Left handed bolt actions

Buying a right handed rifle as a lefty can also pose problems in terms of choice. If it’s a straight stock with no real palm swell it will feel fine, but anything with a cheek rise or rh swell just won’t work for you.....most sako’s for example come with some sort of contoured cheek rise in the stock design. For me, a left handed thumb hole with a rh bolt is just about the perfect combination for comfort and speed of cycling.
 
Lefty here with all RH rifles. The only thing I have done is to put my .308 into a RH action, LH grip stock, the rest are as is. Never really been an issue, except shooting service rifle competitions as I cannot always work the bolt fast enough to meet the course of fire requirements. Take not of the grip orientation, palm swells, etc., as others have said. Monte Carlo stocks are not an issue, just a pretty lump on the wrong side.

Mark
 
Shot right-handed for 50yr now and just recently bought a left hooker. I thought about it for quite a while before I went ahead with the purchase, now I'm thinking why did I think about it, TBH it doesn't bother me one bit.
In fact shooting off a bag/bipod I find it a lot better, + now a few benchrest shooters have right-handed left bolt rifles.
Everyone to their own..
 
Buy a ruger m77 cheap as chips accurate and bomb proof

you can shoot right handed bolts but I struggle now, used to be real fluent in my younger days but since I’ve used nothing but left handed anything else is awkward.
 
I have a RH M77 mk2. I wouldn't mind getting a LH one at some stage. Really love them!
My 270 that I’ve been beating the living daylights out for the last 10 years or more refuses to die!

And in Cornwall I have another that’s been re barrelled in 7x57 can’t wait for my friend to come and deliver it when he comes stalking later in the year!

you want to buy a gun for life buy a ruger!

cheap, accurate and have the most awesome 3 stage safety.
 
As a leftie, I shot rh bolt actions from left shoulder when I started out but then went down the left handed bolt road and never looked back. Yes you do get financially penalised buying new and they are harder to shift on but that's the price you pay for being superior. It's only right handed people's jealously that causes it! 😂😂
 
I shoot left handed. Yes I can and do use right handed bolt actions, but a left handed one is so much more instinctive and natural to use. And their stocks fit as well.

When using a right bolt I just find it a cack handed compromise.

As for a fast reload, a bolt on the proper side will always be much easier and faster. But to be honest when taking a quick follow up shot, speed of reload is not usually a problem even with a right hander.

Where a left handed rifle really scores is safety. Bolt actions are designed to deflect any escaping gas away from the shooter and put through the ejection port.

As a lefty shooting a right handed rifle this means any gas will come straight into your face. I had a a 22lr case split on the rim on an old brno, and got a right eye full of gas and powder. As it was a 22 it was just uncomfortable for a few days. If it had been a centrefire It would have been a lot more serious.

There are fewer left hand rifles available in fewer calibres, but they are available in the good calibres that just work.
 
Another lefty here all my rifles bar a 22 are left handed.Almost all makers make lefty's now it's accepted they no longer treat us as leppers or witches.
 
Out of six rifles all but one (SMLE) are left hand bolt. Although it's only for range use, so not really an issue, the SMLE just feels slow and awkward. A left hand bolt is much more instinctive (for me at least). The "not having to move your trigger hand argument" just doesn't hold up; it's outweighed by the sheer cack-handness of it. This is just my experience and I accept others may not find this to be the case. I didn't have too much of an issue in sourcing LH bolt rifles in the model and calibres I wanted, just meant I had to travel a bit. I'd always go for a LH bolt configuration if it were an option.

P.S. Forgot to add that it can be quite amusing watching RSO/RCO reaction when you ask them to clear a LH bolt rifle on the range. Nearly always look on the wrong side to start with!
 
I remember going to a well know stalking club I was a member of in a previous lifefor a training day, i climbed the high seat to shoot 3 in a 4” circle my rifle was passed up to me and a comment along the lines of

“oh we don’t see many rugers around here, or lefties”

I rolled a fag lit it up and stuck 3 in the same hole cock on 1” high without taking me smoke out of my mouth 😂😂

good times back then 😂😂
 
The choice is quite limited, but it feels less limited once you are happy not to be too picky about cartridge and are happy to go second-hand. Second-hand, the smaller market can lead to better value for you. I got a Heym SR20 which I'm very happy with. I suspect @Heym SR20 is happy with his too. I wasn't particularly looking for a 7x57, but in practical terms there's very little difference between cartridges. There's currently one on guntrader for £800 from a very reputable dealer.
 
There are enough L/H rifles out there that it's not hard to find something to fit the bill. Guntrader and similar, and great forums like the SD, is have made LH guns much easier to source and to sell, so there's really no problem there. Some L/H rifles do sit on GT for ages, but IMO that's more because they're in too niche a format even to find a buyer in R/H.
I buy only LH guns, unless they are (a) ambidextrous (b) easy to adapt to L/H config, e.g. via stock shims, or (c) especially unusual or desirable, e.g. my 7x57R/16g Krieghoff drilling, which is everything I wanted except for the cheek-piece being on the wrong side of the stock; ditto for my .222/20g Zoli Corona combination gun (though this is less good to shoot left-handed because it the front trigger in particular requires a very deliberate straight-back trigger press to operate without binding). I also have a couple of R/H Mossberg Hushpowers, because, aside from being the only option, the safety, action and stock are all ambidextrous, and having the ejection port on the R/H side is no problem: it's just as easy to tilt the gun to the left to check clear or drop in a cartridge.
The hefty surcharge often placed on new L/H guns is admittedly galling, especially the discrimination involved could be avoided by spreading any additional costs across the 90% of R/H guns sold or simply designing for reversibility*, but the satisfaction of having a gun that's configured for you, not for someone else, soothes the sting quite quickly (IIRC I paid about £300 more for a new LH Heym SR30 back in the 1990's, and have never regretted doing so.)

*A good example is Daystate's Delta Wolf, which is designed so you can easily reverse the cheek-piece, safety, and cocking lever, and magazines can be inserted from either side. The programming screen is inconveniently on the L/H side, but a firmware fix could readily filp it so it could be read from the top.
 
The choice is quite limited, but it feels less limited once you are happy not to be too picky about cartridge and are happy to go second-hand. Second-hand, the smaller market can lead to better value for you. I got a Heym SR20 which I'm very happy with. I suspect @Heym SR20 is happy with his too. I wasn't particularly looking for a 7x57, but in practical terms there's very little difference between cartridges. There's currently one on guntrader for £800 from a very reputable dealer.
Yup happy with my Heym SR20, but it is in 243, 7x57 would be much better. I did buy a 7x57 but when it arrived at my dealer realised that some idiot had bedded it with what looked and smelt like car body filler, so sent it straight back and it never even went on my FAC.

I was given by a close friend a rigby 7x57. I like the calibre, i like the rifle, but right hand bolt is irritating.

And totally agree with re cartridges - go for the rifle, and there is not really any practical difference between say a 7x57, 270, 308 etc or going to vermin a 222, or 223 etc.

Shotguns are somewhat easier, but most lefties shoot better with a stock swept to the left. I have only once handled a true left hand shotgun - it was a Boss side by side with top lever moving to the left and triggers opposite way round with the front firing the left barrel and back firing the right.

I have a Franchi Affinity semi auto, left handed as well. Love it.
 
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I'm also a lefty rifle shooter, but shoot RH rifles. Completely agree with the trigger finger staying in position. Certainly shooting from a bipod I can cycle much quicker and stay on target better.
 
Am looking for a left handed bolt action but the choice seems fairly limited.

Do any lefties on here use a right handed bolt and if yes does it cause any issues eg with a speedy second shot if needed?
If you primarily shoot off bipod or sticks you won't really notice the difference but if you shoot freehand or leaning on trees and gates then a left handed rifle makes a massive difference.
Holding the rifles weight by the pistol grip to cycle the bolt is a tad annoying.
 
Out of six rifles all but one (SMLE) are left hand bolt. Although it's only for range use, so not really an issue, the SMLE just feels slow and awkward. A left hand bolt is much more instinctive (for me at least). The "not having to move your trigger hand argument" just doesn't hold up; it's outweighed by the sheer cack-handness of it. This is just my experience and I accept others may not find this to be the case. I didn't have too much of an issue in sourcing LH bolt rifles in the model and calibres I wanted, just meant I had to travel a bit. I'd always go for a LH bolt configuration if it were an option.

P.S. Forgot to add that it can be quite amusing watching RSO/RCO reaction when you ask them to clear a LH bolt rifle on the range. Nearly always look on the wrong side to start with!
I'm always bemused when a lefthander asks this question. It has never occurred to me, and I've always refused to fire a right-handed rifle.
They're wrong in every way. No righthander has ever wanted to fire my lefthanders which I don't find a bit strange.:)
 
Am asking as use a right handed semi auto for fowling with the safety set for left handed but sing a bolt action is new to me and I find using the bolt on an RH scoped right a bit of a pain but not too bad on unscoped rifles.
 
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