Left Hand, Ambidextrous and Off Handed Shooting

[skidmarc]

Ambidextrous and Off Handed Shooting
I am looking at getting a rifle. I happen to be a south paw but enjoy shooting north paw, my off hand, as well.
Do you of know of ways to shoot a gun that is not geared to your dominate hand?
A few problems I run into is:
Cocking handles on the right side most notably with scopes on top.
Not wanting to double the price to make it ambidextrous. Blasted AR-15!
Mostly How do fellow lefties shoot.

 

[MuleShoe]

I SHOOT LONG GUNS FROM LEFT SIDE AS MY DOMINAT EYE IS MY LEFT ONE. ONLY USE RIGHT HANDED LONG GUNS. HAVE NO PROBLEM WORKING BOLTS OR ANYTHING. I BEEN DOING IT THIS WAY FOR 50 YEARS. I CAN WORK BOLT AS FAST AS ANYONE OUT THERE. ITS WHAT YOU GET USED TO. ONLY THING IVE RUN ACROSS THAT DONT FIT MY WAY OF SHOOTING IS A SCAR. I SHOOT PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS EITHER HAND. MOST LONG GUNS WORK SAFETY AND BOLT , CHARGING HANDLE WITH RIGHT HAND OVER AND UNDER SHOT GUN WORK SAFETY, BRREL SELECTER AND TRIGGER WITH LEFT HAND.

 

[mtw45]

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous...JK. As MuleShoe said above, its what you get used to. I am LH but everything I own is RH so I'm used to bolts, safeties, mag releases ect. being on the wrong side. No issues

 

[kuduman]

AR15 work fine for lefties-- if you change two things. 1.) Add an ambi charging handle. 2.) Mag-Pul Battery Assist Device. And you can get by without either.

Bolt guns are harder, especially if scoped, but I know folks that grew up shooting lefty with RH bolt guns, and they killed plenty of deer.

Handguns are the worst. A bunch don't have LH controls (SIG, for example). And good luck trying to speed-load a revolver left handed. You aren't going to be competitive with Miculek, that's for sure.

My solution? I buy LH bolt guns, pistols with LH safeties (or add them), and shotguns it doesn't seem to matter. They work fine, though the safeties can be annoying.

 

[skidmarc]

Working a bolt off handed is not that hard for me, I just throw my shooting hand over the rifle. Its the scopes that rile me they ruin the ergonomics. I don't like AR pattern rifle all the controls are badly placed for me.

 

[Semper Gumby]

I remember almost getting choked out by a Drill Instructor in boot camp for asking if a left handed M16 was available.

Revolvers are a pain but I'll never get rid of my 686. Thankfully there are more semi-auto handgun options out now. Most of my pistol collection has drifted to HK as they seem to have the most ambi-friendly options. AR platform rifles are pretty easy to use and manipulate albeit a bit slower in the prone position. The only thing I do with them is an ambi fire selector.

 

[Wheeler]

I'm a lefty. I used to compete in IDPA with revolvers and never had an issue with reloads. I could smoke most folks at the time with sub two second reloads. Still not in Jerry Miculek territory though.

As far as controls on semi auto pistols, I use my index (trigger) finger to actuate the mag release and use an over hand slingshot for the slide.

On an AR 15 I've never felt the need for a special charging handle. My index finger on my right hand can actuate the release just as well as the middle finger on my left hand.

The selector switch I usually use my left thumb and then slide it back over the pistol grip. One of these days I may spring for an ambi safety. The bolt release I can reach with my index finger of my left hand.

 

[AWW34]

I'm a righty, but I try to stay proficient with shooting lefty. My AR's I have all standard controls but have BCM charging handles. What I've come to is:

Safety Manipulation:
I use my left hand and first knuckle to push the lever down, and use it also to push it back up. I've seen people use that same trigger finger to swipe it back (almost like a trigger pulling motion), but feel that may get "iffy" being so close to the trigger and muscle memory and stress and all that.

Charging the weapon:
Kinda depends what I'm doing it for. To lock the bolt, I use left trigger finger to push bolt hold, and tilt weapon right and come over top to charge with right hand. If I'm shooting and get a click (no bang), I use left hand, while rifle is shouldered to tap, rack, then back on grip for bang.

Bolt release:
Left trigger finger reaches just fine

Reloads:
These probably could be quicker for someone who is lefty. I take right hand thumb and hit mag release, while gripping the mag, and strip the mag out while pressing mag release. Then grab fresh mag, insert, trigger finger on left hand hits bolt release.

 

[24on48hunting]

I'm a southpaw who is right-eye dominant. I was raised shooting right handed but am quite comfortable shooting anything left handed, even a left handed compound bow. Took a lot of practice to get this far but I'm still not as proficient as I'd like to be.