- Location
- Haliburton County, Central Ontario
You didn't mention what type of shooting you will be doing. Except for the location of the safety on some models, a lever rifle is ambidextrous, no? Don't rule out the lever rifle...
Left hand rifles
- Thread starter batmanlandry
- Start date
No. But the industry severely underserves the lefty market.
Yes it is. And then some.
You donāt need a left handed rifle. I shoot left handed and have always used right handed rifles. I also outshoot many right handed friends lol. I once bought a lefty 7mm,but could never get used to the bolt on wrong side lol. I would never buy another lefty. I always use bolt actions for hunting as well. Never felt like a disadvantage
It is a disadvantage. On so many levels. Itās not even a fair fight.
Agreed.
john-brennan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island B.C.
This ^^^^^
Scopes are right handed of course. However, Iām good with keeping turrets opposite the loading and ejection port.
Regarding the rifle issue. Decide on a commercially available rifle and cartridge you would like to buy this year. Now go find it in a left handed version.
I have a Tikka T3X .308, it shoots great, trigger is great, action is smooth but it just doesn't fit/feel great to me....I'm certainly not old school or overly experienced but I just don't like the plastic feel and it just doesn't seem to "fit" me. I had a browning X-bolt chambered in .243 that I never got around to hunting with and that felt better when I would shoulder it but given how seldom I actually get a chance to hunt/shoot, I sold it. My favorite rifle I own is my CZ 452 lefty, absolutely love it and I'm likely going to buy a CZ 557 American in left hand and sell the Tikka or drop it in a chassis for the range. Had a chance to handle the CZ at Shot show last year and they have finally made their way to Canada, love the look and feel and if it shoots anything like their rimfires it will be hard to go wrong.
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For those who commenting in this thread who are not left handed shooters / left eye dominant have made comments that are not too relevant to those who are... Most lever guns can be shot by right hand shooters and left hand shooters but they are still designed with the right hand shooter in mind... The 94 has the loading gate on the right side and I'd prefer the 94 with a loading gate on the left side. The BLR has a palm swell that is for the hand of a right hand shooter. One has to check this out to see how it is designed. And the BLR ejects on the right side. I'd like a BLR that ejected on the Left side and had a neutral palm swell or on that favors a left handed shooter. I've spoken to Browning and asked if they'd consider making the BLR this was and they said they didn't think they could sell enough of them to justify building them. There is at least one standard gun that I feel is the only exception of something that his very friendly to a left handed shooter and that is the Browning BPS shotgun - which seems like a gun that was designed for a left handed shooter - due to how it operates.
Yesterday I watched a video of a handicapped shooter who was out with his brother and some friends who pushed out a moose which he shot from the truck. I seen the efforts of the hunt team who pushed the bush and brushed in the truck to enable the handicapped shooter with an opportunity to get his bull moose. He was a left handed shooter but shooting a right handed bolt rifle. and it was evident that it required an extra effort to shoot the right handed bolt rifle. It can be done, but had he used a left handed bolt gun it would have been more user friendly to shoot at the moose. So the video proved that there is a difference in shooting a right handed bolt gun when compared to a left handed bolt gun.
Beyond the 94 and a Ruger 10-22, Cooey 39, and one Savage 22WM - I've always used Left handed bolt guns. Browning made a Semi LH eject but it wasn't offered for too many years so I never obtained one. Too bad as it may have been good to have one... Also I recently compared a Savage Model 16 Weather Warrior 300 WSM to a Browning Hunter Xbolt 300 WSM and a Tikka T3X lite in 300WSM and a Browning BLR 300WSM. The barrels on the Browning and Tikka \rifles were both lite in contour. The Savage had a mid weight contour barrel. I've shot and used the Savage on a lot of occasions and it has enough weight, and a good recoil pad and shoot with less perceived recoil over some 30-06 rifles that I've shot.
From experience I know that mid contour barrels (due to additional weight) are more pleasant to shoot then the same caliber (300WSM) with a light barrel. The rifle with the lighter contour barrel will be lighter to carry but one will feel the recoil when the critical moment arrives. So I'll take a more weighty rifle any day over a lighter rifle. I don't want to punish myself and I can tolerate the heavier weight of a rifle knowing it will be somewhat more pleasant to shoot.
So if I was going to shoot a Tikka in 300 wsm it would likely be the varmint series as it has a heavier barrel. I'm not mountain climbing in my hunts so that's how I piece together what I would prefer. Also, I would prefer to shoot a rifle with a longer barrel to. And the reasons are similar to. Get the velocity potential, less muzzle rise, and may provide some accuracy as it uses up the powder burn efficiently. If one is shooting lighter calibers like a 243, 260, 7mm08, a 308 and possible a 338 federal or 358 winchester then I might opt for a lighter contour - based on the cartridge size.
Browning needs to add a heavier contour barrel that is a bit longer to their line and I'd consider one for sure.
Yesterday I watched a video of a handicapped shooter who was out with his brother and some friends who pushed out a moose which he shot from the truck. I seen the efforts of the hunt team who pushed the bush and brushed in the truck to enable the handicapped shooter with an opportunity to get his bull moose. He was a left handed shooter but shooting a right handed bolt rifle. and it was evident that it required an extra effort to shoot the right handed bolt rifle. It can be done, but had he used a left handed bolt gun it would have been more user friendly to shoot at the moose. So the video proved that there is a difference in shooting a right handed bolt gun when compared to a left handed bolt gun.
Beyond the 94 and a Ruger 10-22, Cooey 39, and one Savage 22WM - I've always used Left handed bolt guns. Browning made a Semi LH eject but it wasn't offered for too many years so I never obtained one. Too bad as it may have been good to have one... Also I recently compared a Savage Model 16 Weather Warrior 300 WSM to a Browning Hunter Xbolt 300 WSM and a Tikka T3X lite in 300WSM and a Browning BLR 300WSM. The barrels on the Browning and Tikka \rifles were both lite in contour. The Savage had a mid weight contour barrel. I've shot and used the Savage on a lot of occasions and it has enough weight, and a good recoil pad and shoot with less perceived recoil over some 30-06 rifles that I've shot.
From experience I know that mid contour barrels (due to additional weight) are more pleasant to shoot then the same caliber (300WSM) with a light barrel. The rifle with the lighter contour barrel will be lighter to carry but one will feel the recoil when the critical moment arrives. So I'll take a more weighty rifle any day over a lighter rifle. I don't want to punish myself and I can tolerate the heavier weight of a rifle knowing it will be somewhat more pleasant to shoot.
So if I was going to shoot a Tikka in 300 wsm it would likely be the varmint series as it has a heavier barrel. I'm not mountain climbing in my hunts so that's how I piece together what I would prefer. Also, I would prefer to shoot a rifle with a longer barrel to. And the reasons are similar to. Get the velocity potential, less muzzle rise, and may provide some accuracy as it uses up the powder burn efficiently. If one is shooting lighter calibers like a 243, 260, 7mm08, a 308 and possible a 338 federal or 358 winchester then I might opt for a lighter contour - based on the cartridge size.
Browning needs to add a heavier contour barrel that is a bit longer to their line and I'd consider one for sure.
Commercially available?
And not have the fun of sourcing every part, no wait timesā¦
As you have mentioned before know Right-handed person is rushing out to buy a left-hand rifle, doubt they are capable of running one truth be told. But I bet you are not too shabby using either?
For the rifle manufacturer, it all comes down to economics.
Only 10% of the population is left handed.
And only 10% of them shoot.
That means that only 1% of the population (read market) is going to purchase left handed firearms. Not enough for them to justify retooling their plants to manufacture more left handed firearms (sadly!)
They do not take into account that closer to 30% of the population is left eye dominant!
Only 10% of the population is left handed.
And only 10% of them shoot.
That means that only 1% of the population (read market) is going to purchase left handed firearms. Not enough for them to justify retooling their plants to manufacture more left handed firearms (sadly!)
They do not take into account that closer to 30% of the population is left eye dominant!
Shooting a left hand Firearm doesnt just mean ergonomics and the manipulation of the bolt or safety selector. It begins with safety of a ruptured case or malfunction that the discharge is away from the shooter . Thats why a person left eye dominate should learn to shoot with the proper tools for the job. I was taught this 40 years ago when Savage was the only left hand rifle and right hand rifles were the norm. The person at the gun shop brought this to my attention since then a few notable gunsmiths comfirmed it by showing these malfunctions . Best advise I was given starting being a gun nut. The rest is finding something that fits proper . Cartridge is secondary they all kill if hit right !
