Left Handed Shooter

[Ozzi]

Hi All,

I'm new to the sport, I'm still awaiting for my PAL, and RPAL to get through the approval process. Anyways i'm just starting to look into my first purchase. I'm left handed, and left eye dominant.

Does anyone have any suggestions for left handed/friendly rifles? I'm looking into shooting mostly target, but I do have some friends that hunt, and i'll be doing the Ontario Hunter Education course next month in order to hopefully join them in the fall for a trip.

I'm just looking for suggestions from other lefties. What do you all use? Do you find you have issues with other firearms vs. others? (hot brass shooting out, mag release, safety etc.)

[edgy]

Welcome to the forums, as a fellow lefty I have never had a problem shooting a traditional " right handed" firearm, and have never went out of my way to look specifically for a lefty. They are out there, from shotguns to rifles, hell you can even get left handed uppers for an AR if you so chose. I do have one lefty, a Savage 110 in .270, my hunting rifle, but that was a gift from a good friend that belonged to his father, so I use it out of respect lol.
The one thing I will mention is as far as shotguns go, I do prefer a " tang" safety as opposed to a cross bolt,, cross bolts just don't seem to work that well,, for me at least, so I tend to stick to Browning BPS, or Mossberg shotguns because of that.
To be honest, when it comes to a bolt action, I actually prefer a righty because I don't have to take my left hand away to cycle the bolt.

[shawn]

Stick with right hand guns.

They are cheaper, available everywhere and parts are available. I am also a lefty, I have never hand a issue with "normal" guns, including my 20 years in the CF

Shawn

[Corry]

As a lefty myself I've found a few friendly firearms

For shotguns Mossberg 500s are great

For handguns a Ruger SR series

For rifels I prefer semi autos because you only reach over once every 5 rounds and arent spending extra on left bolt actions

[macaufoto]

no big different for rifle, but if you are looking for pistol, make sure you pick one capable to swap mag release to the right side.

[shawn]

no big different for rifle, but if you are looking for pistol, make sure you pick one capable to swap mag release to the right side.

Not required, its easier and in some cases faster to just use your index finger to drop it

Shawn

[edgy]

Not required, its easier and in some cases faster to just use your index finger to drop it

Shawn

Yup, gotta agree, once you are used to it,, it just becomes second nature, never felt the need to swap the mag release on any pistol

[CV32]

Hi All, I'm new to the sport, I'm still awaiting for my PAL, and RPAL to get through the approval process. Anyways i'm just starting to look into my first purchase. I'm left handed, and left eye dominant. Does anyone have any suggestions for left handed/friendly rifles? I'm looking into shooting mostly target, but I do have some friends that hunt, and i'll be doing the Ontario Hunter Education course next month in order to hopefully join them in the fall for a trip. I'm just looking for suggestions from other lefties. What do you all use? Do you find you have issues with other firearms vs. others? (hot brass shooting out, mag release, safety etc.)

I am right handed, left eye dominant. I will usually shoot handguns left handed (though I am just as capable of shooting them right handed). I have many rifles in both flavours (right and left hand), but I prefer the lefties by far and if a firearm can be obtained in left hand configuration, that's the one I will get. (Tikka/Sako and CZ are my favourites in this respect.) The difference is more pronounced in some semi-automatic firearms, usually because of brass ejection/propellant gas issues. My best advice is to try a few firearms in both configurations, and see what feels more natural.

[Willy Tincup]

So far most of the talk has been about handguns and rifles. Shotguns are another story because of the stock casting. Cast off for righties and cast on for lefties. Its a problem trying to shoot a shotgun with a lot of cast off from the left shoulder. Left handed or cast on guns are hard to find in a used one so unless you want to spend big bucks buying a new left handed one [especially over/ under style] then look for one that is fairly straight or neutral, and certainly best to handle and shoulder any shotgun for fit before buying.

[dm9]

I'm a lefty. If a firearm I am interested in comes in a left hand model or offers ambi capabilities, that would be my pick.