Left handed shooters

Tubby’s Canteen said:

I don’t know any of the rest of you gentleman’s experiences but I’ve found raised cheek pieces to be one of the greatest sources of frustration when dealing with right handed rifles. I’ve bought and sold a large an amount of rifles over the last number of years as I was involved with several gunshows. I try to fire everything I take in to prove function , the BSA safari for example is one right handed rifle which I find extremely uncomfortable to shoot left handed due to the design of the cheek piece. View attachment 789195

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I have noticed that to be the case also, Weatherby’s are no fun either.

Another RH, Left eye dominant shooter here. I have shot RH long guns lefty since I picked up my first. I now own 4 LH bolt actions with the largest caliber being a 375 H&H. Having a LH rifle if you plan on DG is a must. IMO Most of my RH rifles don't have a raised cheek piece so I shoot them ok and fast enough in most cases. As of right now I don't plan on buying any more LH long guns... but plans change sometimes.

I bit the bullet and ordered a Parkwest Sd-97 LH rifle for myself back in May. I figured that you only turn 30 once and I will have it the rest of my life.

My LH Winchesters

Im Right handed but left eye dominant. I use regular righty guns except for bolt actions. Those are the only time handedness really matters.

The only right handed bolt action i can use is a mosin nagant with the original iron sights, because i can work the old straight bolt handle plenty fast by reaching across with my left hand. Any other bolt action the scope gets in the way or the bolt is curved so i can’t get a good grip.

I’m a left handed shooter. All of my hunting guns are left handed. I have two Remington Custom KS Mountain Rifles (1 338 Win & 1 25-06), a Tikka t1x in 17 HMR, another Tikka t3x in 6.5 Manbun, also a Dakota Mod 76 Traveler in 416 Rem. I also have three LH Benellis (2 12ga & 1 20ga).

I am right handed, right eye dominant, but naturally prefer left handed rifle and shotgun shooting… Maybe because my father was left handed, I picked up several left handed or footed activities/preferences. I can shoot a rifle or shotgun right handed, left just feels more natural and I’ve always closed my right eye…

I also have left handed auto-loader shotguns and cast neutral over-under shotguns.

Stag arms AR, benelli SBE II, 2 sakos, a mauser, a CZ, and a Tikka all in lefty.

Tdsmith517 said:

To all those here that are lucky enough to shoot left handed do you use a left handed rifle and if so what is it? I am lefty and for most of my life I shot right handed rifle and shotguns because that is what I had or had access too. My dad is actually also left handed and he doesn’t care for left handed firearms. He has always shot right handed rifles and shotguns off his left shoulder and doesn’t see a reason to change. Up until a few years ago I did the same. That was until I came across a left handed Browning A-bolt in .308. Man did my whole world changed, it was like a breath of fresh air and I just couldn’t stop taking it out of the safe and into the field or the to the range. So to my other lucky lefties out there, do you shot left handed rifles?

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LH rifles I own
Montana Rifle Company Alaskan - 404 Jeffery
Zastava M70 - 9.3x62
Savage 10 - 308
Savage Timberline - 280 AI
Tikka T3X - 6.5x55

"Ambi" rifles
Marlin 1895 GBL
Ruger #1H Tropical - 375 H&H (really it's my wife's, she's also a lefty and was terribly disappointed I couldn't find her a magazine rifle)

Probably for small bores, it doesn't matter much. I've seen Craig Boddington hunt DG with RH rifles, but I've practiced enough with LH rifles I don't need to unshoulder to feed a new round. I would never buy a RH DG rifle.

If I had a double, I'd just have the stock made to fit me shooting left, don't care about which direction the top lever swings. I'm pretty used to using my left thumb to actuate decockers and the like on handguns.

I'm a lefty, but shoot both left and right hand rifles. I had to custom order all my left hand rifles because none were on ever on display at the gun shops. My left hand rifles are Savage 308, Browning 300 Win Mag X-Bolt, Remington 9,3x62, Kelbly 338 Norma Mag.

Right Hand, Left eye dominant

Blaser F3 30 inch barrel left hand palm swell
Beretta 686 left eye cast
Beretta A 400 left hand
Browning 700 6.5 x 284 custom LH
Montana Rifle 1999 300 Win LH
Montana Rifle 1999 6.5 Creed LH
Weatherby .270 Win LH
Parkwest Dark Continent Take Down 300 and 375 H&H. LH
Dakota Arms Model 76 .416 Rigby LH

I have two Zkk 602’s that I can shoot well lefty. The only thing I don’t care for is the one I have a scope on the safety is a bit of a pain. The iron sighted one is no issue. I suppose I should send the off to have 3 position safeties put on.

I'm right-handed but I've had a defective right eye since childhood so I've always shot left since my first Daisy BB gun. When I was a youth, I always shot right-handed rifles & shotguns off my left shoulder because that was what was handed to me by adults.

When I got older, I became really fond of ambidextrous Ruger No 1's (6.5x55, 275 Rigby, 303 British & 9.3x74r) and various 1885's (303 British, 375 H&H, 405 Win & 44 Mag). I have shot deer off of both shoulders with these rifles. The straight-wall 405 Win & 44 Mag are my Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi primitive rifles. Ambidextrous falling-block single-shots work really well for the majority of the hunting that I do.

When I started buying bolt actions, I have always bought left-handed models with zero regrets. My rimfires are Browning T-Bolts in 22LR & 17HMR. I have a Cooper, Sako 85, Steyr CL II, Remington 700 BDL, Winchester 70 Safari Express & Ruger M77 MkII in calibers from 22-250 to 458 Win Mag.

I'm not much of a shotgun guy so I just have an ambidextrous bottom-eject Browning BPS. When I do a multi-day goose hunt, I usually shoot the first day left-handed, the second day right & then back to the left for the last day.

I shoot pistols right-handed and left-eyed. I shoot crossbows left-handed and left-eyed. I shoot compound & recurve bows right-handed and right-eyed because my bad right eye is reasonably functional with a peep sight at close range. If I keep hunting with a bow or decide to increase my current moderate shooting distance, I'll probably switch my bow hunting to left-handed and left-eyed.

My only right-handed rifle is my Wilson Combat Protector Carbine. The AR-15 is such a popular rifle I decided to get the much more common right-handed model.

So my first choice is usually ambidextrous & neutral. My second choice is left-hand specific. Right-handed is avoided with one exception that I debated for a long time.

I’m left handed and left eyed. I shot right handed bolts growing up but once I was able to buy my own I switched to left handed guns mostly. I have savage and Remington stock rifles Blaser rifles and semi custom to full custom built bolt guns and doubles. I shot PRS match’s for a while and when your in weird positions and under a clock it just makes cense to run a left hand bolt. Off of a bench or standing I can run either left or right handed gun just fine. Now I’m into pistol shooting and USPSA matches so I have been going down the rabbit hole of custom 2011 pistols that favor left handed shooting.
Being left handed it is tough sometimes finding guns but in the same breath it saves me from buying guns on a whim when I see deals. Also when I want something I can have it built exactly how I want and not be stuck with a factory option.

Uintaelkhunter said:

I’m left handed and left eyed. I shot right handed bolts growing up but once I was able to buy my own I switched to left handed guns mostly. I have savage and Remington stock rifles Blaser rifles and semi custom to full custom built bolt guns and doubles. I shot PRS match’s for a while and when your in weird positions and under a clock it just makes cense to run a left hand bolt. Off of a bench or standing I can run either left or right handed gun just fine. Now I’m into pistol shooting and USPSA matches so I have been going down the rabbit hole of custom 2011 pistols that favor left handed shooting.
Being left handed it is tough sometimes finding guns but in the same breath it saves me from buying guns on a whim when I see deals. Also when I want something I can have it built exactly how I want and not be stuck with a factory option.

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Woww, great guns!!

Can you tell me more about those Double Rifles?

Thank You

I’ve always wanted to own a Ruger #1, just haven’t found the one that wanted to follow me home. I’ll keep it on my “wish list”

Firebird said:

I’ve always wanted to own a Ruger #1, just haven’t found the one that wanted to follow me home. I’ll keep it on my “wish list”

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No.1s are pretty cool! What sort of No.1 are you wanting to follow you home?

Killo said:

Woww, great guns!!

Can you tell me more about those Double Rifles?

Thank You

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They are both Heym 89b one is a 450-400 the other is a 577 nitro. Not pictured but I also have a 88 b left handed double in 500 nitro.

I'm a lefty and the short answer is I have and do shoot both.
I shot a right handed auto 16 gauge shotgun in high school chasing quail and never noticed the shells zinging past my face. Then in the Air Force, on the admittedly rare times I shot an M-16, they were also right handed for obvious reasons, and I shot better than many of my fellow airmen. But I wil not get cocky there, it's the Air Force, we let our pilots do the shooting with big booms. Ha ha.

Now, onto my current situation. My .22 of choice is a Ruger 10/22, and I have no issues with it. My occasional use of a shotgun is a Remington 870, also right handed eject, fine by me.

As for centerfire rifles, my first one was a Thompson/Center Encore on 30/06. Very ambidextrous until I got a left handed key hole stock. When I wanted something heavier I went out of my way to track down a Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger because Ruger was smart enough to realize they had a market in lefty's for it. The pic below shows it off. My Savage M16 is in lefty in a 7mm-08, and shoots better than me. My two Ruger #1's are in fact right handed with the wall supporting the block blocking the left side, but I still love 'em. One has a right handed cheek piece, I don't care.

I have rented a right handed Ruger M77 in 300 WM and a Mauser in 308 in South Africa to hunt with. I did just fine with them. The animals never knew what had I shot with.

I used right handed guns for years and then brought a left handed Rem CDL in 223 and once I did that I swapped over to all lefty guns !
My main guns I use regularly
Sako 85 9.3x62
Sako 85 22-250AI
Sako 85 270 win
Tikka 300wm
17FB REM 700