Right Handed Guns for Lefty’s

[DMW1116]

So far I have been limited to semiautomatic and lever action rifles. I’m searching for my first bolt action and wanted to know if other lefty’s specifically get left handed rifles, which limits my options, or do they learn to use the right handed ones?

I can run the bolt with my right hand but on many models the bolt will hit my hand if I’m not very careful.

I’m specifically looking at the Ruger American vs the Savage 110 Tactical. I also got to shoot a 22 Savage bolt action yesterday and wouldn’t mind a rimfire either.

It was one of the highlights of my trip. I traded a shot of my A4 clone in 5.56 to a younger shooter for a shot from his Savage 22. Neither of us had ever shot the other. Even though it was very light with a short bolt travel it was a bit awkward for me to run.

On a related note I think I’m going to keep a box of factory 5.56 handy. I only had hand loads and I was testing them. Six groups of 4 instead of seven was a fair trade I think.

 

[WisBorn]

If you are left handed/left eye dominant go with a left handed rifle.

In semiautomatic AR platform Stag Arms and Rock River Arms offer several models.

For left handed bolt action rifles - Ruger, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby, Winchester, Browning, Remington, and I probably missed some.
Tactical models are out there and custom semi custom options are available.

Once you try a lefty it is hard to go back.
I have been debating about adding a Savage Persision rifle (lefty) for the money it is hard to beat...

 

[DMW1116]

I have three requirements for a bolt action so far. 308 Winchester caliber, 10 round magazine or easily adaptable for one, and left handed. If I drop one the options open up a lot. The biggest option increase actually comes from dropping the magazine requirement not the left hand action requirement.

The Savage 110 Tac is my choice right now and is available in lefty versions. The thing is it’s only offered in the 24” barrel. Not that it’s a huge deal, and I kinda wouldn’t mind the extra velocity.

 

[DMW1116]

If you are left handed/left eye dominant go with a left handed rifle.

In semiautomatic AR platform Stag Arms and Rock River Arms offer several models.

For left handed bolt action rifles - Ruger, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby, Winchester, Browning, Remington, and I probably missed some.
Tactical models are out there and custom semi custom options are available.

Once you try a lefty it is hard to go back.
I have been debating about adding a Savage Persision rifle (lefty) for the money it is hard to beat...

Semiautos aren’t really a problem. I’ve been shooting them wrong handed for years. Same with lever actions. Only bolt actions seem specific enough to seek out a lefty action.

 

[MedWheeler]

I'm left-handed, and right-eyed. I learned to shoot long guns right-handed and handguns left-handed. Deviating from either feels very unnatural to me; I don't think I can even shoulder a rifle properly into my left side.

I'm working on learning to shoot with both eyes open. As I have gotten older, I find that my right eye is less dominant, and my left is easier to rely on in shooting a handgun.

 

[gunmechanic]

I am lefty, never had a left hand gun till i was 20 .As a kid i used right hand bolt guns left handed. My father got me several lever guns when i was young so it was more comfortable for me.Then i got a rem700bdl LH 270win ,I was in heaven a bolt gun that fit! Most of my (LEFTY) bolt guns are Savage they seam to make the most variety and are not crazy priced for (LEFTY).My ars are all right hand i do not mind them at all.Good luck with the LEFTY gun hunt.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Yes, if you're left-handed, get a left-handed bolt and you're not regret it. For the semi's, most are okay if right eject, but an occasional one will throw brass at your right ear, particularly if it doesn't have a deflector....I've got one that keeps nipping the edge of my ear. I primarily buy Stag lowers and then Stag uppers for my left-handed AR's and love them; fantastic quality and decent prices, including AR10.

 

[12Bravo20]

Right hand/left eye dominant here. For semi auto rifles, the only time I ever had an issue with brass hitting me was with the M16A1 since it doesn't have a built in deflector. I have no issues with any other semiautomatic rifle shooting them left hand. Using a left hand bolt action is much better for us lefty's versus using a right handed bolt action. I used right hand bolt actions for a long time then finally broke down and bought a left handed rifle and haven't looked back. All of my centerfire and rimfire bolt actions are left handed Savage rifles. I am very fond of their heavy varmint barrels.

 

[WrongHanded]

Shooting left-handed, you really should have a left-handed bolt action. Making do is okay in a pinch, but don't intentional buy a bolt action rifle that's harder for you to use.

 

[The Glockodile]

Semiautos aren’t really a problem. I’ve been shooting them wrong handed for years. Same with lever actions. Only bolt actions seem specific enough to seek out a lefty action.

And, if you shoot on a bench all the time - a right handed action is actually advantageous for lefties.

The only concern is for when that rogue overpressure event happens - the blast blows the magazine out, and vents the gases to the right (into a lefty's face!).

There's actually a company that goes as far as letting you specify where the handles and ports are - for instance, right handled bolt and left handed ejection port - can't remember who they are.

 

[WisBorn]

Semiautos aren’t really a problem. I’ve been shooting them wrong handed for years. Same with lever actions. Only bolt actions seem specific enough to seek out a lefty action.

I have owned the LH Stag arms AR and a RH Century Arms AK. Of the two I liked the 7.62 x 39 better. Just didn't like the ammo eaters as much as a good bolt action.
I think a Ruger American LH in 7.62 x 39 would be a blast for a truck gun.

 

[Jim Watson]

Yes, you can get various combinations for your shooting style.
I like the one with bottom ejection.

 

[beagler]

I’ve always used right handed long guns. I’m right eyed dominant but prefer to shoulder a gun with my left shoulder. I have shot right handed but it feels foreign to me. I shoot hand guns right handed though. I guess it comes down to what you are comfortable with and your eye dominance, even though I don’t always follow that.

 

[Elkins45]

I’m a lefty. I had a case head separation that probably would have done serious and permanent damage to either my hand or face due to the blast of gas vented from the action. Because I was using a LH bolt action all I got was a burn on my supporting hand from the excess gas that didn’t go out the vent hole. Had I been shooting a RH gun it would have been much worse: the jet of hot gas swept a heavy 50 round box of ammo off the next bench three feet away.

Such a thing may never happen to you, but if it ever does having an action designed to vent away from your face makes a difference. Besides, it really is faster not having to reach over the gun to cycle it. I would never buy a RH gun if a LH version is available.

 

[DMW1116]

Seems like sound logic to me. Savage 110 Tac LH it will be.

 

[rabid wombat]

Left handed, and left eye dominant. Grew up with revolvers, 1911’s, and pumps. The selection of LH rifles was not great when I was a pup. Shot on the HS rifle team with a RH Rem 40, or Win 52…no big deal. My first center fire was a lever. Grew into bolts, but right handed. For one shot out of a deer blind…it just does not matter. Today, get what you want!

 

[12Bravo20]

Yes a lefty can get by with a right hand bolt action if you are only using it for the occasion zero checks and hunting. But why limit/handicap yourself. Even for hunting a left hand bolt action is far better for a left handed shooter. You will be able to make quicker follow up shots if needed.

 

[FL-NC]

Not being a lefty, I can't speak from personal experience, but I can speak from observations. About 11% of the population is left-handed. This means that about 11% of the US military is left handed. The US military doesn't issue "left handed" versions of the many weapons used. The 11% or so of the lefties in the military use the same guns as the rest of us, in the left hand. With a few exceptions (such as ambi controls on the M110 SWS, or the reversable mag catch on the M9) there are no real considerations to that 11%. I have worked with lefties that do just fine operating their issued weapons, including bolt action sniper rifles based on the Remington 700. My unit did make unauthorized (by big army) mods to the M4 that included an ambi selector, which IMO should be standard US mil-wide. Some weapons like the Carl Gustav RCLR MUST be fired from the right shoulder due to the side mounting arrangement of the optic.

 

[12Bravo20]

Not being a lefty, I can't speak from personal experience, but I can speak from observations. About 11% of the population is left-handed. This means that about 11% of the US military is left handed. The US military doesn't issue "left handed" versions of the many weapons used. The 11% or so of the lefties in the military use the same guns as the rest of us, in the left hand. With a few exceptions (such as ambi controls on the M110 SWS, or the reversable mag catch on the M9) there are no real considerations to that 11%. I have worked with lefties that do just fine operating their issued weapons, including bolt action sniper rifles based on the Remington 700. My unit did make unauthorized (by big army) mods to the M4 that included an ambi selector, which IMO should be standard US mil-wide. Some weapons like the Carl Gustav RCLR MUST be fired from the right shoulder due to the side mounting arrangement of the optic.

I don't know when you enlisted, but I can say that the M16A1 was definitely an issue for us left hand shooters. That is why the Army made clip on brass deflectors available to us. Nothing like hot brass landing in the crook of your right elbow, going down your shirt our getting stuck in your chin strap. And yes I had all of that happen when shooting the A1. That problem went away with the Bruton Bump AKA brass deflector on the M16A2 and M4.

 

[taliv]

If you go back and search for threads I’ve started you’ll see lots of pics of left hand bolt guns I’ve had made from the likes of impact, defiance, surgeon, GAP, rem, and others. All are left handed for a reason. (Though some are left bolt right port)

It boils down to what you’re going to do with it. I don’t say this derisively at all, but until recently people just didn’t demand much out of their bolt rifles. Even elite mil units. They were slow fire and well supported with not too many targets.

sniper matches and PRS have changed that dramatically. I remember taking a week long class at thunder ranch in texas 20 years ago with a right handed rem700 and leupold mil dot with MOA turrets. At no time in an entire week of exercises did we do anything that caused me to feel the need to move the bolt to the left side. Same goes for hunting, etc and mil/police snipers.

but I promise that by your 2nd stage of a PRS style match you’ll understand the disadvantage.

otoh, some benchrest shooters prefer to operate the bolt with one hand and the trigger with the other. No biggie since the rifle is supported with front and rear rests and it gives your “support hand” something useful to do.

no idea what you plan to do but since you’re going for the “tactical” model instead of their bench models, as everyone else said, get a left handed one.

 

[taliv]

I don't know when you enlisted, but I can say that the M16A1 was definitely an issue for us left hand shooters. That is why the Army made clip on brass deflectors available to us. Nothing like hot brass landing in the crook of your right elbow, going down your shirt our getting stuck in your chin strap. And yes I had all of that happen when shooting the A1. That problem went away with the Bruton Bump AKA brass deflector on the M16A2 and M4.

Shooting high power it’s also a disadvantage but that’s just because of the rules which make you single feed while slung in. While all the right handlers loaded without taking eyes off the target and losing NPA, I had to break position and rebuild it every time and reach over my rifle and stick a round in with my left hand since my right was tied into the sling.

but everything else I did with an AR I kinda preferred shooting a normal AR left handed.

 

[12Bravo20]

Now if I were to get into bench rest on a competitive level, I would want left hand bolt/ right side part. The advantages to that is you can use your support (right) hand to feed rounds without breaking position. For PRS or sniper competitions and even for hunting where a quick follow up shot is needed, use a left hand bolt if you shoot left hand.

 

[earlthegoat2]

As a lefty, who like many other lefties, has struggled in this righty dominated world, I have a few thoughts on the matter.

Besides what @Elkins45 said about the case head separation and gas venting between the different sided bolt actions, I am of the opinion that it does not matter very much other than it just feels right to have the bolt on the correct side of the rifle. Bolt actions are slow to operate anyway (except for a select few) and as such there will not be much difference in follow up shots on game between them. That is for hunting.

Shooters who spend more time at the range tend to have mixed feelings about which side the bolt is on as well. If I was much of a range shooter, I would prefer a right handed bolt gun if that were all I did with a bolt action. It is easier to feed rounds in singly for me with an off handed bolt gun from a bench for me and at least a few others. I dont shoot PRS matches and know nothing about it so please refer to @taliv posts above for those thoughts.

Due to unavailability of many of the more "featured" bolt action rifles in left handed, I have gravitated away from them altogether. The market is invested heavily in bolt actions. That is a problem for us lefties. The unavailability of lefty friendly rifles in general because of the predominance of bolt actions has caused this

I do have one bolt action rifle and it is a lefty. When a dealer in MI special ordered a run of 450 Bushmaster Ruger Americans, I just had to have one. It was a relatively small investment and for the most part I have disdain for budget rifles. I figured though, it would be the only way I could get a LH 450 BM bolt action that wasnt a custom and since it is so cheap and an all business hunting rifle, I would never be tempted to get rid of it. The sale would probably be pretty difficult anyway as it is a niche cartridge in a LH rifle.

As I said earlier, the lack of left handed bolt actions options made me get away from them. I am not much of an AR person, but have become much more of one since I started looking for more options for lefties. ARs interest me greatly, as long as they are chambered for for better hunting type rounds (ie. 6.8 SPC, 6.5 Grendel, 450 Bushmaster, etc. and definitely NOT .223) Interesting how a primary paradigm of ARs had to change before I ever even thought about looking closer at them.

 

[eastbank]

as a life long lefty, i have used right hand rifles to start and they were ok. but i longed for true left handed rifles, i went thru pump-lever- single shot rifles and while they were all ok and i still use them, but wanted a true left handed rifle. my first left handed rifle was a 110L savage 7mm mag in the late 60,s, it just didn,t shot very well. fast forward today we have a very good true left hand rifles to choise from. my battery of left hand rifles today.

 

[WisBorn]

as a life long lefty, i have used right hand rifles to start and they were ok. but i longed for true left handed rifles, i went thru pump-lever- single shot rifles and while they were all ok and i still use them, but wanted a true left handed rifle. my first left handed rifle was a 110L savage 7mm mag in the late 60,s, it just didn,t shot very well. fast forward today we have a very good true left hand rifles to choise from. my battery of left hand rifles today.

What model is the rimfire on the bottom of the picture?