I am righty
Son is Leftie, he is 12yo, he is on a single shot for now but wants a repeater such as a bolt action
Someone suggested I just give him a right handed rifle with a straight stock,
What do you guys think?
Good question. If he has to shoot left handed, set him up as a lefty with left hand rifles. Find out if he has to shoot that way, if he is left eye dominate. If he is just left side strong, I would set him up as a righty. He is young enough for it to take hold with a lot of practice. It’s not like he is in his 30s and just learning the fundamentals. I don’t know why anyone would choose left over right if it’s not necessary. I have to shoot left handed and my dad was right and had many right hand friendly guns. He set me up with left hand equipment and I still enjoy the rifles I inherited from him. When you’re at the range, it doesn’t matter if it’s a right or left hand, only when it’s a practical sporting rifle is when it has a real advantage.
My nephew is a lefty and he couldn't find a bolt rifle he liked. So he went with a Rem pump in 270. He is deadly with it so that may be an option.
If he's left eye dominant then set him up with proper lefty equipment.
There's bolt rifles but don't overlook leveraction high performance rifles like the Savage 99, Browning BLR, and Henry longranger.
If you feel changing him to shoot right handed will screw him up, then set him up with a left hand bolt. You will find plenty of people here that will say they shoot right hand rifles left handed and have no problem. I disagree with that. I think form and function are the most important. It could be that’s how I was raised. When I started shooting, the eye problem I have was discovered. I had a Chipmunk rifle from Medford, OR and all they came in was right handed. I think it bugged my dad to see me work the bolt on the wrong side, plus he was a perfectionist and saw that form and technique sloppy or backwards and set me up over the years with Varmints, big game and rimfires in left hand bolt. When I got into bow hunting, I went with a left hand bow for those reasons and taught myself how to do it as my family wasn’t into that. The reason I say go right handed with him if he can is because everything in the outdoors is set up for them. Even range finding binos. It would be cool if he could shoot ambidextrously. I see advantages there. I am right side strong but shoot rifles left handed. Pistols I was always taught to shoot an equal amount of strong side and weak side, so I can’t say which one is better or worse for me. I have both right and left side holsters and feel equally as confident in both sides.
I am righty
Son is Leftie, he is 12yo, he is on a single shot for now but wants a repeater such as a bolt action
Someone suggested I just give him a right handed rifle with a straight stock,
What do you guys think?
I’m left handed and left eye dominant. My dad started me with a Winchester 94 (pre 64) and right handed bolts. The Winchester was fine and the right handed bolts worked. One thing about lefties we can adapt, we do it our entire lives. When I got my first left hand bolt action it was natural. All that to say go by eye dominance not handed ness.
First, determine eye dominance. Second, gear him up, train him up to shoot to the dominant eye.
Though it's harder to find rifles, especially anything that's a good deal, I'd get him LH rifles. I can understand the allure of easier sourcing/better prices, as I am RH but both of my kids shoot LH due to eye dominance.
Though it's harder to find rifles, especially anything that's a good deal, I'd get him LH rifles. I can understand the allure of easier sourcing/better prices, as I am RH but both of my kids shoot LH due to eye dominance.
Agree, and same here with both of mine shooting lefty.
I'am just a little left eye dominate but shot for decades right handed.....over the years had several injuries to my right arm and shoulder and had to shoot after the injury left handed....
Been lucky to be able to shoot right or left it doest matter to me....last year shot 2 bucks left handed it was easer to take the shot right handed would have needed to move a lot more the take the shot.....it really don't matter its much better to be able to shoot with either side starting young makes it very easy ......
First, determine eye dominance. Second, gear him up, train him up to shoot to the dominant eye.
Yep.
If he's a lefty but right eye dominate, teach him to shoot right handed. Lefties are very adaptable because it's a right handed world we live in. At 12 he'll learn quick.
On the other hand, it he's lefty/LED teach him to shoot left handed. There are plenty left handed guns available these days.
In either case, teach him to shoot with both eyes open if at all possible. He'll be much better with shotguns and handguns in the long run.
Go with the dominant eye and forget all the other stuff, please. My mother still feels her biggest fault is that I'm left-handed. She tried everything to change me - even getting my kindergarten teacher to keep sticking that fat pencil in the wrong hand. I still hold my paper like a right-hander because I couldn't hide that. If he's built to shoot lefty, please stop worrying about it yesterday and get him the right (lefty) stuff.
Thanks,
Rant over.
I've shot left-handed all my life (70 years old this month) and never owned a left-handed rifle except for a few custom flintlock rifles. I understand Bill Ruger shot left-handed and kept shooting right-handed rifles that way even after his company started making lefty rifles. Once you get use to shooting that way, it's no big deal. The problem I have with left-handed rifles is the limited cartridge selection, they usually only come in vanilla cartridges.
I'd suggest a LH bolt action, or else a lever or pump.
I'm LH. Dad gave me a RH Winchester 670A rifle in 243 when I was 14 or so. I hunted with it, killed with it, but never bonded with it.
When I was a young adult, I sent it down the road with no sense of sentimental value whatsoever. Then I bought some LH rifles (Rem 700's).
Now at the age of 60, I have a couple RH bolt actions in my inventory. I use them, but with a underlying sense of dissatisfaction. I just BS myself and say it's not that big of a deal.
If I had a LH child I would get them a LH rifle for safety. I cringe when I see a leftie shooting a RH rifle. Lefties shooting a RH rifle face is exposed to gasses if something goes wrong.
Left handed rifles are out there. They may not be something you can get immediately or in a few days like right hand models, but I have about 15 left hand rifles and they’re in a wide range of calibers from 300 WBY to 22 K Hornet and rimfires in 22lr and 22WMR. The wait means ordering or building them. Either choice is not the end of the world. Cooper makes everything in left hand, Stag as well. Ruger just started making the 10/22 in left hand. Some of my rifles are off the shelf like the A Bolt & Anschutz, and others are custom 700s and 40X. You can find a left hand 700 action kind of easily. Twice I bought M700s for $500 just for the actions and sold off the stocks for around 50 dollars each. Pistols like the FN FNX, Walther M1s and a lot of H&K are truly ambidextrous with the slide lock, mag release (either European or American) and safety/decocker on both sides. That’s how I choose semi auto pistols anymore. Shotguns like the Browning BPS eject out of the bottom and I have two of them. Mossberg, Beretta, Benelli and Remington have left hand models.
Find him a left hand rifle. Period. End of story.
Shot RH bolt guns for a good many years, awkward as could be. Bought first LH about 25 years ago, ditched the rightys and never looked back.
Alternately, a pump or semi would work OK too, just switch the safety.
I've got a nice T3 Tikka in LH 30/06 SS. It will last him a lifetime.
PM me if interested
I don't know, my son was ambidextrous until high school, I originally bought him a '99 Savage in .308, when he was 11, but as he grew he kept using, more and more, my right hand bolt guns. When I offered to buy him a left hand of his choice for high school grad gift, he declined and asked for a new Stihl 046 instead. He shoots RH guns to this day and does not feel it's a handicap. He leaves the butt in his shoulder pocket, rolls the rifle to the left and works the bolt damn fast and smooth. He still shoots shotguns ambidextrously, I suppose he may have a dominant eye, but I don't know which one. So, I am kind of the skool, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...so I never tried to influence him one way or the other.
Left handed, left eye dominant here that grew up with nothing but right handed rifles and shotguns. I would set him up with left handed firearms. Easier and safer. My two cents.
Even leverguns and pumps are made for right handed people.
Get him a proper lefty bolt gun and be done with it.
I’m ambidextrous, started life a lefty, but the Holy Sisters we’re having none of that, so now predominantly right handed.
When I shoot my right handed stuff with my left side just to stay in practice, it’s overly complicated.
He is lefty all they way, we aren’t going to try to switch him
Just should he have to bolt in his face
The vast majority here say get him a lefty rifle
He already got sparks in the face from a righty 22lr bolt action
Thank you for all the responses
First, determine eye dominance. Second, gear him up, train him up to shoot to the dominant eye.
Yes.
I'd suggest a LH bolt action, or else a lever or pump.
I'm LH. Dad gave me a RH Winchester 670A rifle in 243 when I was 14 or so. I hunted with it, killed with it, but never bonded with it.
When I was a young adult, I sent it down the road with no sense of sentimental value whatsoever. Then I bought some LH rifles (Rem 700's).
Now at the age of 60, I have a couple RH bolt actions in my inventory. I use them, but with a underlying sense of dissatisfaction. I just BS myself and say it's not that big of a deal.
Yes, all of it.
Lefties have never had it so good. It's a righty world for sure but there are a multitude of well made rifles available to a lefty. The only compromise we have to make is with certain actions or certain cartridges. For game, big or small, we have good options.
Go left handed (or neutral ie lever, single shot) from the start.
You can buy a lot of LH rifles for the price of one eye!
My younger brother shoots lefty. He has tried just about everything; levers, pumps, semi-autos that are supposed to be ambidextrous, but he never really liked any of them. He even tried a left-handed bolt rifle, but it didn't work well for him either.
While things are somewhat better, options for rifles and cartridges are very limited for left handed guns. Many are shown in catalogs, not so much in the real world. He finally decided it was more important to get the rifle he wanted, in the cartridge he liked, even if the bolt handle was on the wrong side. He isn't handicapped in the least. In fact it is an advantage shooting at the firing range off a bench.
My son is left handed also.
He’s shooting my BL22 for now. He’s not ready yet to receive his late grandfathers 300 savage 99. Too young for that recoil still. I’m looking for a left handed bolt action in 223 for him (and me) to fill the gap. Been a lefty all my life myself and have never owned a right handed bolt gun. I like the idea of the ambidextrous firearms. My seldom used 12g is an old Ithaca model 37 pump with bottom ejection. Quite often, left handed firearms are a special order in my area. When your a lefty, it’s worth the wait to get the proper left handed gun and not force yourself or your children do develop incorrect shooting techniques by forcing them to use the wrong handed gun. Start them off properly when they're young and they will learn proper techniques and skills that last their lifetime.