Left hand vs right hand

[mt terry d]

Shooting a left hand bolt gun with an ambidextrous stock right handed.
Seems to me it's easier & quicker getting back on target and less fiddle farting around between shots.
What am I missing?

 

[Formidilosus]

Shooting a left hand bolt gun with an ambidextrous stock right handed.
Seems to me it's easier & quicker getting back on target and less fiddle farting around between shots.
What am I missing?

Running the bolt in something other than prone.

 

[mt terry d]

Yeah.

I hadn't thought of that.

 

[hereinaz]

Shooting a left hand bolt gun with an ambidextrous stock right handed.
Seems to me it's easier & quicker getting back on target and less fiddle farting around between shots.
What am I missing?

If the support hand runs the bolt, then the trigger hand has to hold the rifle up. That’s why it only works in prone or some position like a seated tripod where the rifle is supported.

And, I can’t see how it would be much faster than done “correctly”

Also, pierce a primer or split a case and you get a face full of gasses and little pieces of stuff. If you really detonate something your whole face is catching the brunt of it.

No thanks.

 

[rodney482]

Lots of RH bench rest rifles have LH bolts

 

[Marshfly]

If the support hand runs the bolt, then the trigger hand has to hold the rifle up. That’s why it only works in prone or some position like a seated tripod where the rifle is supported.

And, I can’t see how it would be much faster than done “correctly”

Also, pierce a primer or split a case and you get a face full of gasses and little pieces of stuff. If you really detonate something your whole face is catching the brunt of it.

No thanks.

This right here. People worry about function but the real reason to shoot the correct handed rifle is safety.

I think about that every single time I get behind my son's lefty Tikka and every single time he gets behind the righty 223.

 

[Evasal]

Yeah right handed

 

[Macs69]

I'm cross dominant (right handed, but left eye dominant), and always shot a right handed rifle left handed. Held it up by the pistol grip, and worked the bolt with my right hand (pretty darn proficiently). A stock with cast off is not your friend, in this situation. I shot a lovely o/u double barrel at a sporting clays event that felt like a Tyson hook on the cheekbone by the end of the day.

 

[Macs69]

This right here. People worry about function but the real reason to shoot the correct handed rifle is safety.

I think about that every single time I get behind my son's lefty Tikka and every single time he gets behind the righty 223.

Great point, and something that I never considered.

 

[gbflyer]

Lots of RH bench rest rifles have LH bolts

Right bolt left port or vice versa. Really nice on a bench gun.

 

[GrayMatter]

I'm cross dominant (right handed, left eye dominant), I learned to shoot left handed and run a left handed bolt gun. The two main reasons have already been covered but I'll reiterate: 1. Safety, it gets your face further from the ejection port. 2. You can run the bolt from an unsupported position and stay on target. Unless you're only going to be bench rest shooter (the one instance where it *might* be advantageous) I would recommend switching to a same handed gun.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

perfect timing on this thread. I am right-handed left eye dominant. when I was young, I always shot right-handed guns. switched left-handed to left hand bolts. took me a little while to learned running bolt left hand. The nice thing is now my safety on my tikka t3x I can use my thumb. Now i considering buying a right hand 204 Ruger only because I can't find a left. Gun be mostly used on bench or tripod. I concerned having both right and left hand bolt guns might not be a good idea. being right-handed I pretty comfortable running bolt right-handed so I would fall right back into it. placement of the gun safety is a issue. On a center safety is would not be a problem.

 

[alpine_troop]

Running the bolt in something other than prone.

Yup. Hard to ignore that. I just spent the last 4 years self-justifying my decision to buy and use right-handed bolt actions when I am left handed and left eye dominant. I have come up with all sorts of justifications in my head of how I am “pretty efficient” using a right handed rifle on my left side with an adapted manual of arms that ultimately is not the most efficient way to shoot the weapon. Can I make do just fine off a supported shooting position? Yes, absolutely. Unsupported, real-world shot scenarios that I have encountered multiple times already in just a couple years of hunting? No, not even close to an efficient shot process using my adapted manual of arms. Even my prone follow-up shots are split seconds slower than my peers due to breaking support hand position each time to run the bolt. And that is not consistent with my goal of being a better shooter in all field scenarios.

Got the chance to experiment with a friend’s left handed rifle and test my made-up theories in all sorts of positions and scenarios. Time to quit this self-justification and acknowledge reality. I finally made the decision to switch. Sold two right handed rifles already and ordered two lefty Tikkas to replace them. Will probably sell my remaining right handed R700 clone too, and put those resources back into ammo and tags.

 

[kengel2]

Shooting a left hand bolt gun with an ambidextrous stock right handed.
Seems to me it's easier & quicker getting back on target and less fiddle farting around between shots.
What am I missing?

Shoot off something other than a bench. You don't need to rebuild a solid position Everytime you run the bolt.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Savage makes some straight pull riffles. the bolt can be switch for left to right side. I looked at them pretty interesting. I just couldn't bring myself to buy a savage. I have only owned one savage and it has been my least favored gun of all time. It was cheap.