Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Lefty questions

Archery guy here going to buy my first AR for varmit/ all purpose shooting. All I have ever shot is bolt guns.
Will there be a problem with the RH versions ejecting shells in my face?
The safety is an issue for me on some models [inside the crook of my trigger finger]
Are the Stag Arms Lefty versions the only ones I should consider?
Any other tips?

I don't know much about ARs, but my lefty Stag has been problem free. I don't think I'd like my face near the ejection port.

I've never had brass in my face with the regular RH A2. The brass deflector does work. The A1 was another matter.

Same experience for me... A1 would occasionally send a piece of hot brass bouncing of my face. Worst case was when a piece got stuck between my cheek and the chin strap of my steel pot.


The A2 (and above) with the built in brass deflector works like a charm.

The safety is still an issue. I use my trigger finger to move it, rather than my thumb, because it's on the wrong side.

they do make ambi safety's.

I am just changing to LH shooting and so far zero problems with the RH AR's. Stag makes a LH upper if you have a build in mind.

I have a DPMS LR-308AP4, Sig 556, and a Ruger SR556. I'm a left handed shooter and the Sig and Ruger fling the brass literally 20 feet. The DPMS doesn't fling them out quite that far, maybe 5 ft but in a 2 o'clock direction. I've never had brass come back and hit me in the face.

So it appears the ejector on the right side doesn't seem to cause any issues for lefty's.

Thats good news, more options for swapping rh upper in the future. Now I have to figure how to get something like a RRA Varmit configured out of state then sent to Ca.

I shoot lefty and I wouldn't bother with a left-handed AR. I think it works better for lefties than it does righties. You can hold the gun in your left hand and see inside the port and toss ammo in with your right hand. I think it is one of the most ambidextrous rifles ever, just the way it is.

From the PM reply you sent me:


I dont think its an issue..

With a brass deflector, shooting a standard AR style rifle is no big deal. Actually, I think its kind of nice to see the bolt carrier when you are charging the rifle and if you ever have a malfunction, you are looking directly at it.

I did shoot my Dads DPMS sporitcal rifle and yes, you will get brass in the face w/o a deflector I didn't even think of it until I pulled the trigger. After that, I ended up selling a Sun Devil slickside upper receiver because it didn't have a deflector.

All in all, I love my stag, but I'd probably love the Stag 6 just as much as the 6L...

Gives me more options- thanks

I'll also chime in with a vote for the standard upper with the brass deflector. I'm a lefty and have never had issues. Haven't shot one of the "low profile" aka slickside uppers but I definitely could see a potential issue with hot brass. Another consideration is if you ever decided to sell it, a lefty upper might be more difficult to get sold for a decent price.