons^^^^..

22lr's pretty much the same thing:



And with different rifles:

That was the first 10 shot group with this new rifle:


Same rifle, different stock:


Another (different rifle):



Scoped rifle shooting left handed:



Sorry I have to prove my point with target pics, but I don't shoot with you guys. If that were the case, you'd also realize there is no faster shooter than a lefty running a right handed bolt off the bench. That's just facts...

All 4 in my family are right handed and left eye dominant. I was taught to shoot righthanded and no one ever even tested my eye dominance lol. After 30 plus years of shooting righthanded I discovered that by following my eye dominance my rifle and archery skills greatly improved. So I taught my kids and wife to shoot lefthanded.

From a safety standpoint, I greatly prefer a lefty bolt gun in the event of any escaping gases or particles from an accident. For me that is enough reason to be sure I have lefthanded rifles for all of them. YMMV.

Right-handed. Right eye sub par. My mother had a bad case of the measles when she was carrying me. My optometrist identified the damage inside my right eye and asked me years later if my mom had a viral infection while carrying me. This is how I found out the reason why that eye is such a strain to use by itself through a scope. When used in tandem with my left eye through a pair of binoculars, my vision is much better. So I'm not sure if I'm truly left-eye dominant or if this is simply an adjustment that my brain made to compensate for a defect. But from the moment I was handed a Daisy BB gun bought at a Western Auto, I immediately put it to my left shoulder. My dad & my brother tried to "correct" me but as a 5-year-old I wasn't hearing it. It always felt more natural to me to support and aim the rifle with my strong right hand under the forearm. I know that this is counter intuitive to the rest of the world, but to me, I always felt like I am shooting "right-handed" when I support the gun with my right hand as I brace it against my left shoulder.

Over the years I forced myself to learn to shoot right-handed and consider myself to be accurate enough to hunt ethically off of either shoulder now. The majority of my rifles are ambidextrous Winchester 1885's & Ruger #1's. When I do buy a bolt, I always buy left-hand models. My shotgun is an ambidextrous Browning BPS which ejects downward.

So I shoot long rifles & shotguns left-handed. I shoot pistols right-handed. I shoot bows right-handed as well because it allows me to use my strong arm and the shortness of the aiming distance is manageable with my right eye since I never take a long demanding shot with that weapon. My eyesight limits my range. Statistically I know I'm an oddball because it's painfully obvious every time I go rifle shopping.

I guess my question is, a right handed person, who is left eye dominant, using a scope, should still shoot RH, correct?

I would think the scope eliminates the dominance, and the right hand would likely have better muscle control (aside from actually training the left hand).

My initial thought would be to tell a shooter to close their eyes (i.e. don't aim) and shoulder the rifle on the left and then right. Which feels more natural? Then using their eyes on the favorite shoulder, is there any significant hurdle that can't be overcome with a reasonable amount of training.

The shooting world is so strongly tilted in favor of right-handed shooters that I would encourage a person to shoot that way if possible. There are some quantifiable advantages to doing so. In my unique case, it would have been a struggle when I was younger when everything that was available to me had iron sights. In some situations today, a scope still takes extra effort when shooting off the right shoulder. It can help but it's definitely not a cure all fix for my hurdles. YMMV

I am the opposite to your daughter. I’m right eye dominant but left handed. I tried to use RH rifles but they just do not feel natural to me. In my case the eye dominance only becomes an issue when using a shotgun or a handgun (with open sights) and trying to shoot with both eyes open (as you should, if you can). As you suggested, with a scope or aperture sights, eye dominance is not an issue. Even using a shotgun or pistol I just close my right eye.

Opinions like most things vary. I am right handed but left eye dominant. I can shoot right handed but NO WAY am I as comfortable or accurate and am MUCH slower lining up a shot. Scope makes 0 difference to me.

not really.....I am right hand left eye....shoot long guns left....pistols right and bows ....feels unnatural to shoulder right hand really awkward.

completely smooth left side....bob

LH and left eyed here.

I'm left handed & right eye dominant. Just feels correct to shot left handed. I close my right eye when shooting.

If I would have went to a Catholic school---I'm sure the Nuns would have used a ruler on me---making me right handed. I throw a baseball & bat right handed. My right hand is stronger than my left. All I really do is write left handed.

Main reason LHanded. And to protect my eyes and face lh

True lefty here. Left handed and left eye dominant

My main reasons are as per KKAlaska's post. With UK firearms law had to justify this why waiting / delay in getting the LH rifle you want. Anyone can shoot RH. officer I am LH but shoot RH.

So I ask are you right eye dominant - answer yes. But took some explaining. Did not get the face of hot gas if primer went part. And, TBH I could see he was not interested. Even told him about LH scissors, bread knife, rulers, fountain pens, tin openers. There are quite a few LHanders in my family. Still did not really get it or was interested

Me too.

My sons are odd the oldest is right hand left eye and the youngest is left hand right eye.

Both my sons are RH and Left eyed. At first they shot RH, but accuracy/consistency was very bad. Once I discovered they were LE'd, we switched to shooting LH and accurace/consistency improved dramatically and immediately. Took a bit of them getting used to shooting LH; NERF guns to the rescue! Easy, cheap, safe practice using the hand that matched the eye. Now shooting LH is second nature to them.

If you dig through old posts here, I started a thread on the RH/LE issue years ago when starting my kids out. The overwhelming majority opinion then was to follow the eyes. I followed that and I do feel that overcoming the coordination of using the off had is easier than what it would take to overcome using the off eye. YMMV.

Another thing I noticed being left eye dominate and normally right handed, is when I shoot a pistol from my left hand I get better accuracy. That’s a whole new topic, trying to find left hand or ambi pistols. Holsters are just as hard to find. I do have a few truly ambi pistols, not reversible, but ambi. I still practice strong hand/weak hand and have done enough over the years that it feels no different shooting pistols from either side, just a bit more accuracy on the left. Not much, I’m not real good with pistols, but it’s noticeable. I’m a more serious rifle guy.

Growing up, my dad wasn’t into bow hunting so I trained myself to shoot left handed and seem to do well.

I’m a lefty. Shoot left, throw left, write left, and left eye dominant. I golf right and shoot a bow right. I’ve been shooting right handed bolt guns and shotguns my whole life. I recently started buying only left handed bolt rifles. Why, because I could.

Ron

I am left handed, shoot left hand, left eye dominant, only buy left hand rifles.

It is a good idea to learn to shoot with your dominate eye.

Same here. We lefties buy and shoot left handed guns for the same reasons righties buy right handed guns, not left.

However, that doesn't address the OP's question. For any of the mixed situations, it really depends on the shooter's specific needs and preferences, and the gun(s) in question.

The reason I shoot left handed rifles is I like having a bolt on the correct side (left for me) so I can reach it quickly when needed. I like having the ejection port away from my face if anything goes wrong. I do not like watching brass eject in front of my face from a right hand AR type rifle.

I shoot left handed play most sports right handed. The best combination I have found is a left bolt right port action, on hunting and competition rifles.

I am right handed in some things (writing, throwing, golf, etc) and left handed in some things (shooting, billiards, archery). Mainly anything that requires eye dominance use i have to do it lefty. That being said, I can write lefty, throw lefty, and golf lefty too, i am just better at it right handed. The exact opposite in shooting. I cannot shoot a rifle or shotgun at all right handed. I could probably shoot from the bench right handed, but I havent ever tried it.

That being said, I dont particularly like lefty bolt guns as I was brought up shooting right handed bolts so I have gotten used to that. I understand all of the safety measures that go into it so I am not debating that. The other hitch with lefty guns is that I like to carry my rifle on my right shoulder so a lefty bolt gun jams the bolt into my side which is annoying.

The last two days we shot around 135 nutria from the airboat. If you are one of those shooters that cannot handle missing your target, this is not for you. Nutria are running or swimming, the boat is moving at times, everything is offhand.

I thought about the question in the original post, there is no way I could be nearly as efficient shooting nutria with a right bolt as I can left handed with a left hand bolt. It is so easy to work the bolt with the rifle in my shoulder and head on the stock.

If you asked this question you must not be a real lefty. Why do right handers need right handed guns?

Sweet ,I like Mikes picture and answers ! Signed disabled about 50 % on the right hand and a real lefty .

I shoot LH and have LH dominant eye.. I've had 2-3 LH rifles over the years and they feel totally alien to me.. After decades of using RH rifles I guess I've adapted more to those just from use... I only have one LH rifle remaining in the stack and it's been a dozen+ years or more since I used it..

Timely conversation here...my 10 yr old grandson shot his first clay birds yesterday. The weekend before I was throwing pinecones in the rapids, and he was blasting them as they bobbed downstream...having a little trouble hitting. We discovered he was shooting right hand with a dominant left eye. So yesterday I had him try shooting birds left handed. Nope...he wasn't having it, hated it. OK Gramps, back off, stop 'coaching', enforce safety and be patient, let's see where this goes. Miss, miss, miss...hit, about ten birds in he started having fun, forgot about recoil. Who is to say what a bad habit is, or poor technique..as long as you are dusting them? This mentor is going to stay backed off, buy clays, reload shells and let him work out what works for him. Neither one of us will ever compete at a high level probably...but we will have fun.