Rimfire Central Firearm Forum banner

Do you lefties shoot right handed guns??

4K views 23 replies 24 participants last post by  Al the Infidel 
#1 ·
I have a granddaughter who is left handed and wants to get into shooting. I only have right handed 22s in lever, pumps and autos. Do you lefties shoot right handed guns? Is there any problems I should be aware of her shooting a right handed gun? (I know auto ejected one may be a problem) or do I need to bite the bullet and buy a left handed one? I know they make left handed bolt actions in 22s. What others should I be looking for? Tanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
If she's never shot before just teach her to shoot right handed. I'm a lefty and I shoot a rifle and pistol right handed. And believe me I'm not even close to being ambidextrous. Literally the only thing I can do right handed is shoot a gun. I even shoot a bow left handed.

When I was a kid and my father took me shooting they didn't have much for left handed guns. Also he was right handed so that was how he showed me. Now shooting right handed is completely natural for me but left handed is very awkward. It worked out pretty well as I am right eye dominant.
 
#3 ·
I'm left handed and shot that way until 2004 when a defibrillator was installed in my left chest.
So, I switched to right handed and never looked back.
I could still shoot a .22 left handed but no shotguns allowed on that side.

Switch her over she'll do fine that way.:t:)
 
#4 · (Edited)
I have a granddaughter who is left handed and wants to get into shooting.
Eye dominance matters more than hand dominance. You should start her out on the shoulder that matches her eye dominance.

Approx 50% of women are cross-dominant, meaning their eye dominance and hand dominance don't match. You should check to see which eye is dominant. Take a 3x5 card and punch a pencil-diameter sized hole in the center of the card. Stand about 4' away and have her hold the card up at arm's length and, with both eyes open, look through the hole at your nose. Have her slowly pull the card back to her face while keeping your nose centered in the view through the hole. The card will end up centered over her dominant eye.

Do you lefties shoot right handed guns? Is there any problems I should be aware of her shooting a right handed gun?
I'm right handed but left eye dominant. I did not know that until a few years ago so most of my rifles are right-handed rifles. Only two of my rifles are left-handed -- a CZ 452 American in 22lr and a Savage in 243 Win. All the rest are right handed rifles and I generally shoot the right-handed rifles wearing scopes right-handed and the open sight models left-handed. Two approaches to shooting a right-handed rifle when holding it left-handed. It seems most leave the right hand on the forearm and reach over the scope with the left hand to work the action. That gives better control over the rifle.

I learned I was cross-dominant when I took up shotgunning and couldn't hit a darn thing. My mentor checked for eye dominance and had me shift to shooting leftie and ***BAM*** it was like flipping a switch. So now I shoot left handed when shotgunning.

Scroll ahead to about 1:10

 
#5 ·
Leftie here - grew up shooting right-handed bolt guns because that's what the school had for team use. Reaching over was easy after a while.

Now, I have an old-skool bolt gun that I reach over, using a sling - a 455 Varmint on a bipod that I shoot lefty-righty (left hand stays on the trigger area, right hand operates the bolt, butt on left shoulder - and two falling-blocks that don't care who shoots 'em. :)

AS long as you're consistent in teaching, she'll do fine, but note Sophia's advice re eye dominance - that is the mostest important thing to get right first.
 
#6 ·
Eye dominance is the most important. If she is truly left eye and left hand dominant, you try to force her to shoot right handed, it will be a very frustrating experience for both of you.

I am militant lefty. Semis, pumps, levers, don't bother me. If the gun is spitting brass in a lefty's face, the extractor needs work.

Reaching over to operate a bolt bugs the daylights out of me.

Most firearms with push button or lever safeties are set up for right hand use. Some are reversible. Some aren't. 10/22 is an example of one that isn't. On a 10/22 I live with the safety as is.

Magazine and slide stops are also things to consider. If I can get an ambi or revisable mag release, great. If not I live with it.

I don't worry much about the slide stop. It's a slide stop, not a release. Teach her the sling shot method for slide release.

Grips on target pistols can be an issue. Many are contoured for right hand. It is really frustrating when a person hands you a really nice pistol and you can't hold it. Use something with plain Jane grips.

Cheek risers on can be an issue for the same reason as grips. Straight comb is a good place to start.
 
#7 ·
I am dominantly left-handed so much so that as an aerial observer I used my cyclic and the pilots collective. I run left handed bolt guns mostly.

Personally, I’d start her on your right-handed bolt and let her figure out which shoulder to use. If she ends up liking to shoot left handed then look at a lefty bolt gun. Just remember that you are going to pay more for the left hand bolt and will have difficulty selling it if she loses interest.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Teach her using the shoulder of her dominant eye, Shooting a right handed bolt left handed shouldn't matter unless she is hunting where a quick follow up shot might be necessary.

I eat, write etc. left-handed but play sports and am stronger right handed, so is a long time friend of mine, We both shoot from the shoulder of our dominant eye.

Out of Hundereds of guns fired left handed the only long guns to be a problem were Remington's 550 and 551 semi-autos, burned powder would hit my face with both, and one older 10/22 would occasionally hit my cheek with an empty. I have shot and or owned several 10/22 Rugers since that did not do that.
 
#9 ·
I am right handed, but left eye dominate like Sofia. I grew up shooting right handed but switch to left handed shooting when I got into sporting clays. If I were to start over from scratch I would figured out my eye dominance first, then train myself to shoot off that shoulder.

As to which rifle to start with, any break action .22 lr will work in either hand. As others have said right ejection from a lever action or semi auto should not really interfere with shooting it left handed. Make sure she wears safety glasses to avoid any powered blow back. Especially with cheap ammo.

Right handed Bolt actions can be a little tricky at first, but with practice becomes much easier.

If rapid fire bolt action work is required, a left handed rifle is preferable.

Start he out with a right hand gun just make sure the stock had no raised roll over cheek piece. These are the bane of any lefty shooting a right handed rifle.

Make it fun for both of you. She’ll figure out what she likes once she gets experience. Good luck.
 
#12 ·
My daughter is left-eye dominant but right handed. We have shot USPSA since she was in high school and it was never an issue, but when we started rifle a couple of years ago, she struggled. She tried shooting left-handed but the physical was more of a disadvantage than the vision. We worked on it quite a bit before she went off to BCT last year, but she ended up staying with right-handed.

She was expert and scored top of the unit for marksmanship, so I guess she's doing ok with it. :rolleyes: Makes me look like carp at our matches.
 
#13 ·
I have a granddaughter who is left handed and wants to get into shooting. I only have right handed 22s in lever, pumps and autos. Do you lefties shoot right handed guns? Is there any problems I should be aware of her shooting a right handed gun? (I know auto ejected one may be a problem) or do I need to bite the bullet and buy a left handed one? I know they make left handed bolt actions in 22s. What others should I be looking for? Tanks
All of the previous posts give excellent advice. :bthumb:

I'm a southpaw and have three lever guns, none of which cause a problem. I don't currently own any pump guns but the ones I've shot in the past haven't caused issues. I also have a couple of semiautos that, again, are no problem shooting left-handed. I had a minor issue with an AR I used to own - it spit spent brass straight onto my right (often bare) arm, and those cases were hot. I have one left-hand bolt gun, a Savage .22 WMR. I've often thought if I ever buy another bolt gun it will be right-hand because when the time comes to sell, it would be easier to move.

All that said, the previous posters point out the one issue that should be resolved before considering buying a left-handed gun for her.
 
#16 ·
My son is left eye dominant, right handed. He does everything right handed, except shooting sports. Be it shotgun, rifle, or archery, he shoots left handed. His current gun is a standard 10/22. He doesn’t notice the shells ejecting in his line of sight. The only real issue I’ve heard of, involves high powered, semiauto guns. If, and this is a big if, the round explodes in the chamber, the gases could force open the action, and go right into the shooters face. Again, this is a big if, dependent on a catastrophic malfunction, of a very powerful round. Mainly semiauto shotguns. Beyond that, bolt action guns are the only ones that are a little awkward. Pumps, levers, and semiauto rimfires don’t cause him any hangups.
 
#18 ·
I have shot left handed my whole life, never owned a left handed gun, flying brass has never distracted my shooting, only gun that ever bothered was the m-16 in the military, had to keep my top button closed on my shirt to keep hot brass from from going down inside. My wife is right handed and can't hit anything righty, she is left eyed and shoots that way, she is an excellent shot.
 
#19 ·
Absolutely Good advice from Sophia. Eye dominance is the correct way to go. My youngest son is right handed and left eye dominant. I tried to get him to shoot right handed. Didn't work. I taught him to shoot left handed and he was hitting the bulleye every time.

As for a left handed gun. It is your choice. See if she likes shooting first. if she does then buy her a lefty gun.
 
#20 ·
I am right handed but had to learn to shoot left handed when I injured my right eye 15 years ago. I have no left hand guns and have continued to buy right hand guns, mostly because my son & grandsons who will inherit my guns are all right handed. I have no issues shooting the right hand guns, including the autos. I can still see with my right eye but not well enough to shoot with it. I was right eye dominant before the injury, but shortly after injuring my right eye, I became left eye dominant.
 
#21 ·
I'm so glad Fred Bear was a left-handed archer. If he wasn't, perhaps there would have been no mass-produced bows manufactured, even by his own company! Almost every archery equipment company produces left-handed bows and tabs.
Unfortunately, almost all the gun manufacturers pretend we don't exist. :mad:
 
#22 ·
Back in the day I shot high school competition using a Winchester 52C right hand (only model available) using a sling. Not a problem. To extract and charge I rolled the rifle a bit to the left and reached over with my left hand to work the bolt. I was also able to see if there was another round to load or if I was empty. A couple of years ago I went back to shooting and got a Savage 93R17 BTVSS left hand. It's easier to shoot but now, using a bipod, I can't tell if the chamber is loaded or not and end up dry firing. Sometimes you can't win.
https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=96210
 
#23 ·
Eye dominance rules the day. I'm right handed and left eye dominant, always used right handed guns. I did buy a left handed bolt gun once, it drove me nuts and I sold it. I find a lot of models or 'right hand' guns run better for me left handed. I've never been hit in the face with brass, occasionally I might have a piece get down my right sleeve.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top