Ok high roaders! I have a 9yr old daughter. She is fearless with a youth 20 ga sa, but lacking in upper body strength to balance such a long weapon, she is an eerily good shot, is not a fan of varminting, but wants to hunt deer/antelope... Her ideal rifle would be a 527 LH 6.5 g, distant second to 6mm or .22 variants (blast mostly) since neither howa nor cz offer such a LH MINI configuration, I'm looking for best answer. A mini 6 arc would absolutely be in the realm of possibility, but barrel life and less blast favor the 6.5.... keys here are: mini action, left handed, grendel bolt. Most ar-15 configurations are built much heavier than preferred, so would if be easier and/or cheaper to go mini 6.5 Lh or lightweight Lh ejection ar-15? @LoonWulf had that .250ai that was in the realm of what I'm looking for ballistically (except ideally faster twisted, Lh, and mini action) so comparable chamberings would be considered if all other parameters are met: each child gets a papa bear built gun to last through college, this will be hers. So thr, what have we got for the little one?
Need vs want vs future
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Garandimal
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Dr T
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Ummm...Which hand you shoot with is more a matter of eye dominance than dexterity. But 6.5 CM is a good choice...
Garandimal
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Am cross-eye dominant.
Taught myself to shoot Rt-eyed w/ both eyes open, pistol/rifle/shotgun.
9 yrs. old... is a good time to learn.
GR
armedwalleye
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Browning makes a micro midas left hand in a 7mm-08 that might work.
This didn't really help me here. As she grows, we can work on learning to shoot right or left, I'm a right eye dominant but can shoot from either side of the gun too, with everything else that she deals with learning the fundamentals and having fun without the added frustration will be my big goal here, being on the spectrum I try not to make such tasks an added challenge up front.
Whilst I appreciate the thought process here, stock length is not an issue, I can restock a savage m10 left handed if I have to, the grendel chamberings, left handed orientation, and mini action are the keys to me being stumped.
d2wing
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Yes, she needs to shoot on her dominate eye side. I put together a youth stocked .243 for grandson, still too big and heavy, he instead used an AR with it's shortened stock and .223 no recoil to shoot his first deer. At that age better for them to use a gun they like to shoot and easily handle than what grandpa wants until they can handle it.
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Varminterror
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Beware - most Mini actions are not actually lighter than a Remington type short action. Shorter throw, sure. But not actually lighter. There are ultralight 700 style actions out there even lighter than most Mini’s (and Model 7’s are itty bitty, of course). I lust for a truly scaled, lightweight mini-action... in 6 ARC...
Another option, for consideration, is an SBR. Lightweight 10.5” barrel with pistol gas, Luth-AR MBA-3 stock, ultralight handguard. A 9 year old girl can manipulate this weight, even if it’s a little heavier than an equivalent bolt gun would be. The adjustable Luth-AR carbine stock will allow the cheek rise to shrink and the LOP to grow as her face and body grow. An alternative in a bolt gun is a series of Boyd’s stocks replaced every few years as LOP increases, with Victor Company Universal Cheek risers screwed on top.
Agreed and confirmed, neurologically, your eye dominance should dictate your shooting side, NOT which hand you use to write. Our brains use the same eye preferentially for everything. Neuroplasticity does allow us to trick our brains to converting for a short time, but our brains revert after a matter of hours to our dominant eye. Alternatively, dexterity is a learned neurological pathway - we type with both hands, and as English speakers/typers, we actually type more characters on a QWERTY keyboard or phone screen with our left hand than our right.
Then again, it doesn’t get much lighter than a specialty pistol for a growing body. Here’s my boy warming up yesterday on the falling rack at 50yrds (10-15sec for 6 plates) before moving out to 200 & 300yrds.
Another option, for consideration, is an SBR. Lightweight 10.5” barrel with pistol gas, Luth-AR MBA-3 stock, ultralight handguard. A 9 year old girl can manipulate this weight, even if it’s a little heavier than an equivalent bolt gun would be. The adjustable Luth-AR carbine stock will allow the cheek rise to shrink and the LOP to grow as her face and body grow. An alternative in a bolt gun is a series of Boyd’s stocks replaced every few years as LOP increases, with Victor Company Universal Cheek risers screwed on top.
Agreed and confirmed, neurologically, your eye dominance should dictate your shooting side, NOT which hand you use to write. Our brains use the same eye preferentially for everything. Neuroplasticity does allow us to trick our brains to converting for a short time, but our brains revert after a matter of hours to our dominant eye. Alternatively, dexterity is a learned neurological pathway - we type with both hands, and as English speakers/typers, we actually type more characters on a QWERTY keyboard or phone screen with our left hand than our right.
Then again, it doesn’t get much lighter than a specialty pistol for a growing body. Here’s my boy warming up yesterday on the falling rack at 50yrds (10-15sec for 6 plates) before moving out to 200 & 300yrds.
THANK YOU!!!! follow up: can one remage an xp100 or should we just start with a stryker in the first place?
Eta the luth-ar is definitely along the lines of what I was thinking.... Idk why I didn't think of an sbr!
So, let's discard mini action, but keep recommendations aligned with something still using less powder, i.e. the savage case, grendel case, spc case, x39, etc etc. The .224& .22-250 are still more blasty than ideal (I know I know, get a suppressor, it's on the list). .223 and .300 blackout COULD work, but the potential pronghorn hunt rules that out a bit, between state requirements and velocity loss with a shorter barrel, .223 is BARELY legal and must be specially loaded to get there. Pronghorn open up the distance more. I already have a compact .223 single shot that ALL of the kids have learned on, and as a training rifle/grab it in a pinch/truck gun, it's been great. That being said, farther down the road when she's taking a 300 yd shot on a pronghorn, I don't wanna haveta throw a new barrel on to eke out the extra fps.
Eta Left handed is still a thing!
Eta Left handed is still a thing!
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Varminterror
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You CAN Remage an XP-100, if so desired. My son’s next SP is a Defiance Ruckus action, pre-fit shouldered barrels as an option for whatever path he chooses throughout his future with the action. I actually just picked up a shouldered barrel for his Stryker on Saturday, eliminating its barrel nut. Strykers aren’t bad pistols, but the triggers are a train wreck compared to what can be had in an XP or a 700 clone custom pistol (rear grip, of course). Specialty pistols are a unique path which not many folks will enjoy - my comment there was largely just an opportunity for a shameless Dad-Brag.
And equally, paying for an NFA tax stamp isn’t the first thing which comes to mind for most folks, but it DOES make for a light and handy rifle which young ones can more easily manage. Swapping barrels/uppers or removing the buttstock later in life create a freely transferable Title 1 Pistol (if built FIRST as a pistol before the SBR configuration) or rifle.
Another option, which I neglected originally, is to use an AR-stock compatible chassis on a bolt gun. A light Sporter contour at 16” on a Savage Stealth with the LSS chassis might be a good option. Find a Grendel bolt head and used blocked AICS magazines for 6 ARC in the short term, then if she ever wants to add horsepower, swap the bolt head, barrel, and magazine and she’d have access to any short action, standard boltface cartridge she wants (WSM Savages are large shank actions).
Maybe a dad brag, BUT she LOVES pistols!!!
WestKentucky
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I’m always up to plug for a contender, and it does NOT have to be a carbine. There are a few ways to brace a contender pistol, and a super 14 braced will do just about any trick you want it to do. I haven’t shot my 10” barrels braced yet but I’m hoping to as soon as I close out turkey season.
So on our way to go tag calves yesterday, showed her a google picture of a stryker just to test the waters a bit, and her whole face lit up, she exclaimed that it looked REALLY cool! (Her mom does NOT love specialty pistols and thought we were idiots lol!) Thanks @Varminterror for getting us an outside the box solution to toy with! We'll likely bounce back and forth a little bit between the sbr ar and the specialty pistol but it's a much more purpose driven direction now!
Varminterror
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Always glad to see more folks coming to enjoy specialty pistols. Something of note for a smaller shooter - the Striker does have a MASSIVE grip. As a grown man with a size 13 wedding ring, it feels large even for my hands. The XP’s are much smaller in the grip and more manageable in smaller hands. Jim Rockwell does make laminate stocks for both Strikers and XP’s, but it does add to the cost. My boy can and does shoot a Striker (he has my hands, so I’d guess his hands are about the size of your granddaughter’s in width, but shorter), but XP’s are much easier for him to grip.
Nosler’s newish pistol is absolutely gorgeous too.
Nosler’s newish pistol is absolutely gorgeous too.
I learned to shoot handguns left-handed in Police Combat shooting, but I was gifted with fairly-good left-handed dexterity. One day, hunting deer along a woods road, I reached my tree stand at the edge of a small blueberry field and decided to rest a bit. I climbed up and sat for a few minutes, then with my rifle laying on the platform, blew a couple of times on my buck call and heard some stirring about 50 yards or so behind to my left side. As the buck came closer quickly, I grabbed for the rifle that was on the platform to my right. The buck ran right behind the tree my stand was in and ran about 40 yards away, stopped, then looked back.
I managed to start raising the rifle to a left-handed shooting position and the buck saw the movement, immediately starting to run full-speed towards the woods road that I came out of. The rifle somehow got mounted left-handed and the scope was aligned with my left eye. The deer appeared, I adjusted to hit the top of its back and fired! The deer was mortally wounded and flipped over forward, then tried to get up, but couldn't move it's back legs, so I put another into it and it immediately expired!
I sat there in full excitement and wondered how I managed to shoot that quickly and precisely left-handed, since I'd never practiced the move. I've never tried shooting left-handed since, but practice the move dry-firing. You never know when the skill might be needed.
I managed to start raising the rifle to a left-handed shooting position and the buck saw the movement, immediately starting to run full-speed towards the woods road that I came out of. The rifle somehow got mounted left-handed and the scope was aligned with my left eye. The deer appeared, I adjusted to hit the top of its back and fired! The deer was mortally wounded and flipped over forward, then tried to get up, but couldn't move it's back legs, so I put another into it and it immediately expired!
I sat there in full excitement and wondered how I managed to shoot that quickly and precisely left-handed, since I'd never practiced the move. I've never tried shooting left-handed since, but practice the move dry-firing. You never know when the skill might be needed.
jmorris
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I know lots of very good shooters that put a piece of “clear” tape or a smudge on their glasses so their dominant eye looses its dominance and the weaker eye can take over (without the added stress of squinting the dominant eye) and shoot using the physically dominant, “strong side”.
Kind of like firearms, I let folks pick what works for them the best vs forcing them to do what I think would be best despite me being a different person all together. At least until they come to me and ask why/how to improve.
.455_Hunter
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The people who state "have her learn to shoot right-handed" would have a case of the vapors if they were made to only shoot left-handed. I once asked about a source for a lefty-only safety for a 1911 (essentially an ambi-unit with no left-side paddle), and mouth agape accompanied with drool responses were ridiculous.
Get her a lefty action based gun that can be downloaded for now (if necessary) and fitted with a growth capable stock (or future replaceable stock).
Get her a lefty action based gun that can be downloaded for now (if necessary) and fitted with a growth capable stock (or future replaceable stock).
Orcon
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If you don't mind the SBR route, check out the Pork Sword.
d2wing
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You can do all kinds of things to defeat nature. It is in how our brain and body work to co-ordinate pointing. The best way is to work with nature and shoot on the dominate eye side. And it is best to learn this way from the very start. That won't change. However if someone choses do something different that is their choice. It is hard to learn it right after you have learned it wrong. I have taught shooting for years and and few people can unlearn wrong habits.
That said one of the best shotgun shooters I have ever met only has one eye. He is right handed but only has a left eye so he has his shotguns like the Perrazi he won Colorado state pro sporting clays with specially built to line up with the left eye. He can hit targets that I can't see until it's too late.
The point is that the OP wants to put off learning to shoot dominate eye. The kid should be taught correctly to begin with. It is important. And I never force anyone to shoot right or wrong. I try to teach them what is best. They chose to learn or not.
Depends how big the kid is. I was shooting my dads 12ga semi when I was 8-9 But I was a big kid. It did have a nice recoil pad on it as well. It all depends on type of gun, type of load and size of person shooting. Make sure the gun fits well and isnt too big. You can get a slip on recoil pad to soften the blow as well. If its a semi auto there is usually a good amount less recoil due to force of ejection. I have a 12ga single H&R and it kicks like a mule due to the design. Its a great gun for accuracy of slugs though!
I'll check out the new nosler I wasn't aware of that one! Thanks! And I'm not old enough for grandchildren yet.........
She's my 3rd bornUmmm nooo the OP is trying to find the perfect gear to allow the little girl to enjoy shooting WITH her dominant eye (thus the MULTIPLE iterations of lefty friendly!?) And if shooting ambi is something she wishes to tackle, she can do so later.........
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