Leftys & Rightys

Gather App
Guns.com Vault
C

CZU

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
1,006
Reaction score
4,988
City & State/Province
NE Texas
I was so excited when my mom found left handed scissors for me when I was in Elementary school in the 60's. Everything back then was for a right-handed world and that is how I learned to shoot long guns. It was pretty awkward trying to shoot a bolt action .22 designed for a right handed person on the left shoulder. All I had access to was the .22, a Sweet 16 and a Win M94. One could argue that the M94 was appropriate for a lefty but why bother. So if it's a long gun it goes on the right, handguns to the left.

I stopped at the LGS the other day on the way home and one of the guys said to me "check this out" as he pushed a revolver in my hand. What's this I say as I'm looking at it and he says a left hand revolver. No way and as I'm looking I see that it is a left hand revolver. Never heard of such a thing but sure enough a Charter Arms lefty revolver with Southpaw boldly stamped on the barrel. After looking at and shooting revolvers for years this thing looked funny to me. Of course I couldn't leave it behind so now I am the owner of a lefty revolver.

Pictured below is a CA Pathfinder & a CA Southpaw

ECnVGFf.png

swKNs2E.png

k58Zwh6.png
 
Last edited:
My career started in 1968 when it was a right handed world so I’d have trouble w/any leftie handgun today. I don’t even swap the mag release button on my M&P 2.0 Compact due to long term muscle memory.
 
I'm a lefty and shoot all handguns left-handed. Since reloading a revolver is a two-handed operation anyway, I've never been tempted to buy a lefty revolver. Switching the gun over to the right hand and grabbing the speed loader with my left doesn't add that much time to the process. I've been doing it that way for so long that I think I might be slower with a lefty gun.
 
Just a heads up we had misfire problems with her revolver. I'd bought it used from GB and suspect the previous owner may have also had problems due to the little usage the revolver showed.

We would randomly have a failure to fire, light primer strikes, with no rhyme or reason. We were using factory ammo, it was not one chamber that would cause the problem, and the problem was not consistently happening. By random I mean maybe once every 20-25 shots.

After making everything was clean and not finding an obvious problem I contacted Charter Arms. Charter said that even though I'd bought it used I could send it in and they would correct the problem. This was just at the beginning of the COVID fiasco and I told them I was nervous about mailing it to them so they offered to send me a new mainspring and slightly longer firing pin. I installed both and the problem seems to be resolved.

My daughter decided that she wanted a house gun rather than a CCW pistol so she left me the Charter Arms and took an old 10-5. I'm ambidextrous so her little CA gets a fair amount of range and carry time.
 
I am one of those odd southpaws. I have learned to adapt to living in a right handed world. I almost find it easier to hit the magazine release with my middle left finger.

At this point, I think it would be too odd for me to go left.
 
Just installed a Metal Mag release in my Glock 43x.
Put it in for a Lefty -me.
First one I ever used one on an Auto.
It’s feels weird!
 
I went to a Catholic grade school, and the Nuns kept trying to get me to write with my right hand. Mom found that out and went to the school and told them in no uncertain terms to not make me use my right hand for writing. They never did anymore, so I stayed left handed.
 
As a lefty I refuse to comply, so long guns are break open shotguns and ambi friendly rifles.

Handguns are lefty friendly M&P semis and gen4 Glock


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
bgrafsr said:
I have a Savage .223 in left hand. It is accurate and I really like it.
Click to expand...

Which model Savage 223 do you have? I have a left handed 110 in 270 but am looking for a 223. I've thought about the Axis but not sure about the synthetic stock.
 
bgrafsr said:
I went to a Catholic grade school, and the Nuns kept trying to get me to write with my right hand. Mom found that out and went to the school and told them in no uncertain terms to not make me use my right hand for writing. They never did anymore, so I stayed left handed.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same experience. And, my parents handled it the exact same way!

The OP mentioned the left hand scissors his mom found. My mom found a pair for me, too. Probably the same ones: safety scissors with a rounded tip and the word "Lefty" emblazened onto the side.
I used to carry mine to school in my pencil case. Everyone else just used the school-owned scissors kept in a big rack in the classroom.
Sure enough, the first time I used mine, at the end of class, the teacher took them from me. She said they were the school's.
Being 7 years old, I couldn't manage to convince her that the school didn't have any left handed scissors and that's why my mom bought me my own pair.
When I got home and my mom gave me the usual "How was school today?" greeting. I told her what happened.
Result: another parent-teacher meeting. I got my scissors back.
The lesson I learned from these experiences, and confirmed over the years, is that school was, to a large degree, just a big conformity factory.

Couple years later, I joined a smallbore junior rifle program. We used regular right hand Remington .22s. I simply shot left handed and reached over for the bolt. I didn't care! I was happy to be shooting!
Anschutz accomodates left handed smallbore competitors with two options: 1) a true mirror image left hand target rifle, or 2), a left hand stock cut to hold a right hand action.
Apparently, there are many lefties who got started the same way I did and just got used to working the right hand bolt!

And, don't get me started on guitar stories.....
 
Last edited:
bgrafsr said:
I went to a Catholic grade school, and the Nuns kept trying to get me to write with my right hand. Mom found that out and went to the school and told them in no uncertain terms to not make me use my right hand for writing. They never did anymore, so I stayed left handed.
Click to expand...

I had the same experience in 2nd grade. If fact, I wasn't allowed to go to recess for almost a full semester. I didn't tell my parents because I thought I was doing something wrong. When my mom (also a lefty) found out, things got ugly...and I got to go to recess with the rest of the kids.
 
CZU said:
I was so excited when my mom found left handed scissors for me when I was in Elementary school in the 60's. Everything back then was for a right-handed world and that is how I learned to shoot long guns. It was pretty awkward trying to shoot a bolt action .22 designed for a right handed person on the left shoulder. All I had access to was the .22, a Sweet 16 and a Win M94. One could argue that the M94 was appropriate for a lefty but why bother. So if it's a long gun it goes on the right, handguns to the left.

I stopped at the LGS the other day on the way home and one of the guys said to me "check this out" as he pushed a revolver in my hand. What's this I say as I'm looking at it and he says a left hand revolver. No way and as I'm looking I see that it is a left hand revolver. Never heard of such a thing but sure enough a Charter Arms lefty revolver with Southpaw boldly stamped on the barrel. After looking at and shooting revolvers for years this thing looked funny to me. Of course I couldn't leave it behind so now I am the owner of a lefty revolver.

Pictured below is a CA Pathfinder & a CA Southpaw

ECnVGFf.png

swKNs2E.png

k58Zwh6.png
Click to expand...

They're great. I carried a CA Off Duty .38 for years. I actually became a fairly decent shot with it. When I found a used Southpaw on GB, I had to snag it. Now the wife and I can both have a CA snubby.

I had bought a Galati Gear double pistol case that I never used. It has 10 outside mag pockets. I found that I could put 2 loaded speedloaders in each of those pockets (20 total) and never have to carry extra ammo when I go out shooting.
 
Last edited:
Died in the wool southpaw. Right eye dominate. Taught myself to shoot long guns from the rigt shoulder so it can be done! Can't shoot from the left shoulder any more. Handguns are pretty much an amphibous proposition. Either hand works. ;)
 
I have always been thankful God made me right-handed and right hand dominant.
Some things I am ambidextrous on like using a shovel or chopping ax.
 
I have always been thankful God made me right-handed and right eye dominant.
Some things I am ambidextrous on like using a shovel or chopping ax.
 
I’m right-handed but left-eye dom.

The first time I ever shot any gun was a friend’s older brother’s BB gun when I was about 6.

I put it to my left shoulder and the older boys tried to tell me I was doing it wrong until I out-shot every one of them.
 
I'm enjoying your posts, amigos. Left-handed, left-eyed; had the scissors and got grief for them from the school. :)


As to the revolver, I've never grabbed one because my experience hasn't made me trust Charters; the mainspring issue isn't unusual.
 
Right handed, left eye dominant. I shoot handguns right handed but use my left eye, so my wrist is cocked a little. I shoot long guns left handed. Both of my brothers are the same way.

I'm pretty accustomed to right handed long guns. For bolt guns I keep my left hand on the wrist and work the bolt with my right. Sometimes I have to move my left thumb out of the way. Autos, pumps and levers are pretty easy. I'm accustomed to brass flying past my face.

Still, I do have a few left handed bolt actions. Even though I already have a left-handed CZ452 American, I just went on GB and bought a left-handed Savage Mark II G just because it's so darn inexpensive. Photo from GB listing. The listed price was $250 with no credit card fee AND free shipping, so after taxes and my FFL's fee I'll be into it for $290.

attachment.php


Besides the Savage and the aforementioned CZ, my first left handed bolt gun is a .460 Weatherby with Lazermark stock. Great fun.

attachment.php


attachment.php


My target of choice is a one-gallon can of hominy corn at about 20 yards.
attachment.php


attachment.php


Then I have a couple of lefty Ruger M77 Hawkeyes, one in .308 and one .223. I haven't shot either one much yet, even though I've had them for about ten years.
 
Savage has always been one of the more left hand friendly manufacturers. I was recently reading about their new straight-pull rifle. Switching it to left hand is as easy as removing the bolt handle and installing it on the other side. Their designers seem to on a roll with all sorts of longarms lately.
 
When number two son came home from the Marines in 2004, I had found a left handed Savage 110 in 223 as a coming home present. It had a 6-18x40mm Kessner (Philippines) scope on it and the cheapest plastic stock! I bought it for $200 OTD because they couldn't sell it. The 110's have a bolt almost a foot long!

I zeroed the scope right-handed (a huge pain) using a Winchester ammo, 46 grain @ 3700 fps. I got 3-shot 1/4" 100yd groups with that ammo, So I gave 200 rounds of that lot with the gun.

A couple years later, I told him to grab his gun and we'd go groundhog hunting at my dad's farm. He had sold the gun! He eventually bought a STAG lefthanded AR-15 in M-4 configuration. but it won't group like that Savage!

He keeps eying my Rossi 92 stainless in 357 and my small collection of Rugar No1's!

Ivan
 
I've become a bit of a left-handed gun snob. If it isn't designed for a lefty or completely ambidextrous, I don't want it and won't buy it. That's why I have an affinity for Mossberg shotguns and HK pistols. The CA Southpaw is just icing on the cake for me...until I can afford a Cabot 1911.

Yes, I own several guns that are designed for right-handed shooters, but they were gifts that see little use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

WolvesFan
Kimber Micro 9 mags drop
Replies
2
Views
74
WolvesFan
WolvesFan
Retired W4
Enfield America, MP9
Replies
4
Views
157
Retired W4
Retired W4
D
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SEMIAUTO TARGET HANDGUNS
2 3
Replies
89
Views
3K
Glynn863
G
IAM Rand
Right brained lefty
Replies
16
Views
875
gmarshall99
G
D
38spl Snub Nose Range Day
Replies
26
Views
1K
Doriangray6
D

Latest posts

Back
Top