Lefty prone shooters - RH/LH bolt?

[LeftyJason]

The other benefit of getting a lh action is watching your right handed friends try to shoot it. Entertaining. They get to finally feel what it is like for you on right handed guns. Makes me want to get the savage 93r17 btvlss they have no option but to run it lefty.

 

[Blutroop]

Left eye dominant right handed. I shoot left shoulder and work action with my right. It’s just so smooth to me. I can switch shoulders and use my right hand as trigger and bolt hand if the need arises, but that is usually only when taking cover. That doesn’t happen to me much now

 

[texasleftychef]

Left eye dominant and left handed here. Spent my whole life shooting LH on RH bolt. So I’m a one trick pony and only able to run RH bolt. I do have a Bighorn TL3 that I was lucky enough to order and build off of and now have a RH bolt and LH eject which for my shooting is about perfect.

I think there is a lot to say about using the weak hand to manipulate the bolt from a supported position like prone or off a bench. But have never even considered a LH bolt either as just not how I do it.

Firmly convinced though that RH bolt and LH eject is optimal for lefties. Especially those who have used RH bolt for forever.

 

[Xander3Zero]

Lol at all the RH shooters (who shoot RH actions) talking about how easy it is for LH shooters to use RH actions. I have a friend who says this all the time as well; always saying that if he was left handed he would just shoot RH actions... lying piece of $#@% lol.

I experienced sheer joy the first time I sat behind a proper LH rifle after shooting RH actions for a few years. I shoot mostly prone and occasionally off a bench and the ergonomics are superior in every way. Like others said, one of the biggest advantages is probably safety; it is a nice thing to know that your face is not directly behind the ejection port...

 

[lte82]

I shot right hand actions from 4 to 33 yr old. Switched to left hand and will never ever go back. Say youre pig hunting and you bring your gun up, shoot and need to cycle your bolt. If it's a right bolt you have to drop it completely down out of your shoulder, rotate the gun, cross your hand over the scope, cycle, and get back into position. If you have a left bolt you leave the gun in your shoulder, cycle, and keep shooting. For barricades, your support hand has to come off the gun / scope, which costs time. For prone, it works fine, but again you are developing a habit and movement that doesnt work well for other positions.

 

[eastexsteve]

For other southpaws out there.... for a rifle primarily shot prone, or off a bench or tripod, do you utilize LH or RH actions?

I can see how a RH action may work fine, to keep left hand on the grip and pulling in to your shoulder while using the off/support hand to run the bolt. It’s much less cumbersome than reaching overhand with left hand as when shooting standing offhand...

Just trying to think. As a lefty, I like to buy LH products just because, usually it’s easier. But in entry level precision rifles ($1000-1200), there’s no good options, meanwhile if I just shot a RH action I could get a CTR, Bergara HMR, or Howa Bravo.

Curious for thoughts from others in similar situation.

Thanks!

You might find that in some rifles, there is more difference between LH/RH than just the bolt. The stocks can be a bit different also. I'm a lefty that shot RH guns for years. But, when I picked up a true LH rifle, I never went back.

 

[tsu45]

I shoot left hand bolt. One right port one left.

 

[tsu45]

I shoot left hand bolt. One right port one left.

 

[Triggs75]

Lefty here and been shooting right handed bolts. I am just now getting my first left handed action.

To ME pros using right hand action
- keep Trigger finger/grip in place
- you can see in the action if brass doesn’t come out so can easily pick brass out without loosing cheek weld
- availability of actions, chassis & triggers
- again availability of especially chassis

Cons for ME
- face right next to open action
- when using a bag to support rear of rifle when running the bolt with off hand you will always have to readjust rear bag to get back on target. It’s not that I loose view of target but to get back to aim point you need to readjust it.
- shooting whith no support is ok if no scope on rifle to run the bolt with trigger hand but with scope it makes it difficult to do so.

When I get my left handed action I am sure it will be a little difficult since my memory will be to run bolt with right hand. I still have 3 right handed bolt actions so will be interesting to see what I will do.

Chad

 

[EJ1001]

Chad, you are right that switching up can 'confuse' your brain > hand coordination, but your brain figures it out real quick. Took one range session of about 40 rnds, and it feels very natural now.

I guess it happens so quick because your brain is thanking you for finally using the correct side!!

 

[Dogsniper]

I finally built a left hand gun and will never go back to shooting right hand guns left handed

 

[sd0311msg]

My son is a lefty and is learning on RH bolts and semis. You all are making me feel guilty for not getting him a lefty platform. I have added ambi safeties and ambi charging handles to all my semi platforms.

 

[Sutherlandsd]

Lefty here that shoots right, have had a few left handed rifles and honestly they just don't feel right. Maybe I just need to invest in a good custom lefty action and play with it more.

 

[whiskey_papa]

I am right handed but cross-eye dominant and I use a left-handed bolt gun. I am thankful that I never had to put up with years of shooting a right-handed gun as some have mentioned. I have a Yugo Mauser that I bought before I knew what cross-dominance was. After I tried manipulating that gun left-handed, my decision to purchase a left-handed gun was solidified. There is no way in hell I am ever buying a right-handed bolt gun again.

 

[EJ1001]

I just made my .223 plinker rifle 'correct handed', now I'm all lefty and G-2-G... Only took a few decades to figure it out!!!

 

[adamjma]

As an update, this thread - particularly @DAVETOOLEY chiming in - prompted me to get off my ass and get a pair of left handed Tikka actions and swap everything over. I am now mad at myself for not having done this sooner. Soooo much better.

 

[idahoorion]

My son is a lefty and is learning on RH bolts and semis. You all are making me feel guilty for not getting him a lefty platform. I have added ambi safeties and ambi charging handles to all my semi platforms.

Lewis tool and machine makes a left upper, check it out.
Idahoorion

 

[Slo cat]

I am RH, R eye dominate. But my right eye recently developed scar tissue in my macula, meaning that I can't see precisely with this eye. So I now shoot pistol left eye and my RH Tikka Tac A1 (bought before the LH was available) I always shoot left handed as my left eye vision is still excellent. Making the switch after 76 yrs. went smoothly. So far, have only shot bench and belly-bench-rest. Have yet to shoot PRS, but I was able to distinguish graduate in the Front Sight Precision Rifle class.

 

[eastexsteve]

A funny one here. My uncle once came to me many years ago and asked if there was any way I could reload him a 150gr spitzer for his Rem model 742 30-06 that would get over 3000 fps muzzle velocity. I told him to leave me the gun and I'll work on it. I CAREFULLY worked up a load that, according to the book, would get it over 3k fps. But, it was starting to flatten the primers, and showing signs of hard extraction. But, the biggest issue was you couldn't hit a 2 foot x 2 foot cardboard box at 50 feet with it. It was blowing the bullet everywhere. If you backed off the load 2 grains though, it started to shoot pretty good. But, my uncle wasn't having the reduced load. To him, it was all about velocity, and that was the premier load to shoot out of that gun. I don't think he ever killed another deer with that gun.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

If you have had several rifles go kaboom on you, I'd find another hobby!

I've had thousands of customers over the years. Some smart and some not so smart. Some attentive and some careless. Some of the smart ones were less than attentive occasionally. We are all very capable of doing stupid careless stuff.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

I'm just screwing with you. Bad things happen all the time even to the safest people unfortunately.

no problem
I know people who have died from case ruptures. People who have died from trying to knock out a loaded round with a cleaning rod. Most people don't realize all the ways things can go wrong. I've done stupid stuff myself.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

When I was a young boy I was shooting an iron sight single shot youth 22lr. RH bolt. I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. My instructor told me to sight with my left eye, and then I put 5 through a dime dead center easily. Left eye dominant. Now that I’m 38, whether I’m using sites or a scope, holding a RH rifle lefty is what feels natural to me. My trigger hand never moves, so I can be speedy if I need to. Since I only shoot bench at 100, or prone out to 1000, it doesn’t really matter as it would in various other positions.

 

[Raivkka]

Yeah, I know Savage has the Stealth series rifles available in LH. But I’d feel like that was again, a compromise and I’d sooner or later be looking to drop more coin on a different action rifle.

Right hand/left eye dom.
I bought the stealth BA in 6.5 and it's not a bad rifle. Didn't really want a savage, but after 850 for the rifle and 1000 for the scope, that's a chunk of change.
I don't compete, just shoot for fun so really no reason to spend more.

PVA is offering the Hancock rifle in lefty at some point. If I had to do it all over again I would might go that route.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

There’s the Valkyrie am I bolt from Nemesis. Pretty sweet. If you have over $5k.......