What do you get when you mix a SW40VE, a South Paw, and a strong right eye?
Apparently, a right-handed shooter.
I have been a strong south paw for my entire life. Pick everything with the left hand (hammer, drill, nose), wear belt pointing to the right, wear watch on the right hand, and write number “3s” from the bottom up. The whole nine yards.
It never occurred to me, to pick up a firearm with my right hand, unless I was reloading a revolver or changing the magazine of a pistol.
Also, I have a strong right eye. I learned to live with it, tilt the head left and move on.
To make a short story long, I was having a hell of time staying in the black while shooting my sigma (left-handed). That darned Sigma “heavy trigger pull”, I thought. “It” would constantly drift low and to the right, out of the black. It couldn't be me since it was not happening with the wife’s 38spl.
I, of course, continued to blame the trigger pull. Having read in forums about so many people having an issue with it…I patted myself in the back (with my left hand) while saying, BAD Sigma!
Even though, it was a reliable firearm, I was ready to give up on my Sigma. However, I kept investigating the issue and found some defenders of the Sigma trigger pull, how such a pistol can make one a better shooter, by virtue of becoming more “self-aware” of the act of pulling the trigger.
So, I continued to practice in the loft, 20 minutes a night, with my trusty snap caps. One night, out of a whim, I shifted the pistol to my right hand and “assumed the position”.
Amazingly, it all fell into place, pistol, hands, arms, and shoulders, everything fit. The triangle felt natural.
Turned out, my left arm is about an inch longer than my right arm, as measured by my wife, an Occupational Therapist; they know about these things.
So, holding the pistol in my right hand with the left hand over it, felt just perfect.
I went to the range a couple of times since then, and the problem has all but disappeared. 7, 10, and 15 yards, much better.
I think by now, you already inferred I’m not a “sniper”; just thought I should mention that.
Regarding the 38spl, I was cocking the hammer and pulling “single-action”, that’s why I never saw the issue with it. I tried double action with my left hand and the issue reared its ugly head.
In conclusion, now I shoot right-handed, it feels more natural, don’t have to tilt the head, and hit more black (blacker?) than left-handed. I've also come to appreciate shooting DAO.
I wonder if there are others out there that have experienced something similar.
arg
P.S.: I use “South Paw” instead of “Lefty” to avoid confusion. ;-)