S&W Revolvers for Lefties

tjtoolbox

tjtoolbox

Well-known member
Bronze Supporter
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
463
Reaction score
155
Location
Ma.
Did S&W make firearms for lefties? I am one and I would like to know if it is all in the grips or is the safety on the opposite side of a righty to engage or disengage it? Will the cost of the firearm be more or less money should I find one?
If there is one for sale out there, I would be interesed in a 357/38 special revolver Used but in Good condition, I have no problem with looks and min. wear, not a collector but a User.
Joe.
 
I have never seen one, but you never say never with S&W. You need to watch the timing close when you shoot left hand. What is in time for the right hand won't be for the left some times.
 
To my knowledge, S&W never made a revolver for a left-hander. There is no safety on a S&W revolver. In order to make it left handed, the cylinder release would have to be moved to the right side, and the crane opening relocated, and the side plate moved to the left side. The engineering and manufacturing costs would far exceed any sales S&W could expect. I do believe there is a manufacturer that has made a left-handed 1911 .45 ACP. I can not recall who that company was.
 
I'm a lefty. I've been shooting S&W revolvers for close to 30 years. I can shoot and speedload a revolver with no problems. My son is right handed and handles a revolver well. He's alot younger than me, and I can speedload as fast as he can. You have just got to figure out what reloading/speedloading technique works best for you.
 
H Richard said:
To my knowledge, S&W never made a revolver for a left-hander. There is no safety on a S&W revolver. In order to make it left handed, the cylinder release would have to be moved to the right side, and the crane opening relocated, and the side plate moved to the left side. The engineering and manufacturing costs would far exceed any sales S&W could expect. I do believe there is a manufacturer that has made a left-handed 1911 .45 ACP. I can not recall who that company was.
Click to expand...

The company's name was Randall, The 1911 in question was called "The Port Sider".:)
 
Along the lines of the OP's question, the Colt SAA is a left handed gun. Colt was a lefty, and designed the SAA to suit him. A right handed SAA would have the loading gate on the left side to allow loading and unloading with the weak hand, also the ejector rod would have been on the left side of the barrel.:)
 
What Magnum 7 said. I also have been shooting S&W revolvers for close to 40 years. I carried one for many years as an officer before switching to a 1911. I still carry one almost every day. I got so I could speed load a revolver faster then many right handers. As he said, figure out a method and practice a lot. Charter Arms makes a true left handed revolver. Everything is reversed on it. I have handled one and think that it feels strange to me after manipulating a right handed revolver all my life.

Tom
 
Actually I think that a case can be made that all S&W revolvers are lefthanded. I realize that the latch is positioned for the right thumb......but the cylinder opens to the left. Practice will make for decent weakhand loading for we righthanders BUT how many times have you seen the righthander move the open revolver to his/her left hand and use his strong hand for loading? A lefty can transfer the revolver to his righthand ,thumb the latch, eject and reload with his strong hand and switch back at least as readily as a righthander.
 
I agree with Treeman,I have shot left handed all my life using speedloaders in K frame guns and it has always been an advantage to favor your left hand.Even shot a 300 on the combat course a few times.Remember leftys are always in their right minds.
 
Dave Lauck produces left-hand S & W revolver conversions (Custom Revolvers - 1st thumbnail 1st row). He is a true master craftsman - his work is exceptional - but it will cost you.

The competition left-handed revolver pictured costs $2,750+. A complete personal defense/close-quarters battle (CQB) package costs $2,200. He quotes the following on his site under "Guns Currently Available": Custom S&W model 625 SS .45 ACP revolver $1850 - as he explains this is a forfeited project that reflects a deduction of the initial deposit paid - even with the deduction it is still expensive.

Except for the last item above I'm almost positive that the prices DO NOT include the cost of the base revolver! Like I said his work ain't cheap! However, I've never heard anyone complain - about anything.
 
Revolver_Fan said:
Dave Lauck produces left-hand S & W revolver conversions (Custom Revolvers - 1st thumbnail 1st row). He is a true master craftsman - his work is exceptional - but it will cost you.
Click to expand...

uh...does he also make left-handed ammunition, too? Or maybe he got Cor-Bon to print their boxes with mirror images...




Oh, there was an April Fool's joke ad that said the S&W finally started producing left-handed revolvers, with the cylinder release on the right side, and the cylinder opening on the right side...I can't find it now, but it was funny (yes, they took images of S&W revolvers and mirrored them).
 
Last edited:
tjtoolbox said:
Did S&W make firearms for lefties? I am one and I would like to know if it is all in the grips or is the safety on the opposite side of a righty to engage or disengage it? Will the cost of the firearm be more or less money should I find one?
If there is one for sale out there, I would be interesed in a 357/38 special revolver Used but in Good condition, I have no problem with looks and min. wear, not a collector but a User.
Joe.
Click to expand...

tjtoolbox - what problems are you having with your revolver? Maybe we can talk you through it as lefties to a lefty.
 
Actually, it is a misnomer that "there is no safety on a revolver." The modern S&W has built-in safeties, but there is no "switch" on a modern S&W.

The lock on the side of the frame does not count as a safety, nor should it ever be used as one!

However, S&W did make at least one run of revolvers with a manual safety for the French, of all people, and these guns are very scarce.

The safety was on the right side of that particular revolver- it looked almost like the cylinder release and operated similarly. It just locked up the action when moved into position. However, why they wanted said modification is beyond my powers of comprehension! :confused:
 
I am a lefty and I just found what works best for me.The Righty revolver works just fine for me so I will keep with it......Mike
 
Gun 4 Fun said:
Along the lines of the OP's question, the Colt SAA is a left handed gun. Colt was a lefty, and designed the SAA to suit him. A right handed SAA would have the loading gate on the left side to allow loading and unloading with the weak hand, also the ejector rod would have been on the left side of the barrel.:)
Click to expand...

Samuel Colt passed away in 1862, at least ten years before the Model P was designed and produced.

However, there's always been speculation that the Model P was designed for south paws. Being that lefties only make up 5% of the population (and I'm one), it seems unlikely that the design would have been done that way.
 
Ruger was a lefty also. I believe it is easier to flip the loading gate open with my right thumb & load with my left hand just like I do with my DA's Smiths; that's why I bought these:

006-1.jpg
 
The model P was influenced by Colt's earlier designs, even though he was gone when it came into production. The gun was definately a left handed design. The guns were designed to be used by horse mounted soldiers, and if a soldier was bouncing along on his horse, he certainly didn't want to have to switch the gun from his strong hand to his weak to unload, then reload, then switch back.

Since most people are right handed, a right handed gun would have had the loading gate on the left, which would keep the gun in the strong hand while loading with the weak, or off hand.;)
 
I doubt that is a left hand gun, notice the rear sight is fully reversed as well as the letters on the ammo box. Someone flipped the print around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jimmyj
S&W Model 65-3 Revolver
Replies
1
Views
366
Tom S.
Tom S.
Breakaway500
  • Locked
New S&W no lock revolvers model 36,10 and 19!
Replies
3
Views
1K
Tom S.
Tom S.
D
S&W 586-8 Revolver
Replies
2
Views
475
Doriangray6
D
M
S&W 625-6
Replies
8
Views
566
The Gila Bender
The Gila Bender
Say When!
Scope mount on 1997 S&W Performance Center Model 625-6
Replies
1
Views
185
jrc1
J

Latest posts

Back
Top