It really sucks being left handed!

[Sheprador1973]

So after about 20 years i more or less gave up on looking to buy air rifles. I still have an RH HW80 that I use occasionally, but became totally disillusioned with waiting for AA (among others) to offer a true left hand version of the rifle I fancied (available everywhere in beech/walnut/.22/.177). I decided that I wasn't prepared to pay upwards of £600 for a new rifle that didn't 'fit' me being the wrong orientation...you wouldn't pay expect to make do with wrong sided golf clubs or a right hand drive UK made car would you? (if the UK make any cars now? )

So thought there'd be more choice in rimfire and centrefires. And to be honest there probably is...just.

But, with my first FAC about to be posted to me I'm in a bit of a dilemma. Eventually went for 22r, .223 and 6.5x55 to cover all bases and with good reason for all. All fine with the FEO it seems. Have very reluctantly had to accept that the CZ 455 varmint Ive decided on will have to be right hand bolt. I know they do the 452 in LH but its their only offering in LH and Id really like the varmint barrel. Why should I pay around £450 for a 'wrong sided' rifle?

The .223 will come last so on the back burner...

The biggie for me is the 6.5x55. Chose it and put it down on the form 201 after many many hours of research and reading the forum pages as it will perfectly suit my needs. even got the dies and brass ready and waiting. Guess what. The Tikka T3X varmint in LH with the 24" barrel has an estimated delivery of MARCH 2019! FFS! Again. I'd really like the longer barrel for optimum flexibility on MV and the calibre i love the sound of. But nearly a year to wait? I could get a .308 in RH in a few days. (CZ just don't seem to support left handed shooters at all and Im not keen on Browning or Savage rifle from what Ive read).

Sorry, a bit of a moan, and been done before Im sure. But I'm now wondering if I need to ask my FEO for a last minute calibre change to the 'standard' .243 or .308 if there's time still time left to change it. And he's ok with it. TBH nothing against those cals but for my needs the Swede is perfect. Just seems like endless compromises for lefties...especially when looking at about £1100 for the rifle alone (maybe not a lot to some but a huge amount of money to me right now).

Any thoughts or advice please? Already guessing the outcome will be 'its just the way it is...accept it'. Thank you

ATB

 

[Redleg]

I must be one of the lucky few who is left handed, play golf and cricket right handed but left handed when I shoot.
I find if I use a straight handed (ambidextrous) stock I can shoot a right handed rifle just as well as a left handed rifle.
.It may take you a little time however to get used to the right hand bolt and safety.

 

[sauer]

Why do you want the varmint barrel I’m .22lr ?

The cz452 American in LH I have ... cut barrel down to a useable length with moderator and it’s great

I don’t see why you need varmint in a rimfire .. the normal one will shoot all day and less weight to carry or handle in cab of a motor if a truck gun


Paul

 

[Sheprador1973]

I must be one of the lucky few who is left handed, play golf and cricket right handed but left handed when I shoot.
I find if I use a straight handed (ambidextrous) stock I can shoot a right handed rifle just as well as a left handed rifle.
.It may take you a little time however to get used to the right hand bolt and safety.

Thanks Redleg. Im much the same...shoot Lh but everything else RH. A pretty severe and long standing eye dominance issue tbh. Ive shot LH and RH rifles and found it far easier with the left hand bolt. Especially with the gun in hand rather than off a tripod or rest. I could learn and adapt, but I guess my point is I can't understand why I should. many thanks for your contribution

 

[takbok]

I must be one of the lucky few who is left handed, play golf and cricket right handed but left handed when I shoot.
I find if I use a straight handed (ambidextrous) stock I can shoot a right handed rifle just as well as a left handed rifle.
.It may take you a little time however to get used to the right hand bolt and safety.

I much prefer the RH safety. Was stalking with my LH rifle yesterday and it felt odd.

 

[takbok]

Sheprador, I wouldn't buy a heavy barreled rifle as my only stalking rifle. Surely you can get a LH sporter easily? You'll get a great second hand rifle for a lot less money too.

 

[Sheprador1973]

Why do you want the varmint barrel I’m .22lr ?

The cz452 American in LH I have ... cut barrel down to a useable length with moderator and it’s great

I don’t see why you need varmint in a rimfire .. the normal one will shoot all day and less weight to carry or handle in cab of a motor if a truck gun


Paul

Hi Sauer and thank you.

I'd like the 22lr with a varmint barrel as 80% of its use will be off a bipod at the range so the slight weight disadvantage wouldn't be an issue. 19% will be off a rest in a high seat for squirrels on the ground or off a bipod for rabbits in the field. The remaining 1% shooting off hand I can probably accept as a minor inconvenience in weight terms. I've heard very very good things about the 22lr American, don't get me wrong, and it clearly suits you. According to some (controversial I know) the varmint barrel 'may' produce slightly better accuracy with the right ammo on targets at longer ranges. As that will be my main pursuit thats whatI'd hoped to go for. The main issue though is why should I have to compromise on the choice when others don't? For (polite) argument's sake lets say that you'd have liked your existing excellent combo for your needs, but could only buy the varmint barrelled version for the same money. Would you be happy?

Kind regards, Shep.

 

[sauer]

Hi Shep
Yup you got me there, I was blinkered by thoughts of what I would use rifle for not what your wanting it for ... range work .. which I don’t do.
Fair point.
My predominate use is hunting and I find it ideal for me and I wasn’t willing to compromise with RH bolt .
I had RH bolts then tried a LH and decided to change the lot all to LH .
Never looked back ...
my .22-250 a m591 sako LH
My .25-06 was a custom build on a BAT HR LH action
& my .22 is CZ452

As for .22 try Anchutz as they do LH rimfire & are big in range work I believe ?

If your willing to go 2nd hand I’m assuming you have ploughed guntrader?

Paul

 

[Sheprador1973]

Thanks takbok. Its a bit of a minefield eh? I was offered a great tikka t3 .308 in left hand by a friend but had settled for 6.5x55 on the application by then and not mad about stainless barrels (just personal choice). You choose you lose eh? Not seen many LH Swedes advertised here or anywhere else tbh but will keep looking thanks. One reason for posting this is to try and ascertain how 'picky' we, as consumers, can be as shooters, compared for example to the car market. Im pretty certain that if I wanted a particular model of vehicle at a dealers, but in a different colour (for example) they'd get it sorted asap to get the sale. Certainly in far less than a year! Again, most of my shooting in the early stages will be from a high seat with 'walk & stalk' coming later. conditions quite rightly imposed by my friend/mentor without whom I'd not even be posting on here. As such, and I know and welcome opinions that differ, the barrel weight issue is not such a biggie. I also fancy the odd range day (prone off bipod) so again extra weight not so much of a problem.

Thanks you for your input...much appreciated.

 

[sauer]

There are small handful of 6.5x55 Swedes on guntrader ... left hand starting at £795 and up to £3450 for a Callum Fergasun custom rifle

Item Search Results

 

[Sheprador1973]

Thanks Paul...fro another Paul

Great post that made complete sense. To be fair to you it is Stalking Directory not 'Rimfire Target Shooting With A Bit Of Hunting Thrown In.com'!

Out of interest, did you have to wait long/preorder you Lh rifles? Funny, a friend at my range, when I explained the 22r 'predicament' was vehement in me getting what felt right and what Id be happy with. Ia agreed at the time. Mind you...he was right handed!

I'll look at Anchutz buddy but worry (well, a bit) they're out of my budget range.

Thank you for your advice Paul.

 

[Alantoo]

How left handed are you? Is it impossible for you to learn to shoot right handed, rather than shoot a R/H rifle off your left shoulder?

I am left handed and in my early years used to be strongly left eyed dominant so I ended up having my SBS shotgun put over to shoot off the left shoulder. I had always shot air rifles off my right shoulder using my right eye and couldn't understand why I was miles off target on crossing clays with the shotgun off the right shoulder. I was always either miles ahead or behind depending on their direction of flight.

I continue to use rifles off my right shoulder using my right eye...you have to train your body and coordination whichever side you use, so being fairly ambidextrous it was no problem for me.

Weirdly my eye dominance has shifted to the right over the years and with a fibre optic bead I can use R/H shotguns off my right shoulder now.

Alan

 

[markyw]

I too am a lefty, but my rifle collection is all right handed. The almost-exception to this is my Howa .308, which I have recently dropped into a Nordic Wolf stock that is left hand grip and right hand inlet. The only time I have a major issue is when shooting service rifle comps, especially with my K31 straight pull - a real had / arm / wrist ache!

I did give in recently when a left hand semi auto shotgun came up at a bargain price on another forum, but all my other shotties are RH too.

For range work, ii have heard many target shooters look for the opposite handed action as it is more convenient, or something like that as they do not have to move their trigger hand while working the bolt.

Mark

 

[sauer]

I had to wait around 8 months for the. Custom build ....the sako I found on a advert on a forum and the .22lr cz452 I found online 9n a gunshots classifieds section ...all in all the longest was the custom build at 8 months ....


Here’s some left hand .22lr I found

Item Search Results


Totally agree with your friend ....get what’s right ....for you! ...if you can try a leftie first see if your fine then go for it....I found it bit weird first couple outings but VERY quickly found my orientation coupled with rifle to suit was what I preferred
Yours
Paul

 

[norcan]

One of the greatest 22lr ever built, is the Left Handed CZ 452 American, which is still being sold/produced.
Sometimes I wish I was a left handed shooter so I could purchase that rifle!!!
I missed out when they stopped producing the Right hand CZ 452 American..


I also have a Tikka T3 Supervarmint SS in 6,5x55... and while its great, I can´t wait to re barrel it to a 308.
I rarely if ever shot over 600m and the 308 works perfectly from 0-600meters!

Aaaand the 223.. If I where you I would search for Sako L461 or A1.. they mostly come in 222, but you might get lucky. Or a Sako 75/85.

 

[slider]

It's amazing what the mind can do when it needs to. We have a right handed shooter in our clay club who damaged his right eye. He started shooting off his left shoulder (with a right handed semi-auto!) and within a few moths was whipping our ass of a regular basis!.

 

[Redleg]

I much prefer the RH safety. Was stalking with my LH rifle yesterday and it felt odd.

If I'm honest I don't think about the my T3 been right handed. I find when shooting of sticks using my right hand on the safety and cycling the bolt has become second nature.
A blazer on the other hand is quite a problem as for some reason the safety is quite difficult to operate left handed.

 

[paul o']

+1 good advice no need to lug around 12kg of steel and scope ect for one shot at a time, go light and enjoy the day .if you grass one your have plenty to carry then your wish you had gone light ? just a thought lol

Sheprador, I wouldn't buy a heavy barreled rifle as my only stalking rifle. Surely you can get a LH sporter easily? You'll get a great second hand rifle for a lot less money too.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Honestly mate - I know you've gone and got the dies and brass already, but really, don't get fixated on calibre. Since you are already committed to handloading, calibre choice is even less important for you than it might otherwise be (except for the fact that you've already sourced dies and brass).

Unless Sussex FLD has really gone downhill then they won't make issues 1-4-1 ing you to a 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Rem' 7x57, 308 etc. Surely, that 6.5x55 is a sweet calibre to shoot - but it is not so much better than any of the other "usual suspects" that you should let it restrict your choice of a quality LHB rifle. And, as I've already alluded to, by committing to "rolling your own" you've already beaten a significant part of the challenge involved in feeding a more unusual or obscure calibre - and I'm not talking wildcats here, just things that might be going a bit cheaper due to lower popularity and scarcity of factory ammo in the UK - 280 Rem', 260 Rem', 7x64 and 257 Roberts all spring to mind, and that's without thinking very hard about it!

Find the rifle - the paperwork can always be done later. And, if an RFD won't accept a deposit to hold a rifle whilst you get a variation then they don't deserve any of your money at all.

As to the 22? Try and get a LHB 452 - I bought mine for less than 200 quid - if it really matters to you to get a heavy barrel, get a re-barrel if you need to to get what you want.

It is a massive pity that there isn't a UK importer for the Zastava M70 (Mauser 98) sporting rifles. They do a true LHB, and your 6.5x55 is on the list see one here and the prices are very reasonable too.

Don't fall into the trap of over/under valuing various action types - have you shot with a Browning or Savage? Emma Custom Rifles (I know they're up along way North) had a few Ruger M77 LHB rifles and they are seriously undervalued in the UK market.

I don't like the Savage Axis, or the Ruger American, both feel cheap and nasty, but the American at least shoots just as well as a Tikka. Haven't shot an Axis so can't comment on that. I don't like plastic detachable magazines (again this is just an aesthetic preference I can afford to have - not a serious criticism).

A Rem 700 is likely to be the most broadly available 2nd hand LHB rifle available in the UK (you might even come across my old one - it went to dealer somewhere in Sussex) - don't write them off. Mine looked tatty, but it was cheap, and kept handloads to a sub 1" ragged hole. I'm not boasting - to do that from 100 yds prone with a bipod is no great feat of marksmanship, and I'm no sniper, but it does make a point about a rifle that a lot of UK shooters can be quite dismissive of.

I wish you the best of luck - wish I could do something more to help.

 

[big ears]

Just about to say there is a T3 Hunter LH in guntrader for £795 new. 20” barrel so if you are loading use a faster powder and you will be fine. I use 140gr and RL17 in my T3 and it works a treat so don’t need longer barrel. Worth a phone call