Left-handers check in Here

Okay, my ugly little secret is out. I'm left-handed. Of course, I'm not alone, even on this board. Jim in Idho is apparently, so's E4E and I know there must be others. What I'd like to know from all of you is what accomodation you have made for that. Do you seek out left-handed actions? Do you lean toward action types that don't handicap you like I do? Or did you just "force yourself" to learn to shoot like a rightie? My first gun, a .22 rimfire I got when I was about 14, was a right handed bolt action, of course. My next gun HAD to be an autoloader because that first one was so awkward for a leftie. Since then, I've tended to stick to action types that haven't handicapped me such as autos and lever-guns and Remington's 7600 pump. Left-handed bolt actions have not been an area I have gotten into since I never felt the need for a magnum and the pump 30-06 is plenty big enough for whitetail. What have you other wrong-sided types done to accomodate your "handicap?" Talker

Talker, I am right handed but i shoot lefty rifle and shotgun due to an eye dominancy thing. I have shot right handed rifles ever sense i started shooting and haven't seen any reason to change. I have learned to work the bolt left handed, sure i'm slower than if i was using a lefthanded rifle but the selection of rifles out there leave a little to be desired. Paul------------------ Barbie:)------------------ [email protected]

Talker, that reply from barbie was Mine, My wife is right handed. Ops! Paul------------------ walukie@military.com

Talker,I believe there's quite a few of us here. I'm another right-handed person who shoots left-handed due to my left eye being dominate. It even just feels weird to hold a rifle right-handed.I do search out left-handed rifles. I don't care for the "reach over" routine when using right-handed rifles. The lack of a suitable left-handed magnum length action, Winchester M70, in stainless steel, is why I built a 416 Taylor.In the Army, I hated using the brass deflector on the M-16. It seems to "deflect" brass back into the action, causing it to jam. The M16A2's, with the built in deflectors worked well. I got hit in the face more than once by flying brass! [Linked Image]

------------------ Brian <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/" TARGET=_blank>The 416 Taylor WebPage!</A>

Left handed and checking in.I search out cheap left hand Rem 700 actions like a dog in heat. If there's one around...I'll find it!I wish I shot right handed because of the selection, there is no shortage to choose from.

Talker, I am terminaly left handed. i will shoot anything that goes bang. I have been shooting over 40 yearsand have learned to make my shots count as most guns to me are treated as single shots. Recently I got a Savage 110 left handed 06. Man is that thing confusing I am not used to a bolt where it's supposed to be. I did convert the safty on several rifles to left hand. I make a safty for the 10/22 to work lefty and my Ithica 37 has a factory left safty as well as several Remington 870's I have. But in a house full of wrong minded folks I can't change all the guns so I adapt.Shoot safe and shoot often.Bullwnkl.

I'm left-handed, yet I shoot & play most sports right handed/right footed. I think I'm a little wierd in that respect. My wife & older daughter are the same way & younger daughter is right handed (& left eye dominant). badger.[This message has been edited by badger (edited February 02, 2001).]

Yup, as you guessed, another southpaw. I learned to shoot right hand bolt actions by bringing the rifle off the shoulder and working the bolt with the right hand. Just get your left thumb out of the way of the bolt. The first time I shot a LH bolt and experienced what it was like to work them like they're supposed to be worked I was hooked.Just sold the very last right hand bolt action (a very nice 788 Remington) a few months ago. The gun rack now has 11 left hand bolt actions, 2 Kimbers, 2 short action Model 700's, three long action 700's, and 4 Winchester Model 70's. Also a 12 gauge Model 1100 shotgun with a left hand safety and a Browning Citori with the tang safety, one lonely Marlin lever action 30-30 and a couple of others, .22 autos and muzzleloaders. It is a real pain being limited to one model and 4 calibers (lefties recite after me - .270, .30-06, 7mm Mag and .300 Mag) in each gun maker's line. Okay, there are a few other options around but you have to hunt high and low. I whine like a 2 year old about this sometimes. Go into a bigger gun store or any gun show and see hundreds of RH bolts to choose from, all calibers, all models, two or three examples of each model in each caliber, then see maybe, maybe, 2 or 3 left handed bolts total. And dollars to donuts they will be a Model 700's or Ruger 77's. I'd give a significant piece of flesh to have an off the rack left hand Model 70 Featherweight. But maybe it's a blessing in disguise. There's 15 long guns in the collection right now, down from a high of about 25 or so. If I were right handed there would probably be four times that many.

I'm right handed, but shoot left, which is right for me. [Linked Image]

It's the left-eye dominant thing. I spent my childhood climbing over the stock to line up the sights with my left-eye.(Try it, I don't know how I hit a thing) I choose to go with left-handed bolts, and the BPS in my shotgun. It ejects the shell out the bottom, so I don't have it flying across my line of sight. As for rifles, I saved my pennies and had one built in .280. As far as I'm concerned, the righties are the odd-balls. [Linked Image]

Two Socks.

Another lefty here. It looks like a very high percentage of those of us who made the big site move are left handed. You don't think there is anything in what the right handers say about us all being flakes? As you might expect of someone who would choose curmudgeon for a handle, I shoot mostly right handed bolt actions. I do have a pump .22 and a Marlin 336, but I've been shooting right handed bolt actions so long they seem normal. After making so many adaptations to a right handed world I can't even use left handed scissors! curmudgeon

Jim,I found a left Win 70 blued/wood in .270 tonight at a local store. Price was $500 (used). It was in perfect condition. It's not the featherweight but close.

There is a Stainless Mod 70 wood stock in 30-06 here for 659.99, I believe that that's the right price. Might be 699.99 but I don't think so. Paul Forgot to tell ya It's new! Sory.[This message has been edited by Paul Walukewicz (edited February 02, 2001).]

Hey Lefties, -- come on down to the Dallas gun shows or the Tulsa, Oklahoma,(worlds largest gun show, two times a year,11 acres under one roof), plenty of left hand shovels. Talker, you don't give up anything with the auto, pumps, or lever guns, except some rare reloading situations and shorter br*** life. As for the left handed bolt guys, how about turning the rifle around, that would put the bolt on the other side and eliminate the problem soon as you push the trigger. [Linked Image]

-- no

NO. I like your Idea but only if I get to rest the barrel on my sholder and you stand behind me(grin)Rember support the second amendment, tell a friend about it.Bullwnkl.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by BW: Talker,I believe there's quite a few of us here. I'm another right-handed person who shoots left-handed due to my left eye being dominate. It even just feels weird to hold a rifle right-handed.I do search out left-handed rifles. I don't care for the "reach over" routine when using right-handed rifles. The lack of a suitable left-handed magnum length action, Winchester M70, in stainless steel, is why I built a 416 Taylor.In the Army, I hated using the brass deflector on the M-16. It seems to "deflect" brass back into the action, causing it to jam. The M16A2's, with the built in deflectors worked well. I got hit in the face more than once by flying brass! [Linked Image]

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Amen to that about M-16's without brass deflectors!!! When I fired for qualification at Fort Knox in 1971 I had hot brass going down the front of my fatigue shirt about every thid shot. Man, was that stuff HOT!I finished the course with my shirt buttoned to the top button and my helmet turned around backwards. It was about 102 degrees that day and my glasses kept fogging up in the warm damp air trapped under the brim of the thing. Talk about shooting with a handicap. It wasn't until later I learned the trick of bending a stripper clip into a makeshift brass deflector...and you are right, they don't always work as advertised. Talker

Need One's right. Some of the actions that suit us lefties are chambered in completely adequate cartridges. Let me put in a good word for the Remington 7600 (or the older 760 if you can find one used) I have found it to be accurate and well suited to left handed operaiton. I still need to do something about that cross bolt safety, though. Mine's in 30-06 because that's all they chamber the 18-1/2 inch carbine for. (Oh yeah, besides being left-handed, my other perversion is a fondness for short barrels.) But I know they do 'em up in .243,.270,.280, and .308 too. Sad to say, the 35 Whelan seems to have been dropped. In the past, the 760 was done in a very fine deer load...300 Savage. But I guess nobody loads that any more. Anybody of the leftie persuasion tried one out or use one? Talker

Gentlemen, chalk in another LH shooting, left eye dominant, natural rightie. My sentiments are the same as Jim in Idaho's: life is too short to fumble around with rightie rifles. But I reserve the right to bitch and moan about the selection. The fact is that lefties are 80% out of the used rifle game.Compounding my difficulties at present is a crazy, hormonal desire for a LH short action in stainless with which to make a .222 Remington. The only one I have seen is Savage's. Why a .222? I'm hung on the notion that I'll get a quieter rifle, and that I have a chance to add a slightly heavier tube and retain sight picture after shooting. 300 yards is plenty of range for me.I have noticed quite a few LHers from other sites. I don't know if we post more (to whine about our predicament) or if there're more of us than I thought.Good shooting to everyone!

Hi there I am also LH I use RH and LH rifles. Started out target shooting with a RH bolt,but when I got into hunting I started looking for something else. I went through the lever and single shot actions ad ended up with a few Weatherby's and a A bolt. The A bolt is the usual LH cal. 7mm and the Weatherby's was the only way to get into the more powerful rifle'sI don't care to much the push feed but there is not much choice. My 416Rigby is a RH ad I shoot it by turning the rifle 90 deg on the shoulder. If only Winchester would get going and build me my 375 Express rifle (Been on order for 2 years)then all would be well.Regards Martin

Talker, -- fast becoming one of my favorite hunting rifles is a 7400 30-06 carbine with the 18" barrel. Since you mentioned it my fathers rifle is a Rem 760 chambered in 300 Savage, bet it didn't shoot three boxes of shells. I let my uncle take it until he passed away and he added a sling and barrel band,(split), never had a scope on it, don't think it was drilled for one from the factory. It can be yours for $350 plus shipping and paperwork. It just sits in the safe and I am the last of the line. -- no

No - hey darlin' when are the gun shows in Big D and in Tulsa? I need to go and spend Marks hard earned money on my shotgun and whatever else I find of interest!!! Toons <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by need one: Hey Lefties, -- come on down to the Dallas gun shows or the Tulsa, Oklahoma,(worlds largest gun show, two times a year,11 acres under one roof), plenty of left hand shovels. Talker, you don't give up anything with the auto, pumps, or lever guns, except some rare reloading situations and shorter br*** life. As for the left handed bolt guys, how about turning the rifle around, that would put the bolt on the other side and eliminate the problem soon as you push the trigger. [Linked Image]

-- no<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>------------------ Don't be ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to think.

I'm not a leftie, but in scanning this board, I'm surprised that rifles like the Ruger #1 do not get more play........ ------------------ Critr <A HREF="http://www.SaguaroSafaris.com" TARGET=_blank>www.SaguaroSafaris.com</A>

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by need one: Talker, -- fast becoming one of my favorite hunting rifles is a 7400 30-06 carbine with the 18" barrel. Since you mentioned it my fathers rifle is a Rem 760 chambered in 300 Savage, bet it didn't shoot three boxes of shells. I let my uncle take it until he passed away and he added a sling and barrel band,(split), never had a scope on it, don't think it was drilled for one from the factory. It can be yours for $350 plus shipping and paperwork. It just sits in the safe and I am the last of the line. -- no<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Why thank you, I'm flattered you'd consider me someone suitable to take custody of your heirloom rifle. I'm afraid it would just sit if I owned it, though. There are more guns in the rack than I have time to shoot now. But if there is someone else on this board looking for a first rate "leftie's gun" Those Remingtons are surprisingly accurate and handy.

I'm not strictly left handed...ambidexterous. I do it both ways, left or right, depending on the situation. Stephanie [Linked Image]

------------------ I may be little but this miss knows her deer!

Toons, -- there is a 1000 table show in Mesquite Big Town,(East Side of Dallas)Feb 10-11. Small show but a good show for me to pick up my kind of fun. The dealer you would be interested in has not made the last two shows, Jon Tomas out of Odessa, he has your kind of shotguns, he is always at the Dallas Market Hall show,(don't know next date now). The next Wanenmacher's show at Tulsa is April 7-8, 3,700 actual tables in one 11 acre room. Featuring Browning Collector's Association. Phone 918-492-0401 or <A HREF="http://www.tulsaarmsshow.com" TARGET=_blank>www.tulsaarmsshow.com</A> ^^^ make reservations very early people come from all over the world. It's in the fairgrounds. -- noPS. This old man is not qualified to write for you, there are many around this campfire much more intelligent and knowledgeable than I. Thank you!! When you put that Bekini on I will come with the multitudes to show my support. Mark, down boy, I'm too old for that exercise stuff, by the time I ran across the street someone would have to call 911. [Linked Image]

-- no

I am a leftie too. I shoot right handed, my right eye is dominant. I actually shoot with both eyes open..another topic.When I started hunting when I was 28 I shot either hand with a shotgun or handgun, but always shot rifles right. As time went on I lost that edge and now only shoot righthanded.FYI: Psychology Today back in the 70's had a lefthanded article. Lefties can do more right handed skills better than righties can do lefthanded skills. However lefties tend to have a higher accident rate with auotmobiles.

Another lefty checking in [Linked Image]

I had to laugh at Jim's recital of ".270, 30-06, 7mm, and 300 Win mag". Granted those calibers will get it done. But what if I want a .257 Roberts, or 25-06, or even a .308? I have two chances that I will find one in a lefty bolt action, those chances are: Fat, and Slim. Take your pick. [Linked Image]

I bought a Rem 760 in .243 last year and I really like this rifle. I have a Savage 110DL in .270 that I have been very pleased with. Prior to that I owned a 788 in 6mm with heavy barrel. Very nice rifle, but the bolt was on the wrong side. I traded it for my .270. I have two children, my son is right handed, but noticably left eye dominant. My daughter is a lefty. Both shoot left handed. I would love to be able to buy a short action M-70, Rem Model 7, or even a Ruger M-77 in a lefthanded action. But my chances are less than slim & Fat. I guess I have whined enough. Incidentally I shoot a handgun right handed, am a switch hitter in Baseball, play golf, raquet ball, tennis and ping-pong righthanded, and kick right footed. Go figure. Mark.

Well,I went through the trouble of getting this picture on the web, so I could post it in the Gunsmithing board. Decided to post it here, just for us lefties. It's my 416 Taylor built on a M70 Classic, and no, it's not for sale! [Linked Image]

------------------ Brian <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/" TARGET=_blank>The 416 Taylor WebPage!</A>

I am right handed but left eye dominant but always shot righty. About 4 years ago my right (shooting) eye quit working so I had to switch to left side shooting, and me, owning 60+ right handed rifles, decided to just "over the top" cycle them instead of going to left side actions. It hasn't been a smooth or very satisfactory transition. I did install Brownell's Big Head safeties on my 870 and 11/48 right hand shotguns which was some help in finding the safety. Ol Grouch

I shoot left.. and am checking in...Shoot right handers, left handers.. single shooters.. whatever... ;-)--Steve

I use Lever guns because they do not hamper me too much. I also have a left-handed Sauer 200 in .308. Semi-autos are another I purchase to compensate for my being left-handed.

Left eye dom. here. For years I got by with righthanded firearms. Finally, about 4 years ago I said "screw it" and began trading my RH bolt actions for LHers. Finished the trades and extra cash out last year (wife really happy nowadays for some reason). My semi-autos were never traded, of course--some could have gone, but who would want to live without a SKS and M7000?------------------ "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." - Tuco, GBU

Yet another lefty checking in. I go out of my way to try to find left handed rifles, or rifles that can easily be used by lefties. I'm a lever action nut, have 7 of them. I like the Wincher 88's because the safety can be easily switched to a left handed shooter. I have 4 left handed bolt actions, 700BDL in 270, Ruger Mark II in 7mag, Model 70 stainless & walnut in 338 and a real rare Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker w/ BOSS in the short action 7mm-08. My shotguns range froma LH Model 1100 in 12ga to 3 Browning BPS in 12's & 20' O/U from Brownings and Beretta, and my favorite a 16ga SXS Parker. I don't feel I'm to handicapped as a lefty, there are lots of firearms out there that we can use very well, although short actions are a real pain in the butt to find. remember this: "A left handed person is always of the right mind".

Checking in on behalf of my 2 year old daughter who is a confirmed southpaw. However, if possible, I would like her to learn to shoot right-handed (so I can justify buying her a gun and then shoot it myself!!!!!!!!)

Don't remember who it was, but as the only LH shooter I only buy long guns with tang safeties: Browning BPS, Mossberg, Savage, and the cowboy leverguns. SKS' don't count. Nor do NEF Handi-Rifles and single shots. FWIW, I do most of my big game hunting with a 4in 44mag. The lack of LH bolt guns and high prices for single shots maybe why I'm more of a handgunner than anything else. Traded a real accurate German M98 Mauser in 8x57 cause it was too awkward. Now I'm considering a Handi-Rifle in 7x57 for my next do it all rifle. $200 and it isn't 243, 270, 30-06, or 7mmRemMag.

I too am left handed. I have Winchester, Remington, Browning, Savage, and Weatherby rifles in left hand actions. I also have some right hand bolt actions in calibers I wanted but they were not avialable in left hand guns. And there is always the lever actions and automatics a few of each that I have purchased. Everytime I have purchased a rifle not one gun dealer had a left hand in stock and they would have to order it. I guess they do not keep left hand guns in stock as they think they may be unable to sell them or they do not sell that well. My favorite hunting rifle is a right hand Winchester Featherweight in 280 caliber.

I'm RH-Left eye dominate. Only my bolt action rifles are LH. I once read that about 17% of the population is left handed. Yet I have never been to a gun dealer whose stock of bolt action rifles consisted of 17% LH rifles. I wonder if all LH shooters asked for and ONLY bought LH bolt actions, would this change? I am sure that if this were to happen, the manufactures would also offer us LH shooters more options. However, shooting LH does save me a lot of money when looking at the used gun rack. TTS

First time on this board. Used to post on Shooters a year or more ago. Left handed and shooting a custom LH "mirror image" Mauser actioned 6.5x55. It cost a lot but was worth every penny. New project is rebarreling a LH Mannlicher Model M from 270 into 8x57. Just read that Sako will be making LH Sako 75s from 2002. Also, Tikka do a good LH rifle in all the calibres their RH range covers. Keep the faith, Deerdogs.

Im a fellow lefty shot and still do Rem. 760,s because of accuracy and handeling qualitys. Have Rem 700,s and one Win LH model 70 both in .375 H&H. Wish some of the better stock makers would have LH bolt action stocks at a reasonable price. Most LH rifles seem to have a tough time selling here in AK, at least that is what dealers tell me. There is a LH model 70 SS in .300 Win here that they have dropped price to $560 from $660. I want one of the new Win. model 70 SS short action magnums! Also I really like the old model 88 Win. but they are to valuable to hunt with.

One of the worst to shoot lefty is a Bushmaster Bull-Pup. A friend had 4 he had to sight in I volunteered to help thinking it wouldn't be THAT bad. Wrong!! I sighted in one and called it quits. I would like a Model 70 in 280 Rem left handed. May just resign myself to buying a (ugh) 270 then ship it off for a change of barrel. Then I would go with the Ackley Improved. Sean