In reality how dangerous is a right handed rifle to shoot left handed..

[JTO]

My left eye is dominant. I shoot right-handed.
I use the thermal spotter with my left eye.
I shot pistol right-handed using my left eye, 6th-8th in county.
I used a red foresight on shotguns, and shot with both eyes open.
I doubt you could shoot a right-handed thumbhole stock rifle left-handed.
Some rifles have right-hand bolts and left-hand ejection.

I would say try to shoot right-handed or get a left-handed rifle.

 

[Heym SR20]

Yes they did initially design a left handed version but it was never adopted. It is very difficult to shoot the SA80 or even the Cadet version of it left handed. You can probably shoot it a close from hip or held out, but certainly not with any degree of accuracy. My daughter was in the cadets. She has poor sight in her right eye, thus shoots left handed, and she is a good shot. She shot the cadet rifle but couldn’t hit a thing with it.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Because MoD never gave a "hoot" about left-handers....
Did RH rifles ever injure or kill LH users? We'll never know, because no one cared.

Party true, but not really the MoD's fault - politicians and soldiers make the decisions and the poor civil servants just have to make the best of it!

My left eye is dominant. I shoot right-handed.
I use the thermal spotter with my left eye.
I shot pistol right-handed using my left eye, 6th-8th in county.
I used a red foresight on shotguns, and shot with both eyes open.
I doubt you could shoot a right-handed thumbhole stock rifle left-handed.

Depends on the thumbhole. Aggressively handed ones like Boyds are impossible (basically a Monte-Carlo with a hole in it), but many thumbhole stocks are actually very ambi-friedly

Some rifles have right-hand bolts and left-hand ejection.

I would say try to shoot right-handed or get a left-handed rifle.

Or vice-versa, like my 788 with a left hand bolt and RH ejection!

 

[Heym SR20]

These days with modern quality ammunition chances a case failing is pretty low. But given that most failures are not published etc none of us really know. In aviation, including recreational, incidents reports are published as it really helps build up understanding of how not to kill yourself. Yet a rifle exploding on a firing point on an approved range - squash any reports.

Going back to the left hand / right hand question, of course most people can be taught to shoot of either shoulder. With a rifle with very positive aiming devices its a lot easier than with a shotgun at moving targets.

But in any skill involving hand eye coordination you will achieve much better results more easily if you favour your leading eye and not trying to be cross dominant. It’s your strongest eye that looks at the target / ball etc and your hands manipulate the tool you are using.

With a shotgun, especially a side by side, your front hand does most of the pointing. Your trigger hand simply lifts the stock and squeezes the trigger. Ditto when shooting a rifle off hand, snap shooting etc. or off a sling. Off a bipod, bench etc it probably depends.

As for a trigger pull, whilst important its not a particularly precise motor skill to learn - not complex multiple movements like writing etc.

And there are plenty who have lost the use of their dominant hand or eye, who learn to use the other. Will they have the same skill levels as before - probably not, but enough to do the job - probably.

 

[royalewithcheese]

I'm left handed and always use eye protection when shooting a right handed firearm. I do have some left handed guns but something like a 10/22 or a historic rifle is going to be right handed. The 22 semi-auto seems to be the worst as the humble 22LR is prone to spitting gritty bits out.

10/22 does come in left handed i believe

 

[rangey]

Hello all,

Just wondering about the thread title question. I’m right handed but left eye dominant so shoot left handed…

If you go onto guntrader there’s about 6000 rifles available, if you filter to left handed there’s about 200!!!

So yes, my question is with standard factory ammunition, how dangerous do you think it is to have the bolt pointing towards your face…ie shoot a right handed rifle left handed.

Thanks for any thoughts in advance!

I’m also a lefty and got 5 right hand rifles
Been shooting them years and never had any problems.i did buy a full lefty a few years ago but couldn’t get on with it…lol

 

[Bramble]

I’m fully left handed, been shooting right handed rifles for 20 years with no problems at all, find really easy to keep rifle in shoulder with left hand and cycle bolt with right.

 

[Sika98k]

Years ago a semi auto 22 let go on me. Quite what happened I’m not sure. A loud bang and a lot of detritus spat back in my face. There was, when I inspected it, a spent 22 case now jammed by the bolt against the ejection port. Rather unpleasant.
A Mauser actioned rifle suffered a pierced primer. Again I would have preferred to have been naturally right handed.

 

[urban]

@urban I've shot thousands of .223 rounds and never punctured a primer - with all due respect I'd suggest you and your rifle/load/firing pin protrusion combo have a problem.

Yes. It did.

Cause 1 - 5.56 rounds in a .223 chamber
Cause 2 - a slightly hot load - no pressure signs other than occasional cratering and 1 in every 50 or so rounds blanking the primer (24.6 grn Vit, 75grn PPU HPBT) - fixed by dropping the load by 0.5grn

...but that's irrelevant to the fact that a blanked primer causes nothing more alarming than a bit of smoke.

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

Why does it matter if you don't shoot with your dominant eye ?

Closing 1 eye works fine- even if you have to close the dominant eye.

 

[palmer_mike]

Why does it matter if you don't shoot with your dominant eye ?

Closing 1 eye works fine- even if you have to close the dominant eye.

Wouldn’t work if (like me) you can’t see with your right eye

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

Wouldn’t work if (like me) you can’t see with your right eye

At least you don't have any eye dominance issues!

 

[Bo Diddley]

I have no idea what folks have said in this thread since its inception... but I like to live life on the wild side and shoot right-handed rifles off the left shoulder... and I'm still alive

There's better things to worry about that will kill you quicker.

 

[Jh1986]

Why does it matter if you don't shoot with your dominant eye ?

Closing 1 eye works fine- even if you have to close the dominant eye.

I can't close my left eye without squinting my right eye. No amount of training my eyes and muscles worked.

Switching to shooting left handed took a handful of outings to feel completely normal.

 

[Andy Mauthe]

10/22 does come in left handed i believe

Yes, they make a version in left hand.

 

[Andy Mauthe]

I’m left handed and left eye dominant and I could never get the hang of shooting off of my right shoulder. And shooting right handed bolt rifles off of my left shoulder never felt good either. So over the years I have slowly filled my gun cabinet with true left handed bolt action rifles. The only classic military rifle I have is an M1 Garand, and it ejects at about 3 o’clock and has an ambidextrous safety. Get rifles made to fit you and don’t look back.

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

I can't close my left eye without squinting my right eye. No amount of training my eyes and muscles worked.

Switching to shooting left handed took a handful of outings to feel completely normal.

Fair enough

I'm making the point that there's nothing inherently wrong or unsafe with shooting with your non dominant eye. It's probably easier to close the dominant eye, however.

 

[cjm1066]

Left v Right

The ejection/loading port will direct debris to the side it located, hence using the right rifle may protect you.

A bigger factor is the gas coming down the bolt channel, a mauser 98 has good protection on the left and a lots of obstruction on the right. Certain rifle have plastic bolt shrouds, other very little protection.

 

[6pt-sika]

I bought a no longer made Ranger Arms bolt action left handed gun in 25-06 with a beautiful fiddleback maple stock and I’m right handed . The gun was made in the 70’s so it had a bit of a roll over cheek piece so the cheek weld for me was not the most comfortable , but being a 25-06 recoil wasn’t a factor . Anyway I worked up a load with a Nosler 100 grain BT , killed a deer during damage control , took the scope off and sold it for a good profit . Initially I bought it for my wife who’s left handed , but to fit her the stock would’ve needed to be cut down . That gunstock looked way too nice to be cobbled and it has a slight cult collector status in Texas so I sold it to a collector . Ranger Arms was in Texas in the 70’s and early 80’s .

 

[triggertrix]

Years ago a semi auto 22 let go on me. Quite what happened I’m not sure. A loud bang and a lot of detritus spat back in my face. There was, when I inspected it, a spent 22 case now jammed by the bolt against the ejection port. Rather unpleasant.
A Mauser actioned rifle suffered a pierced primer. Again I would have preferred to have been naturally right handed.

I think this is the crux of the post, if a blowout occurs, how will the gasses be directed. Look at the Schultz Larsen bolt with its ported bolt body, shooting a RH rifle off the other shoulder will mean gasses on a blowout coming right in front of your face.