Is it common
- Thread starter mese341
- Start date
As long as you never shoot a LH bolt gun, you'll be fine. After shooting a lefty, I got rid of all my right hand bolt actions.
Lefty here and left-eye dominant. I have only shot RH rifles, bolt & semi, and do not typically feel hampered by it. Working the bolt with my right hand feels normal to me. It only gets challenging when I am shooting unsupported with a sling (NRL22), that's a pain.
VanillaGorilla is correct too.
VanillaGorilla is correct too.
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As a lefty I prefer the left hand action. I use the logic that if it was so advantageous to have the action on the opposite side you’d see more right handed shooters running left hand guns. This most difficult thing on all of this is selection especially since I mostly buy used. All to often the deals of a lifetime are usually RH. That being said it can be harder to move a Lh gun because the market is smaller so deals can be found, it’s the only way I was able to get a GA rifle.
I shoot right handed rifles left handed. I couldn't image using a left handed rifle.
I tried a left handed tikka and it just felt ass backwards to me. I am sure in time
I would grow use to it but it was funky.
I tried a left handed tikka and it just felt ass backwards to me. I am sure in time
I would grow use to it but it was funky.
It is very common I would say. I shot right handed bolts for 10 years until I decided to try prs style shooting. I shot 2 matches with my right handed rifle while my left handed bolt gun was being built. Now 2 matches into shooting with a left handed gun I feel like an idiot for not switching years ago. It already feels more natural than a right handed gun ever did.
I feel like a full blown retard shooting a right handed rifle once I made the full switch to LH rifles. I can do fine off a bench either hand and probably can in fact shoot a RH rifle better off a bench. Go prone or positional and it will be quickly apparent its a bad idea.
Not to mention your face is right in the port, I love letting righties shoot my rifle so they can stare at a port full of my hot reloads LOL. No righty will know the awesomeness of having some 5.56 go down your shirt or of brass flying in front of your face.
Not to mention your face is right in the port, I love letting righties shoot my rifle so they can stare at a port full of my hot reloads LOL. No righty will know the awesomeness of having some 5.56 go down your shirt or of brass flying in front of your face.
If all you want to do is plink a right hand rifle is fine. If you want to actually shoot a rifle as it was intended and/or compete at a high level, you need to shoot lefty. I’m very right hand dominant but very left eye dominant, and I shot right hand rifles left handed forever. It took me about a month to get used to a left bolt but I quickly surpassed where I was by a large margin and absolutely hate the ergonomics of running a bolt on the wrong side now. Make the switch, it’s well worth it.
What everyone else has said. I'm left handed and started shooting a right handed bolt gun. I moved to positional shooting and realized it was a disadvantage to have to take my supporting hand away from whatever it was doing supporting in order to run the bolt. That was when AI announced they were going to make a run of left handed AT's and I've never looked back.
The thing about lefties is we're used to adapting to a right-handed world. That's an advantage in some cases, but when you have to manually cycle the bolt vs a semi auto, it helps to have something made for a lefty.
The market is getting more diverse for left-handed guns. There's probably something out there.
The thing about lefties is we're used to adapting to a right-handed world. That's an advantage in some cases, but when you have to manually cycle the bolt vs a semi auto, it helps to have something made for a lefty.
The market is getting more diverse for left-handed guns. There's probably something out there.
My goal now that I have a rem700 left hand rifle is to one day get into a LH AI. That being said If I didn’t have a LH bolt gun that suited my needs and wanted to stay reasonable I’d be looking at dropping a basic Tikka into a Whiskey 3. Their tacA1 is nice looking but Lowlight has said for the money you are better served getting a cheaper model and spending the money on a better chassis. We really are in a golden age of precision rifles compared to what was available for lefties 20 years ago.
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Another reason to troll this site. The lefty sales section rocks! One of the reasons you still see guys like me shooting semi autos in PRS style matches is that most lefties grow up shooting right handed bolt guns from the left side or avoiding them for semi autos, lever guns, etc. Then, when you do finally get a left-handed one, you have to learn to shoot it like it was meant to be shot. I tried (miserably) to shoot one of Chaz's matches in Eastern Nebraska last year with a right handed bolt gun. I was so bad that I sold it on this sight the very next day. As others have said, it's ok for hunting or bench shooting but a real kick in the nuts in matches when you combine multiple rounds, and positional shooting under time. It's hard enough to get into a stable position quickly, who wants to re-do that after each shot?
I'm like that. I write and box (back in my younger days) left-handed, almost everything else right-handed.
+1 to this. I've lost count of how many times I've heard I should be running a RH bolt gun and it's always by some RH shooter running a RH rifle. As an added bonus, if you get a LH rifle, you'll get to hear "the bolts on the wrong side" about 82,000 times. Apparently that never gets old?
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