[Evyl Robot]

Hello, all!

I have been wondering if there is any advice I can give my son and some other left-handers that I know. Any south-paw shooters out there care to give some tips that I can pass along?

http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/41915/2787752720098336179S500x500Q85.jpg

Thanks in advance!

--Michael

[Checkman]

From a south paw,

Practice using the right hand for shooting as well. It's taken me a couple years to get some type of skill with my weak right hand.

Dry fire practice is a big help. Buy a couple dozen snap caps so they can practice loading as well. Lefties have to transfer the revolver to the right hand to reload. It takes practice to get competent with the drill. It feels awkward at first.

In addition to dry fire practice presenting and holstering the weapon without looking at it. Practice presenting the weapon from awkward positions like sitting in a car. Make sure the weapon is either empty or loaded with Snap Caps before doing this training.

It's a little harder for us Lefties. The manufactuers treat us as an afterthought, but I've gathered a pretty good collection of left handed holsters etc. Just takes a little longer.

No doubt there will be others with better or more complete information.

[loneviking]

There are left handed revolvers, just search for 'em online. The cylinder opens on the right side of the gun. I'm a southpaw, and I find revolvers to be much easier and friendlier. There are ambidextrous autos such as the CZ 82 in 9mm Makarov, and the CZ 85 in 9mm Luger, but most autos aren't real friendly because of the placement of their ejection ports.

Rifles? There are bolt action, left handed rifles in several calibers by both Savage and Remington.

Shooting? Learn to shoot with both hands. I'm pretty much ambidextrous and I have no problems shooting my revolver with either hand and loading right handed. It's something you can learn to do with practice.

What IS odd for leftys is 'which eye is dominant'. Often it's the left eye and to get the best use of that eye, usually you shoot 'reverse' of what everyone else is doing. It's hard to explain in words, but if you have a good shooting club, see if you can find a certified instructor that is left handed or has trained lefties before. Your kids will go a lot farther and faster with someone who really knows how to train them.

[BikerRN]

Since you are asking this in the Revolver Forum, I assume you are looking for left handed reloading techniques for Revolvers.

Here's my Left Handed Loading Technique:

Trigger Finger hits the cylinder release latch
Right thumb pushes out the cylinder
Tip gun vertical (Support cylinder with thumb and fingers of right hand)
Left hand palm "slaps" ejector rod (HARD)
Rotate right wrist so Barrel is pointing down (gun should remain in right hand)
Left hand goes to Speedloader Pouch and retrieves a Speedloader
Insert Speedloader and turn knob (Then leave Speedloader alone)
Left hand to grip
Right hand closes cylinder and assumes support grip

If you're a lefty this should get you pretty fast on the reloads. I wouldn't mess around with a left handed gun as 90% of the world is right handed. It behooves a lefty to learn to function in a right handed world.

Speedloading a Pump Shotgun is faster for me as a lefty than if I was right handed. I'm about 80% ambidextrious, the only thing I do 100% right handed is write. I also have a technique for Bolt Action Rifles that works pretty good. :)

Take care and good luck.

BikerRN

[Evyl Robot]

Since it appears that there is only one left-handed revolver in production (CA Southpaw), I think that giving my son that provision would largely cripple him for variety of guns. He seems to default to his right hand when he shoots much of the time anyway. I think I'll probably help him with his techniques as they naturally come to him. As for other lefties that I know, I think I'll keep the above reloading technique in mind. Heck, I will probably try them myself so I know what I'm talking about! Thanks for the advise, everybody!

[Rexster]

When learning to shoot, I think that becoming proficient with both hands is very important, and doing this from the very beginning is the best way to make it a reality. Defensive handgunning is just too important for one to be handicapped when using the "offside" hand.

I practice about the same amount with each hand. The reloading technique I use is dependant on the size of the weapon, with Michael DeBethancourt's right-handed method working so well for me that with a smaller-framed weapon, I use it with my SP101s and J-frames. With larger-framed sixguns, I tend to use the older classic technique I learned in my 1980's police academy days. In addition, I practice one-handed reloading, both right and left.

FWIW, I am a little mixed up, being a lefty with skilled, delicate tasks, and a righty with gross arm/leg movements requiring strength. Double-action sixgun shooting tends to fall into both categories, and I defaulted into a being mostly a righty with DA revolvers, especially heavier ones with heavier trigger pulls. I am more of a lefty with single action shooting, particularly with light trigger pulls, when my better lefty skill with delicate tasks comes into play. Practicing in both lefty and righty mode has gotten me to the point that on some days, with some guns, has gotten to the point that I may not not be able to predict which hand will be more skilled at a given point in time. I am left-eye dominant, and tilt my head a bit when shooting a handgun right-handed.

Just to be clear, I am not really ambidextrous; with most tasks, I am definitely more "natural" with one side than the other. The other side learns/improves by practice.

[BillyBothHands]

I agree that practicing weak side is a great idea. I primarily shoot my handguns left handed and my longuns right handed. One thing I found out when I was very young is that I don't really have a consistent eye dominance and at any given time my dominant eye is usually the last eye I used to shoot with (right for rifle, left for pistol) It sounds odd I know, but its always been that way. When punching paper I most always switch to my weak side for a few rounds because well, its fun!

Evyl, no matter which side your son shoots on I think you have a good thought in that there aren't always a good variety of left handed firearms and many are much more expensive than their right handed couterparts. I've tried out all sorts of left handed pistols and rifles its feels odd and cumbersome to me after a lifetime of shooting right handed setups. We will always live in a right handed world. If South Paws expect to take over the world we need to blend in well and use the right handed stuff :) haha

Oh and just as a final note, I've met a couple of other people with eye dominance oddities such as myself. Watch your son closely when he shoots he could be switching as well. I had a hard time grouping consistenly until I realized I was sometimes switching eyes between shots.

[Moonclip]

learn to shoot right handed if possible, I have known 1-2 lefties that have done so. It really is a right handed world out there, my mother showed me that.

I see left handed bolt action guns out there here and there. And some guns lend themselves to a left hander such as pump actions.

[ZeSpectre]

I guess it's time to refresh the link to
Sixgun Speedloading for Southpaws (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=276523)

Other than that, learn to shoot with both hands. In fact learn to shoot "all four".
-Strong hand, single handed
-Strong hand, two handed
-Weak hand, single handed
-Weak hand, two handed

[loneviking]

On that speedloading link, Sistema 1927 posted this:
I use the right thumb for the cylinder release, and the left fingers to open the cylinder. In the process the left hand cradles the weapon and the left thumb is used to eject to eject the empties while the right hand retrieves the speedloader. I have been doing this for more than 30 years, and I don't know how I could speed it up more than it already is.

--------------------------------
And that is the way that this lefty does it! BTW, that gun used in the demo sure looks like a twin of my Colt Peacekeeper.

As for rifles, I discovered recently that Browning makes the BAR in both short and long versions, with ejector ports on the left side. This is a gun I sure want to try as I get tired of burns from hot brass on my right arm! :cuss:

[ZeSpectre]

And that is the way that this lefty does it! BTW, that gun used in the demo sure looks like a twin of my Colt Peacekeeper.

The "demo" gun is my old Security Six (aka the "war horse")

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/zespectre/2007_SD400_0847.jpg

[loneviking]

Well, you fooled me! What happened to the grips with the gold medallions that can be seen in the picture? Plus the gun sure looked like it had a vent rib barrel, but I guess not. Nice gun though....

[mc_coy]

I use the right thumb for the cylinder release, and the left fingers to open the cylinder. In the process the left hand cradles the weapon and the left thumb is used to eject to eject the empties while the right hand retrieves the speedloader. I have been doing this for more than 30 years, and I don't know how I could speed it up more than it already is.

That's is the way I do it as well, except with moonclips it's maybe easier.

I agree with those who say a leftie and everyone else should learn to shoot left- and righthandedly indifferently. What if your finger trigger or strong hand gets injured??

[kennedy]

I shoot handguns lefty, and long guns righty, never had a problem, also swing a baseball bat righty. both hands, trigger fingers and eyes get a work out.

[ZeSpectre]

Well, you fooled me! What happened to the grips with the gold medallions that can be seen in the picture?

They were OLD pachmayer grips that were cracking so I bought new rubber grips to replace 'em. Good eye for detail there though.

[Evyl Robot]

Well, on Saturday, I tried some one-handed shooting with both hands for the first time. It was a lot different than I thought it would be. I had no idea how exhausting it would be to shoot my 29 with my left hand only! (even though I only tried that with .44 Spl) I wore myself out before I got to try with the .44 Mag rounds.

This range session had a couple of significant personal discoveries for me. We rented a S&W 640, which I loved! I'll be wanting one of those for deep cover, and I think my wife needs one as well. I need to develop my one-hand shooting, as I believe it to be more accurate than my two-handed shooting in either hand. I'm looking forward to my next range session!

I asked my son some pointed questions last week and over the weekend. As far as I can tell, he is strongly left-eye dominant. However, he naturally takes the handgun grip in his right hand. He has tried shooting left-handed but says that the gun is more comfortable in his right, and he feels that he has more control in his right hand. Interesting. I think we should go with that for now.

I'm seriously thinking of getting a Ruger Bearcat for him to shoot until he's got enough strength to shoot DA and more powerful loads. At that point, we'll probably move him up to an S&W .38, and encourage more one-handed shooting with each hand. Currently he's 9, and 60-lbs OTD, soaking wet. It's amazing how a range session will make him act more responsible for several weeks afterward. I think he realizes the responsibility that we are charging him with when we hand him a firearm at the range. Needless to say, I'm a pretty proud dad!

./Michael

[loneviking]

I asked my son some pointed questions last week and over the weekend. As far as I can tell, he is strongly left-eye dominant. However, he naturally takes the handgun grip in his right hand. He has tried shooting left-handed but says that the gun is more comfortable in his right, and he feels that he has more control in his right hand. Interesting. I think we should go with that for now.


We lefties are a mess when it comes to 'which eye is dominant and which hand is preferred'! I'm left handed, left eye dominant but when shooting with two hands I have the gun in the right hand! I have a son the same age as yours and I haven't yet figured out which eye is dominant for him. Would you mind sharing what questions you asked your son to figure out which eye he's using?

BTW, I like the looks of that little Bearcat as well. It's up next on the purchase list!

[BillyBothHands]

Couple of variations on a simple eye dominance test.

Extend your arm all the way sticking your thumb up. With both eyes open cover up some object in your line of sight with your thumb. Close one eye at a time without moving your thumb. Whichever eye still sees the object obstructed by the thumb is the dominant eye.


I've found the thumb method ones can get confusing to the youngers ones since your eyes sort of cross when you do that. Here is the variation I prefer. Make a diamond of the hands touching the index fingers and touching the thumbs with arms extended. Put some object in that window then slowly bring the diamond to the face. You will bring the opening to the dominant eye.

I had some people at the range the other day looking at me funny for doing that actually. I am an oddball and my eye dominance flips sometimes. When I was about 13 or 14 I found that forcing the hand opening trick to the other eye several times would make me dominant to that eye.
It would be neat if changing eye dominance worked for other people, but after years of experimenting on friends I haven't found anyone else that it works for.

[Evyl Robot]

Make a diamond of the hands touching the index fingers and touching the thumbs with arms extended. Put some object in that window then slowly bring the diamond to the face. You will bring the opening to the dominant eye.


This was the trick that I used to make the determination. It works better when they don't know about the trick.

[Robert Hairless]

Currently he's 9, and 60-lbs OTD, soaking wet. It's amazing how a range session will make him act more responsible for several weeks afterward. I think he realizes the responsibility that we are charging him with when we hand him a firearm at the range. Needless to say, I'm a pretty proud dad!

Yup, it shows through. And you should be too. Good parenting, if you don't mind my saying so. :)

Everyone needs a 640, I think. What you might want to do is practice shooting it weakhand as well as stronghand with .38 Special. You might be surprised at your ability to do both with .357 Magnum too after a while.

Just for what it's worth, some wise man once told me that the things we enjoy practicing may be diverting us from the things we need to practice more.

[Checkman]

I'm actually right handed except when it comes to shooting. I'm left eye dominant and actually taught myself to use my left when I was a child playing with my toy guns.

When I was twelve (1980) dad introduced me to real firearms. Imagine his suprise when the son , whom he had known all his life LOL, informed him that it felt more natural to shoot with his left hand.

I'm forty now and I've been a cop for almost eight years. I'm still right handed except when it comes to firearms. My holster is on the left side.

The nice thing is my strong arm (right) is free and can be used to fend off somebody making a grab for my Glock. There is a one young man who was very suprised one night when he learned that.

I can also be using my pen and I don't have to drop it (in other words think about it)if I have to present my handgun. The only awkward thing is that I carry my Taser on my right side. Fortunately I have taught myself to use my right hand. Like I said earlier.

[Evyl Robot]

Yup, it shows through. And you should be too. Good parenting, if you don't mind my saying so.


Thanks, I appreciate that!

Everyone needs a 640, I think. What you might want to do is practice shooting it weakhand as well as stronghand with .38 Special. You might be surprised at your ability to do both with .357 Magnum too after a while.

I actually did a bit of weak-hand shooting at the same time. I was amazed at exactly how manageable the 640 is even with Magnum loads! That was the first time that I had attempted left-hand-only shooting, and I enjoyed it (although it wore me out more quickly that I would like).

[Rexster]

Checkman, I fully understand your statement about not having to think about dropping your pen if it becomes necessary to go to guns. I use pens, forks, and chopsticks in my left hand, and while I shoot several handguns a bit better as a lefty than a righty, I wear the duty pistol on the right hip, and usually carry in the same spot when out of uniform, too. Reaction time, and your brain telling your body parts what to do, is greatly simplified when the primary gun hand is not otherwise occupied with a task.

When people have commented after noticing I am eating or writing with my left hand, but wearing my duty pistol on the right side, I jokingly tell them that it allows me to keep right on eating or writing while I shoot, but it's not entirely a joke. The right hand being free to start the draw, without the need to first drop what it is doing, is an advantage.

Actually, I fibbed a bit in the first paragraph; I can use chopsticks with either hand. :)

[BikerRN]

I jokingly tell them that it allows me to keep right on eating or writing while I shoot, but it's not entirely a joke.

This is why I carry a gun accessable to either hand, when I can. :)

BikerRN

[Evyl Robot]

This is why I carry a gun accessable to either hand, when I can.

This is my plan for a 640. It will be my weak-hand gun. I have two hands. If I'm carrying one for each, it only stands to reason that I have a right and left gun, right?

;)