Left-handed shooter - Winchester or Marlin?

[rbernie]

My middle son is a southpaw, and I will soon gift to him his first centerfire rifle - a single-shot NEF in 30/30. Soon after that, he will want a repeater. I would like to prepare for that now.

Is the original top-eject Winchester 94 *really* more friendly for a southpaw than an AE or Marlin?

 

[snorko]

I have and shoot both and have never really been bothered by either - being a southpaw rifle shooter.

 

[csmkersh]

I'm another left-hander and I like either rifle. I've an old Model 36 Marlin, which preceeded the marlin 336 and I also have a Winchester Model 94 Trapper in .30-30. Either should work well for your son.

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[Houston Tom]

I am a southpaw and have a marlin 30-30 that I love, I have shot both and both seem equal.

 

[rocinante]

I am a lefty and have a 1894. No problem for me.

 

[dmftoy1]

I'm a lefty and have never been bothered by either. Has your son ever shot an AR15 or a Remington 870? Did he notice the shells coming out in front of his face an did it bother him? If not, then I'd go with whatever strikes your fancy. FWIW

 

[Dave Markowitz]

If you're dealing with pre-safety Winchesters or Marlins there is no difference from a left/right handed perspective. However, if you buy one of the newer rifles which have a crossbolt safety, they are more righty-friendly -- if the safety is used.

IMHO, a safety is unnecessary on a lever action that's functioning properly, and with a shooter who is well versed in handling the rifle safely. The half-cock is all the mechanical safety that's needed. (The Winchester 94 also has a grip safety.) This is why I prefer pre-safety versions of either.

My suggestion is for him to try both guns and sees which one fits him best. The Winchester will generally be lighter and trimmer than the Marlin. It will also kick more (less mass = more recoil).

FWIW, I am left handed and prefer the Marlin because of (a) gun fit and (b) the Marlin is easier to take down for maintenance. I have a 1978 vintage (pre-safety) 336 in .30-30.

 

[R.W.Dale]

For the Lefty I'm going to say MARLIN for a very different reason.

35 remington

Contrary to the oft repeated myth, leverguns work even better with rimless cartridges. The rimless 35remington is much much easier to cram into the loading gate of a 336 than 30-30 particularly for someone wrong handed

 

[csmkersh]

Contrary to the oft repeated myth, leverguns work even better with rimless cartridges. The rimless 35remington is much much easier to cram into the loading gate of a 336 than 30-30 particularly for someone wrong handed

Are you saying that a rimmed cartridge is harder for a right handed person to load?

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[R.W.Dale]

Are you saying that a rimmed cartridge is harder for a right handed person to load?

I'm saying that rimmed cartridges are harder to load compared to rimless no matter how handed you are. More so if the loading gate is on the wrong side of the rifle as in the case of a lefty

 

[csmkersh]

As a lefty, I think the gates are on the proper side. I don't ever take the rifle out of my left hand. I load with my right.
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[rocinante]

Yeah the plug safety is stupid and I replaced it with a blind plug. As far as the loading gate being on the wrong side I have no problem using my right hand for that purpose. In some ways some rifles are actually friendlier. With my AK I can pretty easily keep it on target by holding the pistol grip while operating the safety and bolt with my right. Righties moan about reaching over with the left hand to operate the bolt and it is no problem for me. The issue with guns has to do more with shouldering and firing. Just about all bullpups are a no no because they would eject into the side of your face for example.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

To load a levergun with your left hand, rotate the rifle so it's upside down.

 

[eliphalet]

Being a lefty that has owned or owns Winchester levers with hammers and without, top and side eject, Marlin, Browning, and shot Savage and other levers, and also has LH bolts. My advice would be to let him try a nice LH bolt before you bought him any repeater, it is my preference in a hunting rifle, might be his too.
To answer your question, none has bothered me but side eject will allow a scope to be mounted.

 

[crebralfix]

I am a left handed shooter and have a Savage 10FP. The bolt handle is on the right side.

I find this setup to be very left handed friendly. I use a bipod and it's very fast to work the bolt with my support hand.

 

[Seafarer12]

I have a 1895 marlin and a 1892 winchester clone. Either one is fine. Neither one bothers me much. The top eject kind of kicks them out over me but if I wasn't running such a weak ejector spring it would me a non issue.

 

[loneviking]

Savage and Remington both have left handed bolt actions. If you want a semi-auto, Browning has the BAR in both short and long action. I havne't had too much problem with a Marlin 30-30, but every once in a while a hot cartridge winds up on my arm!

 

[Tifosi]

"Correct" Handed individual here, have two Winchester 94s, two Marlin 1895s and a Savage 99C in levers no problem with spent cases. DPMS LR 308 no problem with that either. Last week I finally bought a Left Hand Bolt CZ 452 American but haven received it yet. It took me 60+ years to breakdown and buy a Left Hand model. I never had an issue with rights.