Advice Needed :: LH vs RH Semi for RH, Left Eye Dominant Shooter

[superNoid]

I'm in a pickle, and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Let me bullet a few things right from the get go to paint a clear picture of my shooting setup.

I am...

• Right-handed
• Legally blind in my right eye
• Left eye dominant
• Shoot Southpaw

Without going into details, due to seeing normal for years then having cateract surgery as a child ... I do not suffer from monovision whatsoever. I do not wear a contact in my right eye and have not for nearly 20 years. Peripheral vision is good, but my cone of vision in focus is clearly more narrow than most. My vision has not impacted anything I do, nor impaired any activity I have done my entire life. Be it athletics, driving, photography.. blah blah.

Enter, firearms.

I am in the market for a shotgun. Mostly trap/skeet and maybe some bird hunting later on. I do not want a pump shotgun. Given the bulleted list above, I figured an Over/Under or a LH Semi-Auto. I started looking at Semi-Autos.. and ya, lol there is basically no market for LH shooters. Sure Benelli and Remington have a few, but thats not what I call a market. So I started reading into LH shooters, shooting with standard RH Semi-Autos.

Before I get there, I have test shot both a Semi-Auto and Over/Under. I MUCH prefer the Semi-Autos over the Over/Under, and thats mostly due to felt recoil. The recoil on the gas powered Semi-Auto I shot was noticeably less, to the point that I almost ruled out an Over/Under. The Over/Under I shot left a lasting impression on me.. quite literally. Bruised for days and it felt like a train wreck every time I pulled the trigger. In contrast the Semi-Auto was "push" instead of a "punch".

So, preferably I'd like to spend my hard earned cash on something I will feel no buyers remorse on. Something I'll be passionate about, and really enjoy. Right now, I'm leaning heavily Semi-Auto. But this leaves me in a pickle. ~95% of the Semi-Auto market is RH firearms. I've picked up both RH and LH Semi-Autos.. and another thing that bothers me is that being a lifelong RH person, the action and loader being on the Left (or bottom I know) is NOT natural whatsoever. Using my weak side hand to cock, open the action or load shells is awkward. Operating the RH Semi-Autos I held felt 100% natural, and ... fluid.

So there it is .. I should buy a RH Semi-Auto right? But will shooting left with it be a deal breaker? I've read tons of posts online and lots of people saying its fine, and they've done it for years. But also, I've read "some" reports of certain models (Browning Maxus for instance) that tend to "spit" back more than others.

I guess I'm just looking for some feedback and suggestions.

[ke6guj]

I'm a lefty and I shoot exclusively right-handed shotguns. If you can set up a RH shotgun to be lefty-friendly, I think it is perfect. I just recently picked up a Beretta 1301 Comp shotgun which is RH. Beretta makes it so that you can swap the safety around to work better for LH use, and hte most important thing is that you can change the stock cast from Cast Off to Cast On, makes the gun fit you better as a lefty. the shims to do that are included with the gun. so, look for that in whatever you end up getting. I like having the ejection port on the right, makes it real easy to watch the shells go right into the port when doing a port load and then hitting the bolt release with the support hand.

[BigFatGuy]

There's no serious reason to use a lefty shotgun, as long as you're not shooting bullpups, or the shotgun isn't cast (ie: bent) in the wrong direction.

[ke6guj]

yup, and another item to consider is that there are often less options for the LH models, for instance Remington only offiers 1-2 870 models, and they only offer a couple barrels available for them so you can't go from a HD barrel to a long bird barrel.

look for something that can be changed from cast off to cast on, or else one that is as neutral cast as possible. some manufacturers will do that so that the gun can be as comfortable as possible to lefties.

[superNoid]

Awesome advice, exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. I only read once somewhere about specific casts being molded for RH shooter etc and completely forgot about that until now.

I should have probably said that the single only reason I had/have any doubt is basically if shell ejection would be a problem. Either hitting me or regular known problems with shooting a Semi-Auto LH. Already with just your few responses I see what I see on older posts on other forums.. which is that, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks

[epic1856]

Another lefty that uses right hand shotguns. There really isn't any extreme issues that will prevent you from using a right hand semi-auto.

Most gun manufactures now include shims and stock inserts that allows you to adjust the stock to fit most folks including lefties. Both my Beretta 391 and A400 have these and work great.

[ke6guj]

I should have probably said that the single only reason I had/have any doubt is basically if shell ejection would be a problem. Either hitting me or regular known problems with shooting a Semi-Auto LH. Already with just your few responses I see what I see on older posts on other forums.. which is that, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks

no problems with shell ejection. I've been shooting right handed guns for 30+ years and have never eaten a rifle or shotgun shell. I don't even notice them flying past me.

[superNoid]

no problems with shell ejection. I've been shooting right handed guns for 30+ years and have never eaten a rifle or shotgun shell. I don't even notice them flying past me.

Awesome thanks

[squeeze]

I am left-eyed dominant but shoot my semi-auto Beretta A400 right-handed. Occasionally I will shoot it left-handed. When I do; the shell ejection (to the right) happens so fast that I never notice it. Lucky you being left-eyed dominant and shooting left-handed. Many semi-autos have stocks/shims that can be adjusted for cast-off (for right-handed) or cast-on (for left-handed shooters). Some stocks (usually o/u's) have a built-in palm swell that pretty much dictates the "handedness".
Some manufactures make "true" left-handed semi-auto guns. The "net" is your friend on this. I believe Benelli is one.