I had a gun dealer today try to tell me that I should teach my son (a right-hander with a dominant left eye, whom I've taught to shoot left-handed) to shoot a right-handed bolt rifle. He claims his buddy has done so for years and prefers it to shooting a left-handed gun. I'm away from my guns and can only imagine this, but it seems to me that it would be a clumsy process, require considerable strenth (supporting an 8-lb. gun with little leverage), and possibly dangerous (catching a bolt in the teeth). Thoughts? TT

I'm left handed, and shoot a VZ 24 (Mauser 98) action in a right handed stock. The action came cheap, and I tell myself it is only "clunky" if I muff the first shot. Hence, while I'm doubtful I have Lee Harvey Oswald reload capability, I make an effort not to need it. The kid will figure out what works best, and the reasons why that is for him (for me, its 'cause I'm cheap) if he gets some time with both types of gun.
Best,
Ted

I have a good friend who is right handed/left eye dominant. Well, now that I type this I can think of 2 toher friends who are the same. All 3 of them shoot either right or left handed.

I have some physical limitations and shoot off of whichever shoulder I am able to at the moment (I am right hand/right eye). At times I am physically able to shoot off of either shoulder, so I just pick the one that is easiest for that particular shot.

If you teach him to shoot from each shoulder, he will be a better hunter.

One thing I have noticed is that I would say 80%+ of the people I have met who were cross eye dominant are women. I have often wondered why that is. There must be some advantage to it or those genes would not be floating around in the pool.

I shoot from the left shoulder but the rifle I use is a right handed Remington. The only time I ever tried a left handed gun it was too awkward for me.

Years ago I tried to convince myself that I could shoot a right handed bolt action rifle. But once I held a left handed rifle you realize just how awkward it really is. It is just like the shotgun that you think is a beautiful gun but it really does not fit you and you convince yourself that "I can shoot this". Being the adaptable creatures that we are you can actually make them work. But it is a chore. I finally bought a custom Remington 700 left handed rifle that I really love and I don't buy a shotgun that can't be fitted for a lefty.

Bill G.

I'm a lefty that shot RH bolt guns until 8-9 yrs ago. You can make do with them but once I got my first LH bolt I haven't looked back.

I only buy LH guns now.

Get him a Ruger Model 77 left hand action and be done with it. The are built in all the popular calibers and don't cost and arm and a leg. I handi-capped myself for years with a right handed bolt action and can only look back upon how foolish this was.
Jim

Being left handed I can get away with using a right handed semi-auto gun, but a bolt gun is a whole different ball game.

I have a left handed Remington 700 as well, and I would not even consider a right handed bolt gun.

I have a left handed shooting buddy (who is no novice by the way) who oddly enough would just as soon own and shoot a right handed bolt gun as a left. I found him a nice left handed bolt gun several years ago (his first and last) and he shot it some, but got rid of it. If he has a need for speed, he has that covered with a real sweet shooting BAR in .308 with the BOSS and a tricked out .223 AR. For varmit hunting off of a bench and deer hunting out of a stand (which is the what and how he hunts), he has no problem reaching over the wrong side and working the action. So I suppose once a lefty learns to use a left handed bolt, with some left handed shooters anyway, it isn't much of an issue for them. In most hunting situations, the first shot is the one that counts most (some of the better hunters I have known use nothing but single shots) and I can see how he does not feel handicapped. But in a high power rifle competition with timed fire stages, I doubt there are many left handed shooters shooting right handed bolt guns. Because guns and shooting are his primary hobby, he does tend to buy, sell and trade frequently, and moving a left handed gun can be a bit more difficult.

Doug

JBG could have been me writing. For too long I made do. I even shot Summer Biathlon competitively with a right-hand bolt gun until I made my own custom rifle using the Ruger 96 lever gun - which has proven to really mow down those metal plates just as fast, if not faster, than those using Anschutz Fortners.
When I had a bit more funds I sprung for a left hand Weatherby after using a Remington Classic right hand bolt for 20+ years. At first I was "all thumbs" handling the Weatherby but quickly retrained myself. Now I eagerly await my DuBiel LH .375 that is in quarantine. All rifles now are LH, lever, or pump.
Like someone said above, concentrate on the first shot. I don't think I was ever handicapped in the hunting field. (Shooting for time in Biathlon was a different story.)
Shotguns? Perhaps I haven't reached that level of sophistication yet because all of my autos and pumps are right hand affairs.
Lou

Lou,

Is that the one from Cabelas? If so looks like a nice one.

I've shot right hand auto and pump shotguns for years and they've never bothered me. You get used to the empties whizzing by your face after a while!
The biggest problem I had was to re-train myself to handle and shoot an auto pistol left handed after years of shooting right handed. This was before ambidexterous safties and mag. releases became common. My accuracy also improved since I'm left eye dominant. One good thing is I really don't have a "weak" hand.
Jim

Left handed son shot my right hand bolt on an elk hunt. Had trouble getting the bolt fully retracted and then locked properly and lost an opportunity to take a good bull because of that. Now shoots a Ruger No. 1 which is neutral.

My Son is left eye dominate and shoots right hand by choise.

He shoots his handguns right hand also. He is a fine shot.

I knew from the time he was able to feed hmself that he was left eye dominate, and kept at him to use his right hand.

Wht? It's a right hand world!

TT-
People are fairly adaptable, but that doesn't mean it's the 'best' way to do something.

My son is left eye dominant and left handed; he's of course shot left handed from day one. Though he shoots very well left handed w/ rt hand bolt guns, that's currently all he has to choose from [I'm waiting until he can handle a little bigger caliber before buying him a left bolt gun].

As noted above, a lefty shooting a right bolt is no big deal for the 1st shot. While we all strive for everything to fall over after shot # 1, sooner or later it's not going to happen and a rapid follow up or two or three will be required. A lefty shooting a rt bolt gun cannot possibly make as quick and accurate a follow up shot [or shots] as he could shooting a left bolt gun - particularly if he's shooting free hand.

You've done exactly the right thing teaching your son to shoot left handed. Find another gun dealer - I suspect all this one had in stock were rt handed guns anyway?

Post deleted by Ken Georgi

I am a righty, but left eye dominant. I shoot leftie and use righty guns- I find it awkward to use a lefty gun.

There is a difference between people who are right handed and left eye dominant and people who are left handed and left eye dominant- obviously those that fall into the second catagory will prefer a left handed bolt. For people in the first catagory, like me, it is hard to use that left hand to work the bolt-at least for me anyways.

My 30-06 is an early model 70 with a custom left hand stock. I'm sure it not nearly as fast as a full left handed model but I love it and I don't think you will find many pre 64 model 70's.

Shooting left handed (right handed-left eye dominant) has been an adventure for me. My most prominent memory is during an engagement in the delta of Viet Nam in 1972. For a moment I thought I had just been mortally wounded.....until I realized that in the excitement a redhot piece of ejected M-16 brass had gone down the neck of my shirt onto my bare chest underneath!

Bob:
That just brought up some interesting recent hapenings. I'm an RSO at the Scottsdale Gun Club. We get women shooters in there in all sort of unusual attire like open blouses tubetops etc. Occasionally one will put a spent casing right down where the sun don't usually shine. I seen some "attire adjustments" that would shame Janet Jackson!!
Jim

I don't think he would have a problem with a r/h bolt gun unless it has a scope on it, then it is almost impossible to get a second shot off. Yes I'm a lefty and only own left handed bolt guns. Jack

Guys: As always, good advice and interesting anecdotes as well. My son already shoots some right-handed guns (pumps, autos, levers), but I just couldn't figure out how it would work with a bolt gun. The Ruger No. 1 is the way I've been leaning, or if I can find a good lefty bolt gun in the right caliber sometime soon, I'll go that route. Otherwise I'll have him shoot one of my lever guns (a .30-30 or a .45-70), since our stand will, I hope, offer a pretty close shot. Thanks. TT

I am a leftie and all my bolt rifles are RH, simply because when I was a poor student I could not afford a LH bolt version. What that did was teach me to use it basically as a single shot and make the first shot count. I did buy a Ruger 77 270 in LH but found it hard to use. Also from the bench or prone position a RH bolt rifle is much easier to use for a leftie, think about it.
But a shotgun is different, my Perazzis both have LH stocks, a revelation after years of contorting myself around B25 Brownings and Winchester 101s wirh RH stocks
Mike

I would put money on the fact that most of the people on this board had/have the burn to shoot from they can't remember when.

The point is, if he too has the burn, he will not care! Don't over think this. In truth my Son shoots his old Model 12 16ga. he got on his 12th birthday vary well.

The real problem for a right hand left eye is shooting a bow.

My LH friends shoot RH guns and feel slower and strange shooting LH guns.

You might find it interesting sometime to watch the end of "Saving Private Ryan". The US sniper, PVT Jackson played by Barry Pepper, in the church steeple in the defense of the bridge at Romelle shoots lefty. Even though he is just an actor, and who knows what his real-life training is, he is quick and smooth while using his right handed '03 to pick off a double hand full of attacking Germans. He didn't have to deal with much recoil if they even used blanks but he does a very credible job making it believable.

I found that a large scope made it difficult to operate the right handed bolt, sometimes stopping the empty cartridge to clear by falling back towards the action. I then tried a left handed action and it was much, much better.
Charl.

Was I alone? Did anyone else say to themselves "put one down the bore of the tank, blow the shell in the chamber of that tank!

Your right I think Barry Pepper must be a shooter, all his films he slows a lot of familiarity with firearms.

I think it pass time for Barry to "come out"! Who will "out" Barry?

AL,

I could be wrong but I don't think that would work.......ie, one down the bore of the tank gun. I think the tank rounds were armed either by rotation during the flight of the round or by set back which occurs at the time of firing. Might be an old tanker aboard who could confirm or deny that for us. Sorry to get sidetracked.

Back in the old days it was called "Bore-Safe", centrifugal force moved a steel block to lineup the explosive train. Not sure how they do it today but with a High-Explosive Point-Detonating (PD) fuse you need for it to be safe when the crew slams it into the closed breech block. I remember driving up to a 155 (M-109?) when the doors flew open and everyone was headed for the woods. That's just what they did, blew a little chuck out of the PD fuse and smoked up the inside. I seem to remember that it took about a 100 yards to arm, been a long time ago so that could be wrong.



http://www.google.com/patents?id=m61iAAAAEBAJ&dq=impact+fuse+%22bore+safe%22

Never give up, I would of given it a shot. If nothing else the part obstruction in that 88mm bore would have jacked up the pressures. And it would of been more fun than just setting there, with your arse hanging in the breeze!

The types of arming projectile's were around even before WWII.

At least that's what they told us in school for EOD, in fact as I recall, all 167 types of fuses were around from before the 2nd. I don't think all the sub categories were however.

I am right handed and left-eye dominant......... While I shoot long guns leftie, hand guns rightie, bow leftie. I am pretty ambidexterous when it comes to shooting, particularly with a rifle. Right handed bolt guns, while a bit more challengeing are not all that big a deal. Unlike some, I Operate the bolt with my right hand while holding the rifle with my left hand on the pistol grip. I have seen some that will actually "Reach over" with their left hand to operate the bolt, I tried it that way but found that method VERY awkward for me.

Teach him to shoot equally well left and right handed....... He will appreciate it.

I'm left eye dominant and right handed. Shoot shotguns from the left shoulder using both eyes. Shoot rifled guns from the right shoulder with right eye only (left is closed). Can shoot pistols right or left handed with both eyes open (actually have better acuracy with right hand on trigger). Moral of the story, son should go with what works best.