Lefty beginner help...Remington Varmint vs Tikka T3x Varmint Stainless

[therealj]

Gents,

Greetings from Canada and happy new year. I currently have a stock Savage 10T for long range shooting but thinking I'd like to try a left handed rifle for my bench shooting ( I'm left eye dominant / right handed). Both of these rifles are currently on sale and I'd ideally like to keep the total before scope under $1500 give or take. I'm very new to the hobby and expertise level is certainly toward the novice side so any advice is greatly appreciated. A bit of an aside question and really the biggest reason I'm thinking about getting a left handed rifle, is case head failure a true concern with factory ammo? A big part of my reasoning for wanting a left handed bolt is also for safety should something fail ( I have a left handed browning for hunting / my bench 308 and .22 are RH)

1) Tikka T3x Varmint Stainless .308 $1250 - Thoughts are I'd likely be able to shoot this rifle mostly stock and be happy, maybe eventually upgrade the stock.

2) Remington 700 SPS Varmint .308 $750 - From what I've read likely one of the best actions from a price/option point of view to build from. Would likely upgrade the trigger and stock immediately and end up slightly more expensive than the Tikka.

Or do I simply forget the lefty rifle and keep shooting and upgrade the stock for my Savage 10T, it's really only the safety issue that's concerning me as being left eye dominant but right handed the right hand bolt is just fine from a bench. Thanks in advance for the help, I'm open to other suggestions.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

Currently shooting/building a rig using a Savage 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 CM as a base. Added a Vortex Crossfire II scope - total investment so far $1050 US with shipping but I get $100 back from Savage due to a Fall promotion. I am also a left eye dominant/right handed shooter shooting a right hand action left handed. I do this with an AR-15 and this Savage and I'm still shooting sub MOA at 100 yards.

Aside from gasps from traditionalists who are intimidated I have found no problems shooting a right hand action rifle left handed due to eye dominance. Running the bolt with my left hand requires a bit of fudging but it's not a big deal. I'd suggest running a right handed gun left handed.

I wouldn't buy a left handed action worrying about case head sep. using factory ammo - it happens but it's about as rare as getting a ricochet off a steel target that hits you right in the head. It could happen but we *could* get struck by lightning or win the lottery as well.

Right handed/left eye dominant shooters do fine with right hand actions shot left handed, IMO.

VooDoo

 

[PAYDIRT]

I'm left eye dominant, right handed. I just close my left eye. Not saying it's the best but I shot 10 meter at college, multiple 25's shooting trap, etc. etc.

 

[missed]

I'm a lefty and went from the Savage to a Mausingfield action. But I have recently bought a Tikka for my daughter, I have been impressed with the Tikka for a factory rifle. Comparing the T3X to the SPS varmint my buddy bought, he is selling his Remington and going to buy a Tikka.

 

[patriot07]

A couple of things - the Remington can be made as accurate as the Tikka is, but it will likely never have the smoothness of the action and it'll never have the 70 degree bolt throw, and it will cost more money in the end if you want to make it equal to the Tikka. If I was going to buy something to start with, it would absolutely be the Tikka. Especially for a novice, you want something that just works so you know that if you're making mistakes, it isn't the rifle.

Secondly, how dominant is your left eye? If it's very dominant, I'd buy something LH and stick with it. If not, don't worry about being a little more dominant in your left eye if you can still get the job done shooting like you are. My left eye is slightly dominant, but I'm very right-handed. So I still shoot right-handed and it works fine. The Savage 10T is a fine rifle and shouldn't be a limiting factor for a long time in your skill development.

I don't believe that LH vs RH for safety reasons is a compelling reason to choose, IMHO.

 

[therealj]

Thanks for the help, it's appreciated, especially regarding the safety issue. As far as shooting RH, I'm 40 and have shot left my entire life, shouldering a rifle to my right side feels completely foreign. I actually have a theory about the whole right right hand/left hand thing that nobody ever agrees with me on . But in a nutshell my hand position never changes for the following activities but the dexterity apparently does

Baseball bat - left hand at the bottom, but it's RH
Hockey - same
Golf club - same
Guitar - same hand position but now it's left handed
Rifle - same hand position but now it's left handed
Pool cue - same hand position but now it's left handed

Think about holding a hockey stick to shoot right handed and now lift to shoulder it like it's a rifle to fire right handed, why do your hands change position? If you keep you hands in the same position it naturally shoulders to your left...These are the things I tell myself to justify all my backwards left/right hand tendencies

 

[gpr]

I'm right handed and shoot left handed as well. I always shot right hand rifles, and while you get by with them a left handed gun is much better. Now i try and only buy left hand guns.

Does Tikka even offer a stainless left hand gun? if so i would be interested, but in all my searching the only left hand stainless action i could find was either a remington 700 action to build a gun from. (very viable option if you know what your doing, as you can build it how you want instead of buying a gun and throwing all the parts away), or i found that Ruger has an M77 Hawkeye stainless in lefthand. They only offer it in 300wm or 6.5cm. I am a big fan of the Ruger M77's as the actions cycle smooth, very strong and durable, trigger is easy to modify and make a very crisp clean light trigger pull. Plus now you can put ruger american barrels on them for a barrel nut system. Oh and you don't need to bed the action due to the 45 degree action screws, but the down side is it is hard to find stocks and parts in general for these guns.

 

[therealj]

Tikka does offer LH stainless, my first rifle was a lefty stainless Tikka t3 lite 7mm-08, wish I didn't sell it. I I believe they offer quite a few more models left handed in Canada, it's a hockey thing. Now my wheels are certainly spinning, the T3x Varmint is available in a .243 but it's a 1:10 twist, everything I've read leads me to believe I should look for a 1:8 twist for longer range.....decisions, decisions.

 

[celtics10]

Hopefully this can help. I am left eyed and fully right hand handed (the only thing thing do I lefty is shoot). All of my rifles (tikka hunting rifle, custom defiance actioned target rifle, savage 22, etc) are left handed. I also frequently shoot other’s right handed rifles (tikkas, savages, Remington’s, etc). If you only ever shoot slow fire off a bench, a right handed action is okay - but I believe any speed you pick up in being able to work the bolt with your right hand is lost from having to reaquire the target because you let go of your rear bag/rest. I’m about as fast as it gets shooting a righty bolt left handed because I get to work the action with my dominant hand and it still isn’t great. Also pretty much any time you leave the bench to shoot your rifle, you will have to break your position to cycle the bolt. It sucks that there aren’t many factory lefty options for target style rifles, but it’s just kinda the way it is. I have contacted the US tikka people before about getting any heavy barrel tikka, and as far as I know, the t3 sporter is the only one that made it to the US. Canada may be different. However if you can get the t3 sporter, it comes in 223, 260, or 308, and I think the 308 one comes threaded (I’m a big fan of brakes). I think I’ve seen the sporter go for around 1200 on gunbroker for reference. The stock is also adjustable which is nice. That only leaves you 300 for a scope, but you have a quality rifle that will last a long long time and you can pick up something like an SWFA fixed 10x or 12x for the medium term and pick something else up down the line if more funds are available. The Remingtons are definitely more affordable, but the factory stock and trigger vs the t3 sporter leave much to be desired, and the Remington’s aren’t as consistently accurate. I hope this helps, and best of luck.

 

[therealj]

Thank you, that definitely helps. The rifle will be purely off a bench, I have a left handed browning for hunting/offhand but there's still a little part of my brain telling me to sell the RH Savage and get a proper left handed rifle for my target shooting. I guess now the question is do I go 243 with a 1:10 twist or the 308, I'd eventually like to try my hand at 500 yards+ as a new range opened about an hour from me with steel gongs at numerous distances past 500 yards.