Anyone have experience shooting left-handed shotguns?

Southpaw in NL

Southpaw in NL

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I'm a southpaw and have been shooting right-handed guns my entire life, so I'm *REALLY* curious to try shooting a shotgun that's been formally designed for us deviant left-handers... Anyone care to relate their experience and/or perception of shooting purpose built left-handed shotguns?
 
cosmic said:
I'm a southpaw and shoot right handed, due to the fact that I'm right eye dominant. How about you??
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A co-worker shot a right handed rifle from his left shoulder for many years..
Until he found one in a left handed version.
Went from 30:06 to 7mm if that means anything to you.
So yes, you can shoot a right handed action as a lefty and prolly visa-versa.
Rob
 
For me there are pros and cons of both. I shoot left, but currently all my shotguns are RH. For quick single loading i like having the ejection port facing me. However from a safety perspective the election port facing me is a bad thing.

RH guns also eject across your face, some find that distracting. I personally don't notice it in the heat of the moment.

Beyond that its hard to say. Controls are different on every gun, and that will be a big factor. As an example I hate RH cross bolt safeties, so I bought a Mossberg 500. My semi auto has a cross bolt safety, still haven't done anything about that one. But others have no issues with a wrong-handed cross bolt safety.
 
I am a lefty and all my most often used shotguns are SxS or O/U. The exceptions are one left hand SBII Benelli for waterfowl and a couple of bottom eject Ithaca pumps. I will not shoot anything that ejects across my face. Gas and powder is bad enough, but if you have a catastrophic failure having the ejection port right in front of your face is a very bad idea
 
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I bought one left handed rifle 20 years ago, only left handed rifle I ever bought.

There weren't a lot of left handed options locally in NL at that point.

Only downside is most accessories were still set up right handed. Scope flip caps used to catch my thumb while operating the bolt and either cut my thumb or pull the cap off for example.

For shotguns, I've only ever used RH pump actions but with no ejection issues. I probably would go left for semi auto though as they seem to be much more forceful and unpredictable.

I did consider a Browning BPS at one point, I believe they were bottom eject but I just couldn't justify the extra money when I could get a decent pump action for at least $300 less at the time.
 
I'm ambidextrous. For 95% of my shooting I use my right hand because most left handed guns are more expensive. I occasionally keep my left handed shooting "up to date" from time to time and I did buy a Fabarm semi auto in lefty because of a wicked sale. It shoots great. No complaints. Beautiful gun.
 
I'm a lefty and shoot almost exclusively LH firearms when I can.

For shotguns, I have
LH A400 Xplor
LH 725 Sporting
LH 694 Sporting

The A400 fit me great out of the box. With the left side ejection port, its nice not having shells fly across your face/vision.
 
The 725 and 694 both have LH palm swells which feel great in the hands. The 725 also has the LH opening lever while the 694 does not. Having the 725 first and shooting 10k+ rounds through it before I got the 694, I definitely prefer the LH lever but you can get used to both.
 
Never felt the need for a left handed shotgun per se, right handed pumps and semis have always worked for me, don’t find the hulls ejecting to be a distraction in any way personally. That being said, I do enjoy bottom eject Browning BPS shotguns and own a couple. I’m sure I will own a lefty shotgun some day when the right one catches my eye 👍
 
cosmic said:
I'm a southpaw and shoot right handed, due to the fact that I'm right eye dominant. How about you??
Click to expand...
WOW – I'm impressed... As a lefty through and through, I can't even legibly scrawl my own bloody name with my right hand!

That said, I too am right eye dominant, but that's something I've only noticed in my old age – i.e. ever since my old man bought me a 20ga Winchester pump shotgun for my 14th birthday (35 years ago now!) I've ALWAYS instinctively shot off my left shoulder.

Over the past 5-7 yrs, however, my right eye has become increasingly dominant, resulting in some SERIOUS frustration when hunting.

I did, however, recently come across a new "gizmo" that's supposed to do WONDERS for us cross-eye dominant folks... and it DOES NOT involve blocking out eye in any way... Right now there is only ONE Canadian distributor for the product (and frankly, I'm quite sure that one could DIY this trick VERY EASILY!), but check it out:

Here's the product website: https://www.shootsp.co.uk/the-future-of-shooting/

And here's an article on hgow it works from Shotgun Life magazine: https://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns/shootsp.html
 
XLNC said:
I'm a lefty and shoot almost exclusively LH firearms when I can.

For shotguns, I have
LH A400 Xplor
LH 725 Sporting
LH 694 Sporting

The A400 fit me great out of the box. With the left side ejection port, its nice not having shells fly across your face/vision.
 
The 725 and 694 both have LH palm swells which feel great in the hands. The 725 also has the LH opening lever while the 694 does not. Having the 725 first and shooting 10k+ rounds through it before I got the 694, I definitely prefer the LH lever but you can get used to both.
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Ironically, I've been looking at all three of these models – along with the Beretta Silver Pidgeon, and the Benelli 828U (and/or a LH M2 – if I can bloody well find one... I tend to be hard on gear, so I like the "workhorse" qualities of the M2 for that reason)...

It seems trivial, I realize, but now that I'm shooting an O/U designed for a right-hander, I'd really like to shoot a devoted LH O/U, so a LH Citori (which I believe Browning only started releasing over the past 5yrs, and thus it would probably be a 725 or 825, I reckon) is *EXACTLY* what I have my sites set on (so to speak...)

That';s actually part of the reason I joined CGN – I've been obsessively checking used inventory at certain gun shops across Canada, so I figured that the 'Equipment Exchange' section might be a useful alternative!

Many thanks...
 
Well - Eye dominance aside, cast is a consideration when choosing a shotgun. Cheaper models are universal, ie neutral cast. When you get into Browning Citori's and Beretta 686's, you can get either left or right hand cast. Many semis come with shims that allow one to adjust for cast and drop.
 
Some left hand O/U shotguns ,like some Citori models ,only have a left hand palm swell, but neutral cast, while others have a left hand cast as well. Many older O/U models are neutral cast, and no palm swell, so no real difference for left or right hand. I would never own a semi auto that exposes my face to the ejection port, in case of a case rupture. As far as dominant eye goes, I can't imagine shooting off of my non dominant shoulder, but that is just me. Most of my left handed friends shoot left handed clays guns, but neutral O/U shotguns for hunting.
 
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I’m a lefty and bought a left eject franchi affinity 3. Nice shotgun. Semi auto is nice to eject on the left . I have pump shotguns for right handers that work just fine
 
If looking at pump action shotguns, you could go with the Browning BPS as it’s essentially ambidextrous with its bottom ejection, no port on either side. My wife shoots lefty so when I got her a 20ga that’s the route I went as aside to find than left handed anything else but then I could comfortably shoot it as well (I’m right handed).
 
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