Inexpensive, low-maintenance, southpaw-friendly?

How about a marlin 30/30?

How about a lever action Marlin 1894 or a Rossi 92 in 44 magnum or 357 magnum?

I am a southpaw and just got back from shooting my 1894 with no issues. I also have a few LH bolt actions, but a good lever action is about as ambidextrous as they come. And nothing is more fun to plink with. Lever actions can make fine home defense rifles as well. I sold an AR to fund an 1894c 357 magnum lever action and have absolutely no regrets.

You could look at a Swiss K31 with a left hand bolt handle from Swiss Products. It might be a bit bigger caliber wise but if you ever did get the itch to hunt, or shoot at longer ranges, it would work nicely. Plus you could stay below $500.

Either a good lever gun or find yourself a good left hand bolt gun in a caliber common and simple like 308 Winchester. I shoot left handed and while I adapt to right hand bolt guns I have had a few left hand bolt guns. Still have a nice Ruger Model 77 MK II left hand bolt gun in 7mm Rem Mag. Doesn't get any simpler than a bolt gun. As to hunting I also have an old Remington 7400 semi-auto in 30-06.

Ron

A lefty Swiss K-31 is a great Idea, albeit a hefty round for a first timer (IMO). As an introduction into rifles, a pistol (revolver) cartridge lever gun would seem to be the ticket, in my opinion. You already stated you are a pistol guy. Levers can be had in 38/357, 44spl/44mag, 45 Colt etc... They are lightweight, handy, and quite manageable with lighter loading's; and today's defensive ammo is very potent.

You said you were a pistol guy; why not a carbine to augment a pistol you already own? Just Right makes a little tacticoolish carbine that is fully convertible to just left and I believe they take G-lock mags. Or... convert a pistol with a Mech-Tech, Or similar system, you could even use a real gun like a 1911.

Other than right hand bolt action rifles and a stock ar15, I haven't really found any rifle that doesn't work as well or better for a left as a righty. Heck, throw a left handed selector switch and a raptor ambi charging handle on on it and an AR will work fine.

But some other options: the pump action remington 7600's or "other" lever guns, the browning blr and savage 99. single shots like the handi rifle, or thompson encore. I'm a left and I think the traditional semi auto carbines like the m1 carbine, ruger mini14, and sks all work well for me.

but for inexpensive, I like the used marlin 336's (350 or less), a savage axis bolt action in left hand (around 300), an sks (350 or less), or a handi rifle, (less than 300) in that order.

edit: I'm a lefty, and I have lever guns, lefty bolt guns, an AR as described above, and an m1 carbine in the safe. I have gone through the single shots but didn't keep them. Same with the sks)

The Marlin 336 seems like a really fantastic option and I didn't know much about it/think of it before it was mentioned here. I looked up some videos online and it looks like a very solid option. Thanks!

Looking around online, it seems like .30-30 Winchester is relatively expensive. I can't find any for about $0.75 per round, and not much for under about $0.90 per round. Is that typical, or just a temporary fluctuation? I'm used to ammo more in the $0.25/round-$0.40/round range.

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See if you can find a lever action chambered in 357. Ammo would be closer to 50 cents a round, and a 357 out of a rifle barrel packs a pretty good punch.

* Low maintenance-- The AR15 is a military firearm, design to be cleaned in the field with nos tools at all. It will fire 300 rounds in one session reliably and only needs a wipe down and lube to repeat the performance daily.
* Reasonable affordability-- S&W offers one for $600. $1000 would get more bells and whistle, but you don't need them as below.
* Lefty-friendly. The AR15 is ambidextrous, and left handed versions are also available to eject to the left. Other than that, the standard RH versions already have an ambidextrous charging handle, brass deflector for lefties, and the addition of an aftermarket safety for both sides is inexpensive.

These are things that are not:
* Tacticool accessories--The AR15 isn't all about polymer. Plain Jane AR15's aren't hard to find nor do they have doodads and rails all over them.
* Extreme accuracy. You get what you pay for, the average AR is 2MOA capable, usually less, which is a 10 inch strike zone at 500m. Plenty accurate for combat. It's still the standard for the last 100 years.
* Largest ammunition capacity or highest effective rate of fire. ONLY a self loading action can sustain a high effective rate of fire, and ONLY a magazine fed self loader has a large ammunition capacity. Surefire makes 60 round mags for the AR15 if needed. (Belt fed weapons are largely crew served, let's not nit pick this.)

There are some other likely competitors, but overall, we moved away from the old school traditional guns 50 years ago because of their numerous faults. Tradition is nice, function is more important for a rifle meant to defend your home and family. The AR has been doing that job for our nation longer than any other in our history - it IS the traditional gun dating back to the 1960's.

20 million service men and women have trained and used it, that is the current generations of gun owners and we've frankly gotten a little spoiled because of all the things it does better.

Building on the above sentiment, check out the S&W MP-15 Sport. Add a Magpul B.A.D. lever, and you'll have a left-handed mag release as well. Stag is known for their true left-handed ARs. Armalite and RRA also make them, as I'm sure some others of the 148 AR manufacturers probably do too.

A Handi-rifle for budget conscious a Ruger #1 for a bit of class.

I am a lefty too ! My favorite centerfire rifles are my Winchester 94 in .30-30 and my Ruger mini-14 ranch rifle . Kevin

That's the 22LR model, right? The centerfire ones are all over $1,000. I generally associate respectable-quality AR-15s with a $1,000-$2,000 price tag.

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Nope, that's the cost for the real deal in 223.

ARs are cheaper now than they have ever been. I'm not an AR fan, but with their prices so low right now, they are worth a look.

I'd say an AK. Cheap (and cheap ammo), very lefty-friendly, minimal maintenance needed...everything you list.

That said, I'm also a lefty and I've shot an awful lot of different guns and found almost none of them to really present any problem for the left-handed shooter. The only thing I would steer clear of are bullpup rifles that only eject to the right. Beyond that, just find a gun you like and go with it.

The Beretta ARX is designed to be totally ambidextrous, with the charging handle and ejection side being changeable w/o disassembling the rifle.

The SCAR is ambidextrous, but you have to field strip it to swap the CH to the right side. Ejection is right side only, but there is a generous shell deflector to keep the cases out of your face. The SCAR's also higher than you wanted to go.

AKs work well for left-handed shooters and are cheapish but can't claim to be the most accurate of rifles.

Most of the essential maintenance of a AR is keeping it lubricated. ARs will run when amazingly filthy if kept lubricated. Of course, the DI action tends to dry them out faster than most other rifles. ARs are also silly accurate w/o needing anything done to them.

BSW

Love my Henry 357 Magnum lever action. Tactical reload is impossible but it holds 10 rounds. Jamming your finger on the trigger is next to impossible due to the wide trigger guard. If you've an aversion to pistol cartridges, get it in 30 30.

Savage bolt guns make a lot of sense given your criteria.

I'm a lefty so this question is near to my heart. Savage has a number of package deals for their lefty bolt guns and a Nikon scope. Bud's has them in a number of calibers for under $500 and I think that's a smoking deal. Savage is known for their accuracy and these guns have the very nice Accutrigger as well.

As many others have suggested, a good lever action is about as ambi as it gets. You can go all the way from a beat up $200 Marlin in the local pawn shop to over $1000 for one of the top models of Browning BLR. On the low end Buds has the H&HR HandiRifle in 444 Marlin for under $200 right now. You could buy that, a halfway decent scope and all the stuff you need to reload 444 and still end up well under your budget.

Here's an option that I would investigate if I didn't already own one: Whittaker guns in Owensboro, KY has a used Tikka T3 lightweight stainless synthetic lefty in 308 with a Sightron (Japanese production IIRC) on their used rack for somewhat less that $600. I handled it this weekend and had to restrain myself from buying it just because it was such a bargain! If I didn't already have a T3 lefty I would own this one I can promise you. Might be worth a phone call?

Buy that Tikka. My .308 shoots just about anything, factory or reloads, REALLY well.

Growing up in a family riddled with lefties (grandparents, parents and sister-my only sibling), I can tell you the lever action suggestion is spot-on for centerfire.

One other I've not seen suggested yet also comes from Browning, the SA-22 semi-auto .22lr which loads through the stock and features bottom eject. It's classy, hunts small game well, very accurate, inexpensive to shoot and, as my mother proved, can go more than a decade without much more than an occasional patch through the bore. In speaking with my father it had only been disassembled one other time since new before I did so to thoroughly clean it.

One critical criterion missing from your list is enjoyable and the Browning is definitely that. Any of the dozen or so rimfires I own are probably shot 10 to 1 compared to the centerfires for the same reasons listed above.

Another southpaw chiming in here.

Bolt Action
Savage in 30-06 or 308. As mentioned above the package deals including a Nikon scope are a steal. I would pick one up but I found a pre-Accutrigger model at a swap meet for $75.

Semi-Auto
AR-15. Yeah I know everyone else has one but the market seems to have bottomed out and you can pick one up (or build one) for peanuts. I did an old school build with a triangular handguard, fixed buttstock, and upper with a brass deflector (a must for lefties). Easy to clean and fun to shoot.

Southpaw long arm shooter here as well.

Like the others have said, a lever gun is good fun. 30-30 is about as common and affordable as you are going to get for functional plinking in a lever gun rifle caliber unless you want to try and track down one in .357.

I have a Stag Model 2L ("L" for lefty) Ar, and it's a joy to shoot. Mine is bare bare bare bones. I haven't added a light or glass or anything. It doesn't even have a carry handle. Just a flat top with iron sights. The one nice thing is that it comes with an adjustable stock for easy storage.

.223 is back on the shelves and fairly reasonable in cost (not the sub $5 it was 2 years ago though). If 30 round mags are a little much for you, you can pick up lower cap ones. I generally tote mine around with a 20 rounder when I go camping with a couple of spare 30s in the truck.