Switching to shooting a rifle right handed.

[gearjunkie]

I find myself constantly drooling over the Kimber Adirondack and other rifles. I really angers me that these companies will not even produce left handed rifles on a special order basis. I get it the tooling and everything is expensive, I am just a bitter lefty. With that being said has anyone transitioned? I am a natural lefty with a dominant left eye. I can close both eyes. I kick a ball righty and play golf righty. I think if I sell my 7mm-08 ruger american and 30-06 browning stainless stalker it will give me a good start towards my first right handed bolt.

 

[gbflyer]

I feel your pain.

I’m good off the bench with a righty, kinda prefer it actually. Left bolt right port is ideal but that’s a custom action. As I age I seem to not be as stuck on left everything and have become more adaptable. I think a lot of it has to do with degrading vision...both left and right are starting to suck so I can train myself to use either.

 

[swampthing]

Just use a right handed rifle in the left hand hold. I did it for years before I got my first lefty. Hard to go back now. I also prefer a righty off the bench. I can keep my rifle position without have to release my grip like I do with a lefty. I feel your pain though! Christensen arms told me they would build me a left hand ridgeline in 28 nosler. The deposit was made. Almost a year later they told me they couldnt fullfill their right hand orders so the leftys were "on hold". I own leftys from tikka, browning and weatherby.

 

[gearjunkie]

Just use a right handed rifle in the left hand hold. I did it for years before I got my first lefty. Hard to go back now. I also prefer a righty off the bench. I can keep my rifle position without have to release my grip like I do with a lefty. I feel your pain though! Christensen arms told me they would build me a left hand ridgeline in 28 nosler. The deposit was made. Almost a year later they told me they couldnt fullfill their right hand orders so the leftys were "on hold". I own leftys from tikka, browning and weatherby.

I hunted for a couple years with a right handed bolt lefty hold and I am not a fan. I am strictly a still hunter in pretty thick forest in the northeast. That is a long way for my hand to travel to cycle the bolt. I work very hard for one opportunity at a decent buck this is one of the reasons I am scrapping the Ruger American. With the gun on safe its too easy to bump the bolt out of battery and thats a missed opportunity here. It was ok until I installed the anarchy outdoors cocking piece now it moves very easy.

 

[swampthing]

Yes a right hand rig is certainly slower!

 

[Afhunter1]

I'm a lefty but I golf, shoot a gun, and used to shoot a bow right handed. I shoot a longbow instinctive so I made the switch to improve my accuracy many years ago. I have never felt that switching all my rifles over would be a benefit. I have always shot right handed though and usually am one of the best shots at the range. It only takes practice. If I was heavy into the shotgun sports I may have tried out lefty but not with most of my guns being scoped.

 

[gearjunkie]

I guess I should sell my leftys and get a right hand bolt. Ill start practicing with the righty gun sink or swim.

 

[archp625]

I am in the same boat as you. I'm left eye dominant but right handed. Because of that I shoot my bow left handed and shoulder my gun on my left shoulder. I have only owned one left handed gun and it was weird to me because i grew up shooting right handed guns. I just sold it and will be buying a right handed rifle.

 

[howl]

Left eye dominant means you shoot from the left. There's no good way around it.

The tooling isn't the problem for LH guns. These days they can just about simply push some buttons and voila. The problem is the 11% or so of shooters who need LH guns go around buying RH guns.

My gripe is that we're still using handed guns, period. Everything should be ambidextrous by now. Shooters in general settle for guns built for profit margins rather than moving technology forward.

 

[207-12A]

For first shot accuracy, I think you’ll do just fine switching hands. I shoot pistols and supported rifles better off hand as I force myself to really focus on the fundamentals that I may take for granted after years of dominant hand shooting. Follow up shots will be slower sure, but make the first one count.

 

[SoDaky]

I shoot both ways but prefer left.I shoot right bolts fast enuf but do have multiple customs with left bolts.Find the actions,build pretty cheap with care.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've shot RH bolt guns left-handed my entire life, and all the rifle hunting I've ever done was still-hunting in the timber. Cycling the bolt on the right side instead of the left just means that I have to pull the rifle away from my cheek a little. That's not a big deal. Even cycling a RH bolt, my left hand only has to come to my chin to cycle it and then it's back on the trigger ready to shoot. I've put up to 4 rounds in bulls in very short order shooting that way, and all four were kill shots on their own. You're going to have to reacquire your target after the first shot anyway, so that little bit of movement doesn't change much to getting back on target, especially because while you're cycling the next round you're following the animal with your eyes and ready to lock on for round two.

 

[ramses342]

My first two guns were hand me downs from my grandfather and they were both right handed, and since I am right handed I did not think anything of it. When I went to buy a bow the guy at the pro shop showed me I am left eye dominate so I shoot a bow left handed. I have thought about switching but I have since accumulated enough guns to make it a giant pain. With a scope I don't have any issue with shooting right handed the biggest issue is when I shot a shotgun I really struggle with quick shots because my brain wants to prioritize my left eye and since I am holding it right handed I end up missing. So now I am wondering if a left handed shotgun would make sense or if I would just confuse myself. Curious if anyone else went through this.

 

[howl]

My first two guns were hand me downs from my grandfather and they were both right handed, and since I am right handed I did not think anything of it. When I went to buy a bow the guy at the pro shop showed me I am left eye dominate so I shoot a bow left handed. I have thought about switching but I have since accumulated enough guns to make it a giant pain. With a scope I don't have any issue with shooting right handed the biggest issue is when I shot a shotgun I really struggle with quick shots because my brain wants to prioritize my left eye and since I am holding it right handed I end up missing. So now I am wondering if a left handed shotgun would make sense or if I would just confuse myself. Curious if anyone else went through this.

Having a correctly cast stock that fits you is a whole 'nother world from what you are struggling with now. It doesn't necessarily have to eject to the left so much as the stock has to be cast for you. You can try this with a pump or semi you have now. Put flat toothpicks or shell box tops on the right and top side of the stock bolt where the stock meets the receiver to get it to line up for you. You may need a longer or shorter length of pull. This is a big deal for wingshooting. You don't even have to think about shooting normal range shots anymore. When I finally got a gun that fit me I went from being an awful wingshot to taking limits of doves with a box of shells just like that.

Some people are distracted by ejecting to the wrong side, but some are not.

 

[ramses342]

Having a correctly cast stock that fits you is a whole 'nother world from what you are struggling with now. It doesn't necessarily have to eject to the left so much as the stock has to be cast for you. You can try this with a pump or semi you have now. Put flat toothpicks or shell box tops on the right and top side of the stock bolt where the stock meets the receiver to get it to line up for you. You may need a longer or shorter length of pull.

I really suspect it is mental because I was shooting clay pigeons with my uncle last week and I am a pretty good shot, I shot ten in a row or so. I think its a mild case of target panic and my brain just switches to my left eye when it gets excited or something. I am going to try left handed next time I go out and see what happens its a pump action.

 

[Buzby]

Shoot with your dominate eye! If you need motivation to shoot a right hand bolt gun left hand, watch the sniper scenes from Saving Private Ryan.

 

[jaredg]

I have trained myself to shoot rifle, pistol & shotgun ambi. I am left eye dominant / right handed. The more you train, the easier it becomes. It doesn't matter which hand / eye I use anymore. It is hard, but you can train yourself out of your habits & preferences.
PS I have only known a few people who put the time into doing this

 

[jaredg]

Example, when hunting birds in a group, if I am on the left end I prefer to shoot left handed and vice versa. Most of the other hunters prefer the right side for that reason. Rifle hunting I have found several situations where changing the grip from left to right or vice versa can make for a more comfortable shot. Handgun is mostly tactical theory (what if your strong hand was damaged, could you still shoot effectively with your weak hand?) Instead of right or left "handed, I prefer strong side / weak side. And I did not want to feel limited by my weak side. So I took a year and retrained my weak side to be more effective. Eyes are harder and more ingrained to me, but you can still strengthen your weak eye if you focus on using it more

 

[howl]

I really suspect it is mental because I was shooting clay pigeons with my uncle last week and I am a pretty good shot, I shot ten in a row or so. I think its a mild case of target panic and my brain just switches to my left eye when it gets excited or something. I am going to try left handed next time I go out and see what happens its a pump action.

The pump is probably cast neutral. The safety may be backward but that's it really.