Advice for a NEW lefty

[DocRDS]

With life liking to kick me in the balls repeatedly, I've found that I need to shoot left handed (fun fact--seeing your target 100% would recommend!). As I put together a "budget" rifle is there anything specific to watch for as a left handed shooter. I've noticed options are WAAY more limited, so I am pretty much "stuck" doing a custom action. Is there anything else to watch for-little gotchas as a lefty that trip you up? SInce I have Impacts and AIs, I was considering just sticking with Impact. For budget reasons, possibly an Origin (plus I like the swappable bolt head idea).

Say a prayer for me as well, I was thinking of buying a Savage before I woke up in a cold sweat.

Realearning 40 years of shooting is a PITA, but I've already double/trippled my scores in PRS. Vision was REALLY bad.

 

[TheJeanyus]

As a fellow lefty, I will say that our options are VASTLY better than they were 20 years ago though still a little limited. Rem 700 footprint actions (such as the Origin you mentioned) are the best option if you want aftermarket stocks/chassis, triggers, etc. I have a lefty Tikka that I love, but I also had to buy a right handed chassis and cut a notch in the other side for the left handed bolt handle. The Origin is a great option because of the wide array of prefit barrels that are out there.

 

[Cearbhall_Sponaugle]

Been down this route myself.

For a PRS Rifle the MPA Vanquish PMR rifle is going to be tough to beat especially in an AW magazine compatible caliber (25 Creed, 6.5 Creed...) with the PRS discount.

For a hunting rifle it's a far more difficult decision. Factory options boil down to either Tikka or Begara. Tikka seems to have mastered the standard hunting rifle layout, but they are missing better stock options. Begara has more stock options, but seems to be lacking in qc/dimensional tolerance. You can order a pre-fit Tikka barrel, but not one for the Begara.

Once you go custom almost all the big players have left hand actions, but stock compatibility is hit or miss (especially for the actions with trigger hangers). The obvious trade off is the significantly increased cost. I started a thread that shows the action feel for the ARC CDG and the Terminus style actions, but I can't speak to the rather large list of custom actions now on the market. It's a minefield that I wish had more clarity.

One thing I will strongly emphasize is that building a do it all rifle will result in a compromised rifle that will not accomplish what you want. Building/buying a rifle for a narrow task will result in a far better outcome; speaking from experience.

 

[codym]

The biggest thing that got me when I switched was the illumination on my pm2’s got in the way of the bolt. Super specific but I had 3 that I had to get rid of.

 

[DocRDS]

Thx--I shoulda mentioned, right now its a PRS style rifle. I can see well enough to shoot right-eye'd hunting--its when targets go from 2 MOA down to 1MOA that they "disappear" in my right eye. Most of my hunting is large furry 4-legged and I have no trouble seeing those.

 

[LeftyJason]

One of us. One of us. One of us.

Jk. Sorry for your issues.

Biggest thing is lefty converting stocks and chassis. Had to convert my T3x whiskey 3 and my T1X XRS. Not hard and at least they have what you need to mirror already there.

 

[Familydude]

Agree with all the above. With the exception of AI’s, it’s fairly easy to get an action in LH. I had a couple chassis converted from RH to ambi. One through LRI, the other was an MPA Matrix, converted by MPA. Both were done at a reasonable in price.

 

[Tack425]

Lefty here and I feel your pain in the availability of platforms for us. I went the AI route and am enjoying the platform. The only difficult part if once you have the rifle the bolts are way more difficult to obtain.

 

[StephenShivers]

Strasser makes a Lefty straight pull Rem 700 footprint action that's SMOOTH. I'm having a Lefty .308 built using that action for my son's college graduation present.