South paw shooters, where do you get your guns?

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gobigorgohome

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I shoot left and before people start telling me to just learn how to shoot right or shoot a right handed gun... I'm blind in the right eye and have no choice but to shoot left! Here's my question, where sk you find your guns? And I'm not talking about regular calibers like 223 or 270, but what make/model in a left hand was ever produced in 17 rem, 222 rem, 22 hornet, 17 hornet, 22-243, 220 swift, 375 hh, etc. calibers like that I haven't even been able to find. And when it does come to common calibers with 270 and 243, etc. what rifles are you shooting and why do you like them?
 
I shoot left handed. Always shoot right handed guns. Why? Because left handed guns feel really awkward. They are also limited in selection, expensive, and never in stock. Can also shoot a bolt action a heck of a lot faster this way then you would "the right way"

As for a store Northpro sports in Saskatoon.
 
pump action and lever actions can be shot as left handed without any inconvenience. I actually wouldn't want a gun like that ejecting to a side I can't keep an eye on.
with semi-autos, you should for sure have shooting glasses if you shoot left handed.
I find left hand guns a novelty, and do not feel disadvantaged to have shoot a right hand bolt action.
You'll get used to it pretty fast.
But, if you really want left handed guns, putting WTB ads on the EE is probably the best way to find them.
good luck
 
Nother lefty who shoots right, for basically same reasons as mentioned above. The only left handed rifle I bought was a Cooper from Prophet River (I know it's AB), they seem to have a good stock of lefty rifles in normal and oddball calibers. Would love a lefty 1911, but a true south paw gun is crazy money.
 
There are some shooting disciplines that are by far best carried out using your most natural body stance. Shooting a single deer off hand is one thing, but spend hours and hours at a pistol range shooting a bullseye sport is another. Also in F class TR discipline, reaching over the rifle using a wrong handed rifle disturbs the shooting position tremendously as the elbows have to be moved to work the action. Winchester and Marlin along with other lever gun manufacturers are pretty much ambidextrous hunting rifles from the get go too. Especially so the older Winchester repeating lever rifles with top eject, as there is nothing more unbiased in such a very mature rifle design. Of course they are not optics friendly either.

Notice I did not mention semi-autos. Only the ejected hot brass is a concern for most of us.

One will also discover that making do with a right hand bolt rifle, then switching over to a left handed bolt action rifle, how better and more comfortable your body muscles react. It's called ergonomics.

Usually the very mature shotgun sports already have a work around such as cast off or cast neutral etc. Especially so with the better double barreled hinge actions. And the bottom feed and eject Browning and Ithaca pump guns are pretty much ambidextrous, excluding the safety.

My list for a RH person with left eye dominance:

-Hammerli Model 150 22 target pistol with LH Morini aftermarket grip
-Remington 788, LH bolt, RH port (mine is 308, also came in 6mm Remington)
-Remington 700 heavy barrel Varmint, LH bolt, LH port (mine in 308, also chambered in 243)
-Browning Micro Hunter LH bolt, LH port (22 Hornet repeater)
-Wichita 1375 target rifle, LH bolt, LH port (308 bolt face)
-Various M37 Ithaca Featherlight shotguns, bottom feed, bottom eject

Yes, it's harder to find these when they are no longer in production.
 
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gobigorgohome said:
I shoot left and before people start telling me to just learn how to shoot right or shoot a right handed gun... I'm blind in the right eye and have no choice but to shoot left! Here's my question, where sk you find your guns? And I'm not talking about regular calibers like 223 or 270, but what make/model in a left hand was ever produced in 17 rem, 222 rem, 22 hornet, 17 hornet, 22-243, 220 swift, 375 hh, etc. calibers like that I haven't even been able to find. And when it does come to common calibers with 270 and 243, etc. what rifles are you shooting and why do you like them?
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Don't feel bad, left- handed rifles are not as common as right- handed, but you will find more than enough for your needs.
As previously noted, levers and pumps are ambidextrous, and almost all manufacturers make left- handed bolt rifles.

Tikka, Savage, Remington, Zastava and many others...


POST NUMBER 2000, officially 'I have no life'. Laugh2
 
hometownhero said:
I shoot left handed. Always shoot right handed guns. Why? Because left handed guns feel really awkward. They are also limited in selection, expensive, and never in stock. Can also shoot a bolt action a heck of a lot faster this way then you would "the right way"

.
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True dat!
...
Same here.....
 
I'm a south paw and have dozens of left handed bolt actions. They are as natural for me to shoot as a right handed one is to a right hander. I have personally never heard a right handed person complain about shooting a right handed bolt action and wanted a left handed bolt action because the right handed ones are "awkward". You can get left handed ones very reasonably priced if budget conscious or the moon if funds are unlimited. Offerings off the shelf range from simple .22s to .458 Win. Mag.
 
I also shoot left handed because I am blind in my right eye. When I was little kid I used to shoot right handed with my face way back on the stock, it was awkward but it worked. Now I shoot left handed with left handed rifles, Sako, Remington, and a Tikka. My brother also if left handed and shoots a left hand A bolt.
Treat yourself a nice left handed rifle. Left handed guns are much easier to shoot for a left handed person.
 
Check out a budget friendly tikka. Good selection on caliber as well. Just might have to be a special order. I have dealt with Prophet River and those guys are quality.
I chose a Thompson Encore/pro hunter. You can get a wide range of barrels, and when you pass it on, your right handed kin can enjoy "DAD'S"
gun. (these can be reloaded surprisingly fast with practice)
Just my two cents.
 
Left hander here. I grew up shooting my father's bolt rifles. Some of them were my grandfather's. Now they live in my safe. And you guessed it, they're all right handed. I've learned to use my right hand to oparate the bolt. I think some people try to reach over and i can't stand that. When I buy myself a long gun I look for stuff that seems to work for me.

For example my brother's Benelli 12ga has the slide release in a place where it's a PITA for me, same for the safety. My Mossberg has the controls where I can naturally hit them.

If you learn to use right handed guns left handedly it will also make it easier to shoot other people's guns. Same for me as with guitar, I thought about learning left handed but then I couldn't play any of my friend's guitar's and I'd have to make sure I always had mine in case we decided to play.

TLDR: Learn to shoot right handed guns left handed.
 
hometownhero said:
I shoot left handed. Always shoot right handed guns. Why? Because left handed guns feel really awkward. They are also limited in selection, expensive, and never in stock. Can also shoot a bolt action a heck of a lot faster this way then you would "the right way"



x1


I'm a south paw and have always learned to shoot with R/H bolt action (semi auto, especially bullpups can be a different story) firearms, and it becomes very natural. They are cheaper to buy and sell. You always seem to end up with a firearm or few that weren't what you really wanted so its nice to be able to sell easily.

Where I find a R/H bolt gun is better for us south paws than R/H shooters, is shooting and hunting prone off a bipod. Its like having your own custom right bolt/right port rifle.
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Pretty much all the major manufacturers produce vanilla flavored lefties, your choice depending on what features you like and what fits. Most of my LH bolts are Remington M700. Why? I like the actions/rifles, they were relatively easy to find used and they are good candidates for barrel swaps, ie: gunsmiths are very familiar with them and installing a non vanilla chambered barrel is easy.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced off the shelf lefty in something other than 270, 30-06 etc. Tikka produces the lefty in a larger number of chamberings than most. That is where I would look first. You will probably still have to order it though, unless by some fluke you found an oddball on a rack somewhere.

If you can afford to spend premium dollars for your firearms then Blaser or Sauer might be worth looking at. A left handed action does not limit the caliber choice, just keep buying the barrels you want, although the barrels alone are more than a plane Jane M700. Cooper also will produce just about anything you desire in left hand I believe.

As far as where to find them in SK I can't help, but as someone above mentioned Prophet River usually carry a number of left handers, both new and on consignment. Keep an eye out on the EE, and you might want to get a subscription to Canadian Access to Firearms. Dealers from across Canada advertise through it and there are always a number of lefties listed in it.

If you really have an itch for "different" chambering that you can't find off the shelf you might be stuck with buying a cheap donor, say Rem. or Savage, having a 'smith rebarrel it. You could keep the original stock or, if not to your liking, throw something like a Boyd's on it. More expensive than buying off the shelf but you would end up with a semi custom that would hopefully shoot at least a little better than a factory barreled rifle.

My 2 cents, hope it helps.
 
We all just get by with whatever is handy and inexpensive IMO.

This is rarely an issue with the occasional big game harvest or the killing pattern of our favorite shotgun. But more numerous varmint shooting and dedicated target shooting exposes the real truth.

True ergonomics are what the body is designed to work with, day in and day out.
 
hometownhero said:
I shoot left handed. Always shoot right handed guns. Why? Because left handed guns feel really awkward. They are also limited in selection, expensive, and never in stock. Can also shoot a bolt action a heck of a lot faster this way then you would "the right way"


I'm in the same boat. Agree ^. After decades upon decades of shooting right hand rifles left handed, I finally bought my self a brand new X-bolt left hand. I sold it soon after. It just didn't feel right and I soon found out that my "frozen shoulder" would not allow me to cycle the action without sever pain. Some old dogs just can't learn new tricks, I guess I am one of them.
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I'm a south paw and I recently bought a Zastava 98 lh in 6.5x55 and really like it. Take a look at Tradex (click on banner above)and enter left hand in their search box. They have quite a few in calibers from 243 to 458 win. Nothing like a Mauser 98 action. Great people to deal with too.
 
hometownhero said:
I shoot left handed. Always shoot right handed guns. Why? Because left handed guns feel really awkward. They are also limited in selection, expensive, and never in stock. Can also shoot a bolt action a heck of a lot faster this way then you would "the right way".
Click to expand...

THIS! I am as left as can be and I have never and will never own a left handed gun. No point really. Difficult to find and even more difficult to get rid of.

Adapt and overcome. Learn to use a regular gun left handed.
 
Since just about every manufacturer has a website finding out who makes what is easy. Now just about any gun store worth dealing with will order in any rifle you can think of, you just have to wait for it to arrive.

It is the same with right handed firearms, I have waited over 2 years for some because the distributor/importer is usually the one that is the problem in our country
 
As has been stated here, most of the mfg's have a selection of rifles in left hand.

While (we) sell rifles where I work (and I order what we sell) I don't, as a standard practice, bring in ANY left handed rifles (do keep a few shotguns, but no rifles) - market is just way too small and I would have to "guess" what to bring in - so do it all by special order.

On a positive note, at just about any point during the year, the major wholesaler's almost always have left hand rifles in stock - long after the right handed counterparts have gone on "back-order".

Just have to find a shop/supplier who is willing to either pick up the phone or log on to their on-line order screen and bring one in for you..
 
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