Why Lefties Are At War With Gun Manufaturers

And here I thought this was going to be a political post ...

Lol. Had me wound up, too. 8)

I can't believe you didn't mention Glock.

3. Ever try try shooting a black rifle without a shell deflector from your left shoulder?

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Aside from that (and possibly the fire selector) though, you have to admit that ARs are quite ambidextrous.
And all new ones have brass deflectors anyway.

You're late. National Lefthanders Day was 10 days ago, so come back next year.

My Dad was left-handed. He was also an ace dove shooter and world class skeet champion. A 12ga Remington semi-auto (right handed gun, mind you) was his favorite.

LH people have been dealing with a mostly RH world for centuries. As a child I tried to use RH scissors in my left hand, gave up, and learned to use them RH. I still do, and since I learned that scissoring action RH, I do all that sort of thing RH.

I am right-eyed, so long guns are a non-issue. I have learned to shoot "RH" handguns LH, adapting to them rather than worrying about whether a gun maker will make a LH version. The more I practice weak hand, the less being naturally LH matters.

When I bought my Gen4 Glock I had the on-site armorer perform the offered free swap of the mag release, but after a while I swapped it back to the left side. I had already adapted to the button being on the wrong side, and it makes sense that all my semis work the same.

10. Try shooting a target pistol with those right-handed thumb grips with your left hand.

11. Leftie's index fingers are bulked up from pushing the magazine release buttons...at least some manufacturers (Beretta!) let you reverse them.

12. Savage gets a major boost from sales of LH bolt rifles, why don't other manufacturer's realize the 10% sales increase from reenginering their bolts.

13. LH bolt guns sell cheaper at pawn shops"because no-one wants them"

...oops, I guess that last one is a plus for lefties.

What about all the right-hand friendly AKs...oh wait.

My friends call me a Leftist when I shoot and the SO has to move to the other side. Haha!

I will protest too many right hand friendly stages at matches. I'm suing!

I did go to a match that had a mystery gun - that you retrieved from a case. It was a left handed Stag AR - that threw folks for a bit. Been tempted to get one.

11. Leftie's index fingers are bulked up from pushing the magazine release buttons...at least some manufacturers (Beretta!) let you reverse them.

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A lot let you reverse them...the problem is that "reversible" isn't truly ambidextrous. Very few handguns out there are truly ambidextrous.

14. There are no sub-compact single-stacks with ambidextrous slide stop. None, nada, zilch. Which effectively means that I CANNOT use the slide stop method when reloading from slide lock with one.

As to the OP:

2 would bother me if I used revolvers, and 7 is a big issue (although there are some designs out there to reverse the shell deflection, the only truly ambi methods are fairly unique).

What are rollover stocks?

I have to say, though, as a lefty, if I ever somehow started my own firearm manufacturer business, our slogan would be "designed by lefties, for everyone" and every single firearm would have the same MOA if shot left-handed or right-handed. Not really sure how I'd do long guns, though.

I'm a lefty.

For semi auto pistols, I hit the mag release with my middle ("bird") finger and the slide release with my trigger finger. No problem.

For revolvers, I transition the gun to my left palm and hit the release with my right thumb and swing the cylinder open with my left middle and ring fingers. While hitting the ejector rod with my trigger finger I'm grabbing the fresh rounds with my right hand. Left thumb swings the cylinder shut. Roll the gun back into the shooting position and go for it.

I agree about 1911 safeties, but I've learned to adapt..

I don't have much trigger time with ARs or AKs but I've never been hit with an empty from those rifles.

Rifle and shotgun safties located fore or aft on the trigger guard do drive me nuts. Especially with my short fingers.

My Mossberg 500 is about as LH friendly as they come.

In short, as Clint Eastwood said in Heartbreak Ridge, I "adapt, improvise and overcome."

Q

In short, as Clint Eastwood said in Heartbreak Ridge, I "adapt, improvise and overcome."

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Or...they could make something that doesn't just cater to RH folks and we don't have to adapt. After all, they don't.

For semi auto pistols, I hit the mag release with my middle ("bird") finger and the slide release with my trigger finger. No problem.

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The most efficient method for me to hit any controls (besides trigger) is with thumb. It is sad that I can manipulate the controls better with my weak hand, but I shoot better with my strong hand.

I have found a way to cope with the "right handed" world -- other sinister-handed people best do the same, since it's not likely to change anytime soon.

As others have mentioned....dropping mags from semiautos by using the index or middle finger rather than the thumb....sweeping 1911 safeties with the inside portion of the index finger on the draw....operating bolt actions "over the top" (like in Saving Private Ryan)....Garand reloads using the front of your hand on the op rod instead of the back....just ways to cope with a right-hand-dominant world.

Adapt or die.

r...they could make something that doesn't just cater to RH folks and we don't have to adapt. After all, they don't.

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Leftys are something like 10-20% of the population. Why would a company whose job is to make money "cater" to such a minority?

I'll just leave this here ...

Leftys are something like 10-20% of the population. Why would a company whose job is to make money "cater" to such a minority?

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Because if you have an ambidextrous gun, you get an equal-ish share of the RH population and you get a much better share of the LH population. So you're sharing the 80% and have exclusive access to the 20%.

Yes, LH-only guns are going to only cater to a small subset, but ambidextrous guns aren't "Anti-RH" the same way that "normal" guns are anti-left.

Ready for a pun? I guess manufacturers think that if they exclude lefties, their clientelle will be all right.

I'm left handed but learned long ago to shoot right handed--now a rifle on my left shoulder just feels weird---still eat and write left handed-but that's about it

Another issue is finding LH holsters. Available? Sure. In stock? Not so much.

You know, I'm surprised some venture capitalist/gun designer hasn't jumped on this years ago. This market niche seems to be crying out for attention! :banghead:
As a lefthander, I've adapted all my life, from scissors to skilsaws and everything in between, but, I can't change my master eye!
I must shoot left-handed! Period!
The archery industry has always accommodated left-handed shooters. Why haven't they gone broke?
But the firearms industry claims there's not enough of a market for left-handed guns.
Can you imagine the backlog in orders if some startup company began producing nothing but economy-priced, but solid left-handed bolt action rifles in all the most popular calibers?
If somebody introduced a left-handed bolt .22 rifle with a tubular magazine at a reasonable price, I'd claw my way to the front of the line to buy the first one offered for sale!

Another issue is finding LH holsters. Available? Sure. In stock? Not so much.

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There is a much more limited supply of LH holsters than RH though. I used to have a Bladetech holster for my XDm, until I realized that I shoot better LH. Had to switch companies because that model holster isn't made LH by Bladetech.

You know, I'm surprised some venture capitalist/gun designer hasn't jumped on this years ago. This market niche seems to be crying out for attention!

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Some have with ambidextrous options. Even something like the FNS tries to solve the problem of a LH user with a Bullpup (better than reversing, especially if people need to switch shoulders or you have friends shooting). But there are no companies out there that I know of where everything they produce is semi-ambidextrous (in other words, either RH and LH models both exist, or where the controls can be reversed).

are leftys in their right minds?things to ponder

"wild west" Colts cater us lefthanded quite well.
GP K100 (aka STI GP6) is perfectly ambidextrous and vz.58 is better suited for lefties than righties.

There is a much more limited supply of LH holsters than RH though.

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Skribs, that's what I said. Some holsters are not made in LH version, but most are, at least in theory. They just aren't available to ship.