Does left hand shooter need left hand rifle?

L

LeftySteve

Guest
I’m left handed and thinking about getting into long range shooting. I think buying a used gun and scope at the beginning makes the most sense. That said, there aren’t many left hand guns offered. As a kid, a long, long time ago, I shot .22 indoor 4 position and used a right hand gun because that was all I could find. I now shoot lots of sporting clays with a custom left hand stock because fit is very important in shotgun sports. So what about benchrest. Most stocks seem pretty neutral, and I’m not sure the position of the bolt is critical. Help a newbie out. Thanks
 
IMO...Dominant Eye is Key

I'm right handed but left eye dominant. I started shooting shotguns off my left shoulder and that continued on to my rifles. While I have both left bolt and right bolt rifles, all my rifles feed from the right. So I shoot off my left shoulder using my dominant eye and feed/extract rounds with my dominant right hand. Works fine for me. HTH.
 
I am right handed and left eyed and shoot all of my rifles from my left shoulder. I have lots of experience shooting from the bench with all sorts of bolt and port combinations. Shooting a right bolt, right port action is one of my favorites. Just be sure to wear eye protection all the time. I have seen a lot of shooters that omit this and with the port on the same side as you are I think that it is particularly important.
 
right handed and left eye dominate is an issue if
you want to run and gun.
pure left left would seem to be an advantage with a left gun
 
No, actually it is not....for me. People vary quite a bit in how good they are with their non dominant hand. I have absolutely no problem shooting left handed. My short range benchrest rifle is a left bolt right port. I have shot untold numbers of groups using right bolt right port rifles. I have run into fellows who had the same hand eye situation as mine who had real issues using their left hand, so I know that that is possible. As an aside, my father wrote and did most one handed things right handed and two handed things such as the little golf that he played left handed, as well as all of the hoeing that he did growing up on a farm and later in our flower beds (although that fell mostly to me). Back in the day when started shooting, with an old single shot .22 I was lucky in that he did not care which shoulder I shot from and when I tried right handed with both eyes open I saw the side of the barrel, and from the left the sights, so left it was. That was when I was probably about eight or nine years old.
 
Though I am left eye dominant and left handed, I have an ignition system installed in my left shoulder( PaceMaker) so I now shoot right handed. Never had a problem with what side the bolt was on unless I was shooting rapid fire in position shooting. (I am not ambidextrous, eat, write, used to smoke and do a few things left handed, but baseball, golf etc. right handed and can't do any both / either way. Still shoot pistols left handed).

I tried opening and closing my left eye - No good
Tried just holding my left eye closed which didn't work as I got flutter of my left eyelid after a few seconds and could not see the wind flags (though I am too inexperienced in this sport yet to really read them).
Tried a patch, which worked fine except again could not see the flags, and finally came up with something I should have tried in the first place.

I shoot registered Skeet as well as Trap, 5 Stand, Bunker Trap, Wobble Trap and Sporting Clays. All right handed. I shoot both eyes open, but have an Occluder on the left lens of all of my shotgun shooting glasses. Now use that and can see the flags and keeps my right eye doing the work it needs to di.

Bob
 
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I WAS left eye dominant and shot on my right shoulder. I thought this was actually advantageous. Very easy to see the flags and could keep enough of the the target in my right to shoot. I had eye surgery several years ago and came out of it left eye dominant. This along w some other problems really messed up my shooting for several years. Even after working hard to see both the field and the target and having some success again, I still really miss being left eye dominant.
 
I'm left eye dominant as well so shoot lefty. I shoot mostly rimfire where left bolt guns are pretty scarce. So I've shot rbrp rifles which is what all my other rifles are anyway. I wanted to try centerfire last year & picked up a rblpre action. That port on the right side is a god send as you can see the round going into the chamber. But I've also shot left port guns where I couldn't see the chamber at all & managed just fine. The more you do something the easier it is to find the hole. ;)
I did finally find my unobtanium lbrp rimfire action & it is soooo much more ergonomic & will allow one to shoot a tad bit faster, but not necessary at all.
 
I'm also left eye dominate and shoot left handed while being right handed and have no problem with RB - RP except for the fact of ejecting the case , shooting left hand while ejecting to the right was for me a pesky problem, I find that I did not have enough room at the bench for the cases to fall and typically fumbling around in attempt to keep them from rolling of the bench and yes I did twik the ejecter spring , so I resolved with a RB- drop port , this works perfect for me.

Remy ☺
 
Wanted to try something different (for me). I'am right handed. Picked up a left hand repeater action, added a single shot adaptor and mounted it in an "ambi" stock. Loved it!! Ordered up a right hand thumb hole BR style stock, plugged the right hand bolt handle cut and recut it on the left side. Rig designed for bench shooting off a rest. Love it!!
Right hand stays in the thumb hole while the left hand feeds ammo and works the bolt. No reaching across to operate the bolt. Only problem? Now I'am finding it hard to shoot my right hand rigs. I have to take my right hand off the stock to work the bolt.
 
Well, My old traveling buddy, Bill Hull was left handed. He shot a right-right for years. Toward the end of his career, he bought a Left-Right and he said it shot well, but he wasn't that comfortable with it.
 
If you're a lefty, shoot a right hand rifle with an ambi stock and get the feel of it. You just may like it and it may fit your needs. You'll never know till you try.
 
Thanks for the replies

Thanks for the answers. This shows that I don’t have a clue about what I don’t know. It never occurred to me that eye dominance made any difference when you shot with a scope. I obviously need to read these forums a lot more before I jump into this sport. Or, I can spend a lot of money buying something that’s not suitable for what I though I wanted- it wouldn’t be the first time!
 
LeftySteve said:
, I can spend a lot of money buying something that’s not suitable for what I though I wanted- it wouldn’t be the first time!
Click to expand...

You will find this problem throughout your BR adventure, probably one of the biggest challenges for new participants...............Don
 
Does left handed shooter need a left handed fifle

I'm left eye dominate and shoot LBRPLE rifles when I'm able to compete in both short and long range BR. God gave me two hands so I thought I would use them both. This configuration lets me work the bolt with my left hand while loading with my right, pushing the gun to the stop with my left shoulder and never taking my eyes (shoot with both eyes open) off the target and the flags or conditions. Works for me. If I'm just plinking , any gun configuration will do.
 
Instead of answering the question about what rifle a left hand shooter should use I'm going to ask a different question.

How many right handed shooters use a left bolt left port, or left bolt right port rifle??

Another question would be why do so many right handed shooters use a right bolt left port right eject rifle??

Once you have the answer to those questions use the answer to help you choose which rifle action to use if you shoot left handed.

With the abundance of left bolt actions available now why not train yourself to use one if you shoot left handed.
 
If you go back to the first post you will see that he wants to buy a used rifle and that he had not found many LH rifles for sale. It was not a question of what action to use for a new rifle. I shoot both configurations (LBRP and RBRP) and switch between them with no problems.
 
No decision yet

No, I haven’t made a decision, and I do very much appreciate everyone that had taken the time to reply. I think I need to spend some more time at the range talking to knowledgeable shooters and maybe trying some guns before making any purchase. Also, I’ll keep reading these forums and try to educate myself a little more.
 
I used to shoot long range benchrest, and had fun doing it. If you are used to a left hand bolt and comfy with it, when you are ready, go with a left hand bolt. Why change up what you are used to? if you just go to any of the ranges where guys are practicing I would bet they would let you try out any of their guns. or go to matches and watch. I miss LR benchrest, made a switch to long range hunting rifles and prs style matches when I can. Ron
 
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