Left handed

[Rammer223]

My youngest as started asking about shooting so tried him on air rifle and to be honest it was a bit of a struggle , I  and my eldest are both right handed and all our rifles are set up that way , so my question is do I try to get him to shoot right handed, I think I will struggle , or look to let him go his own way as I were , Got me thinking what do they do with lefties in the services can’t think they would have lefty rifles or do they ,any tips or thoughts welcome 

regards lee 
 

 

[jma]

Hi Lee,

I am a left handed in everyday life, I shoot left handed, am a  right handed golfer ambidextrous pistol shooter and combinations of both at other things.

I have always shot right handed rifles with no problem, as a left handed person you just have to get on with it.

 Is he left handed at anything else or just shooting?

If so he it is more likely his eye dominance, probably left in his case. 

My wife is right handed in everything except shooting, she is left eye dominant and also rather a good shot.

I would not try and force him to shoot right handed, imagine if someone made you shoot left handed, you would struggle.

Have a look here https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/shooting/instruction/issues-with-eye-dominance-15475   its more shotgun but gives relevant information.

regards

John

[Rammer223]

Hi john will give him another go think he was getting frustrated like you say thinking about it probably an eye thing , don’t want to sicken him off before he’s got started need to step back and have a think about it 

regards lee 

 

[jma]

Lee,

Best way, let him find whats comfortable for him.

When my wife first shot a rifle she had it in a right handed position, but she tried to get her left eye looking down the sights. She was attempting to use the dominant left eye, quite difficult when holding the rifle right handed.

A friend of mine suggested she try shooting left handed, which she did very well. As i said she is a very good shot, and found it natural pretty quickly.

You could probably do with an ambidextrous rifle to let him get used to it (if thats what it is)

Good luck.

cheers

John

[Machinexl]

Figure out his eye dominance and thatll be his best side to shoot from.

im left handed and left eye dominant luckily. However the military had me shooting right handed (sa80). It wasnt as hard as i thought it would be to learn to shoot the wrong hand. 
i dont own an left handed guns. Ive always owned right handed. The only time i have any issue is working a bolt on a right handed gun from my left shoulder while standing or kneeling. I kind of have to hold the weight of the whole gun from my trigger hand. 
best advice would be to let him try it all ways and see what he is comfortable doing. 

[Kalahari]

For what it is worth, I was born a lefty (of that age bracket who were forcibly changed over when I first went to school) and with a left master eye. As a result when I shoot a shotgun, where eye dominance is very important, I shoot left handed. Eye dominance is much less of a problem rifle shooting as for normal shooting you close the other eye. So unless his right eye is seriously weak or other problems not easily corrected with glasses or contacts, gently persuade him to shoot a rifle right handed. So much kit is right handed and I would bet a bit that most estate rifles and club loaners are right handed.

Funnily enough there is another benefit, because the brain seperates the two actions, shotgun left shoulder keep the swing moving, rifle right shoulder keep the rifle still.

 

Hope this helps a bit,

David.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Kalahari
My grammar sucks!