How bothersome is it for a lefty to shoot a right hand bolt gun?

[johnthomas]

I am right handed. I wondered the same thing so I tried shooting left handed. It doesn't work for me.

[Verdha603]

True enough. But you still have to work the oprod from the right and keep clear of the spent brass and clip ejecting up from the right. It's a very right-handed rifle.
Dad was a left handed Marine and always complained about those difficulties.

I'd beg to differ on that opinion; for me at least the M1 Garand/M1 carbine/M-14/Mini-14 style of rifles are very easy to use as a left-handed shooter; the oprod on the right is easy to operate with the off-hand/right hand, the safety is easy to use with my firing hand/trigger finger, and I haven't noticed any significant issues reloading any of them with my right hand instead of my left.

Now by comparison, the M1903 absolutely sucks to use as a left hander because of that bent bolt handle on the right/wrong side.

[dfletcher]

I'm right handed and left eyed. Been shooting "lefty" for +50 years. Off a bench a bolt rifle is a breeze. Savage makes a "right handed" bolt bench rifle with the ejection port on the left hand side, bolt on the RH side.

I can rattle off 10 rounds in "Mad Minute" than my right handed friends. But, a Garand clip does tend to land on the top of my head.

When I was in I had no problem with "The Pig" off my left shoulder. Memory fades as to how many 40s I could hang at the same time with the M-79, but it was pretty good.

I think it's all a matter of one is used to.

[Rob454]

Since target shooting and hunting usually involve shooting with a slow rate of fire, do left-hand shooters find it terribly bothersome to have to shoot a right-hand bolt gun? Or is it no big deal? Thanks for sharing any experience you have with this.

[M1NM]

RH guns are a PIA but doable. I built one a long time ago LH thumbhole stock and RH Mauser action. It worked because you were able to control the gun pretty well with the pistol grip while you pulled your RH from the forestock to work the bolt.
Sold that one when I got my LH German Weatherby.

http://www.rifle-stocks.com/wildcatthumbhole.htm

[Verdha603]

Honestly it depends on how the bolt-action is set up; I primarily shoot military surplus rifles, and in terms of how easy/difficult they are as a left handed shooter to operate, I'd rank them as straight-pull>straight bolt>bent bolt> scoped with bent bolt.

Straights pulls are relatively easy to use, especially since I can get away with using my right hand to actuate the bolt without much issue on a K31 or M95. For conventional bolt actions a straight bolt is easy for me to grab when bringing my left hand over the action to grab and rotate compared to a bent bolt. Lastly, if you want me to shoot a scoped bolt action rifle in any kind of hurry, I may as well just get a dedicated left handed bolt action because frankly trying to get my hand over the scope to get at a bent bolt handle is a real PITA.

[SharedShots]

Why not just go out and shoot the bolt gun as if you were left handed? You'll find out pretty quick and then have the experience too.

As you can see, some people work through it ok, some find it arduous and others go meh. The answer then is : "it depends".

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

Shooting from a bench or bipod, I cycle the bolt with my right hand while my left hand maintains a firing grip. From the shoulder, I wind up lowering the butt from my shoulder to either reach over the receiver and work the bolt with my left hand, or more often brace the butt against my side so that I can work the bolt with my right hand. Either way qualifies as "bothersome", at least for me they do, and nearly impossible to do so with a scope-equipped rifle with any speed.

The only bolt rifles I currently have are a LH Ruger Scout and a Swiss K31 with a left hand operating handle conversion.

[Wil-c]

I'm a rightie that often shoots left handed rifles. I find them more fluid to use from any kind of supported position since I don't have to take my fire control / direction control hand off the gun to cycle the bolt.

Concur: maintain hold with left hand and slide my right hand back to the bolt. Doing this I'm faster on a standard R/H rifle than I am on a dedicated L/H bolt action.

bought a L/H remington, didn't like it, I prefer std R/H rifles.

[RandyD]

Now by comparison, the M1903 absolutely sucks to use as a left hander because of that bent bolt handle on the right/wrong side.

I have a 1903A3 and learned how to quickly operate it as a left-handed shooter. One time when I was a teenager, I spotted a coyote about 300 yards away in a freshly plowed field. I remember shooting 15 rounds at him before he got out of range. I used two 5 round stripper clips. My technique was to lower the rifle, holding it with my left hand, moving my thumb across to the left side of the pistol grip, with my right hand I would hit the bolt up and back and then forward and down, and then bring the rifle back to my shoulder.

[deadcoyote]

One of my brothers is a lefty who only uses right handed bolt actions, he prefers it. I think it’s just because he was never exposed to another manner until close to 30. I always thought it was bizarre but also met a dude at my gun club who was right handed and only used lefty bolt guns.

[DrewN]

My dangerous game rifles are LH. My bench guns are usually RH. Deer/varmint I can go either way, but I won't pass up a deal because something is RH.