Left hand shooter

[crappsl]

I am considering purchasing my first black powder rifle and am a left hand shooter. There aren't many left hand guns available. Is it safe/advisable to shoot a right hand side lock percussion rifle without any danger?

 

[gunmaker43]

Wear your safety glasses. Theres more LH guns on market now then years ago....Go shootin' Tom

 

[jamesthomas]

It should be no problem, you should wear safety glasses anyway. Its when you go to flintlock that problems can happen.

 

[AZbpBurner]

I've been a lefthanded shooter for 50 years and all my percussion rifles are right hand models. I've never considered shooting a right hand lock percussion rifle as a problem. You simply load, sight fire, reload and repeat until you're out of powder.

The only drawback is that you won't be able to use the cheekpiece on a right handed rifle.

Now, flintlocks are another matter. All my flintlocks are left hand models. The first flints I ever fired were all right hand locks, and there's something about that pan flash right in front of your face that is always a little disconcerting.

Bottom line: If you see a nice right handed percussion rifle with a price that speaks to you, heed the call and Buy It!

 

[bubba.50]

I'm severely left-handed & all my guns are right-hand. thought it would be nice to have at least one gun with the lock on the correct side so I bought a lefty Renegade a while back. tryin' to shoot it was totally foreign to me so I sold it. only problem I've ever had is if I forget to wear long sleeves to the range. those cap frags will flat-out eat ya up.

 

[AZbpBurner]

I'm severely left-handed & all my guns are right-hand. thought it would be nice to have at least one gun with the lock on the correct side so I bought a lefty Renegade a while back. tryin' to shoot it was totally foreign to me so I sold it. only problem I've ever had is if I forget to wear long sleeves to the range. those cap frags will flat-out eat ya up.

I know what you mean about lefthanded actions. When you get accustomed to the right hand stuff, a left hand action seems strange. I also shoot a large variety of bolt action rifles, and bought a left hand bolt rifle for hunting. I never did get used to switching over to the "correctly" placed bolt handle, and eventually sold it.

 

[azmntman]

Im right handed but left eyed (as is my wife!). I have only one left had bp and its weird to shoot. Caps do hurt the forearm on occasion! My only flinter is a rt too. I look for left soon and sell/trade it out. Really want a left flint .40, may look into the Mike Lange ?? guy?.

 

[oldude]

Same here got real nice LH Rem 06 and couldn't get use to the bolt on the left. Sold it. Jim

 

[ChrisHarris]

I sent you a personal message.

I'm left handed, but right eye dominant, so I buy right handed rifles and shoot them just like a right handed person would shoot.

I do most activities left handed, but shooting a rifle right handed ain't a big deal to me. I know I'm more accurate that way.

 

[azmntman]

My pop was a cop and used to be a firearms instructor for the local PD and he could not teach me! He said I was hopeless as I couldn't shoot right handed and he would not let me shoot left (I'm rt handed). I saved my paper route $$ and bought a BB gun (I had to hide it for about a year) and self taught to out shoot him! He never heard of left eye dominant apparently!

 

[awebbersr]

At one of the gun shops here in Tucson; they have a shotgun that has a stock that starts on the right shoulder then after about a foot, curves left and lines the sights in front of the left eye. :idunno:

 

[azmntman]

black powder?

 

[morehops]

I have both Rh and LH and find ignition does not bother me either way. If you want to get a LH rifle can recommend the lefty Lymans as being accurate and reliable. Advantage to LH is that you get a stock made with a cheek piece on the correct side. As said, flint is another story altogether. If you decide to go with a flinty, Lyman also make those. Either way have fun shooting !!

 

[Orthod]

I'm right handed, sort of, but shoot left handed. My poor boy is a left handed flintlock, but I shoot my right handed flintlock pistol with my right hand and left eye. All my percussion caps are right handed. No issues with those.

The double barreled smooth bore flintlocks have a lock in front of an eye no matter which eye you used.

 

[irishtoo]

vet, im lefthanded and shoot lefthanded flints. for me i find the act of priming and cocking the lock is easier with a lefthanded gun. the actual firing of the weapon is not the issue. with a percussion gun fussing with those little caps is a pain. priming a pan is faster than capping a nipple. one reason i started building my guns is to get lefthanded ones. irishtoo

 

[cositrike]

All my guns are right handed, flint and cap. Been shooting left handed for 40 odd years with no problems. As someone else pointed out, if you use a double, there's always one lock in front of your face. Good shooting.

 

[crappsl]

Thank you all for all the input. I think I'll just find a good rifle and buy it regardless of the side the lock is on. Now the question is down to caliber. I'm leaning towards .50 but would welcome your opinion.

 

[azmntman]

what ya gonna shoot with it? .50 is good for bout anything in the 48 states. Lotta conicals to get up near 400 grains. A bit of an over kill fer bunnies n tree rats though! 50 is a great caliber.

 

[crappsl]

After a bunch of practice I thought I might try hog hunting and maybe try my luck next deer season. For now, just paper. I have been casting for a while so I'll probably get some molds. Made my first batch of black powder yesterday and it was just a little slow. I may have not cooked the charcoal long enough (should have bought some willow) and probably needed to leave the ingredients in the ball mill longer.

 

[jamesthomas]

Go to either T.O.T.W. or October Country and get a .50 or .54 caliber lefty Lyman Great plains rifle. They run from $550.00 to around $600.00 for one. Or check Evil-bay for one. They are a good starter rifle for a lot of people. I have 2 lefty flintlocks with plans for 2 more, The parts and Kits are out there or you can get one made, The lock and stock styles may be limited but its still very doable. If you want to try your hand on a Kit, Tip Curtis has more lefty kits than anybody. Take a look at Stuartg's lefty Late Lancaster on the Gun Builders forum. They run around $740.00.