Right Handed, Left eye dominant - left hand vs right hand rifle

[MANNY82]

I agree with what a lot of guys have said. I am right handed and left eye dominant. And I have been shooting right handed bolt guns from the left shoulder since childhood. My dad realized early on I was uncomfortable with the gun on the right shoulder and just told me to switch. Now I shoot all long guns like that. Only handguns right handed. Never had any issues.

Actually thinking of shooting handgun left as well and seeing how that works out


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[A-R]

I am also cross-dominant, left eye, right hand. I did not know it when I started shooting, so I learned to shoot right-handed. This is less than optimal. Shooting left-handed would have been much better, but I'm not too keen to re-learn everything now. I do train left-handed shooting occasionally, but my abilities are still substantially poorer on that side.

My biggest draw-back is when shooting birds or clays, so that is the first thing I should re-learn left-handed.

Many guns work well when used left-handed, and some don't at all. It also depends on the shooting position. For example, when shooting a bolt action from a bipod (or other front support) it is much faster (and more stable) to operate the bolt with the right hand while holding the pistol grip with the left. Shooting off-hand is the exact opposite, especially if there is a limited time.

The problem is finding left-hand rifles. You just have to take what you can find without being fussy about the caliber or even the configuration. While left-handed actions are somewhat scarce, ambidextrous stocks are quite widely available. So you can make it work even if not always ideally configured.

Semi-auto rifles and shotguns with the cocking lever on the right side of the action should be quite handy to a left-hander, provided the cases are ejected away from his face.

[ABLZA]

Thanks for the responses and I see that I am not alone. Let's say 10% of the world are left-handed but more importantly, about 30% of the world is left-eye dominant. I still think the importers are missing an opportunity here.

[shark_za]

I have sold all my RH rifles and only have true left action ones now.

Tikka, Zastava, SAKO, Ruger all make and bring in LH options to SA in many caliber choices.

6.5x55 and 9.3x62 for example, not only limited to .30-06 .270 and .308 anymore.

[ady]

Magnum magazine published a article some time back about the dangers of shooting a RH action out the left shoulder. Like we are doing.

The problem was if something went wrong. For a RH shooting shooting out the right shoulder, gave the shooter some protection if something went wrong in the chamber.

Having the rifle in your LH shoulder puts the shooters face right next to the action and directly in the path of a kaboom.

It is probably rare, but a possibility. Having said that, i don't know if i have to co-ordination to work a bolt with my left hand

[Peter Wells]

There are a number of off-the-shelf left-handed rifles/models available. I have A LH Reminton 700 in .308w and LH Ruger M77 African in .375 Ruger. Others are RH But in a normal hinting situation speed loading is not s requirement.

[A-R]

Lever actions and single shots (other than bolt action single shots) are mostly ambidextrous. The Ruger No.1 is a prime example.

[Brenneke]

Perhaps one day HOWA will manufacture a left hand rifle / action ?
Probably only need to set up machines for a one month production run -- for the whole year.
You really only need a good properly made ambidextrous stock ( no monte-carlo / comb / cheekpiece ) -- I think that the HOGUE meets this criteria.

IF SA legislation was not a problem you could buy an old rifle just for the action and rebuild it.
R30,000.00 seems excessive to me -- unless you want an old style -- "African Classic" of H&H variety

IF you have done this from young then not a problem if later due to injuries then some practise is needed.
Not insurmountable

[MJC]

I am also right handed but left eye dominant.

I purchased a "standard" right handed bolt action rifle (1st rifle) and I've never had issues. And I've shot it a lot. Range and hunting.

Breaking your support hand grip to cycle the bolt isn't ideal but you'll get used to it with time.