Using a left hand bolt as a righty?

Smittiac

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  • Oct 8, 2020
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    Does anyone do this? I've been thinking it could be an interesting thing to try, dominate hand never leaves the rifle. I mean we do it with pistols and our left hand already operates the bag/parallax/front rest etc.
     
    I’m generally less interested in having a giant opening right next to my face, in case something goes wrong.

    You might be interested in some of the Left Bolt Right Eject that Defiance and a few others do, though.
     
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    Very good point on the boom location, guess that part never really crossed my mind. Thus why I ask my stupid questions! Left bolt with right feed still would involve the right hand loading when doing BR since you have to hand feed single rounds though right?
     
    Very good point on the boom location, guess that part never really crossed my mind. Thus why I ask my stupid questions! Left bolt with right feed still would involve the right hand loading when doing BR since you have to hand feed single rounds though right?

    Oh, BR is single feed? Yeah, unless you set up a fancy hopper system that lets you drop over your scope and get flung into the ejection port. Or feed from under the magwell maybe?
     
    The real question is what is your dominate eye, if it is in fact your right, you’re probably wasting your time.
    I, for instance, am a natural lefty but as a kid found out I am right eye dominate so at a young age switched. Now all I do right handed is shoot. Rifle, pistol, shotgun, feels like a natural right hander.
     
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    I have done the opposite. Lefty with a right bolt. Depending on the rifle/caliber, it can be pretty efficient.
    One of my guys in my shop is a retired 8541 from 1994 till just a few years ago and well decorated. He dropped many of Tango's shooting this exact way and I've never seen him have a desire to change it up lol

    Mike R.
     
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    My suppressed SBR truck gun ( .223 ) is a left hand Remington 700 that I shoot right handed and operate the bolt with my left hand. Works surprisingly well unless you run the bolt really hard during ejection. :p A left / right setup would probably be the best setup.
    I will say it was an absolute b*tch finding a left hand Remington 700 with a .223 bolt face. Had to do a little stock modification around the ejection port but no big deal.
    Overall - I like the setup. Pics to follow...........
     
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    I do the opposite. I shoot a right handed rifle left handedly. I've never had issues with ejecting cases into my face. I've also had a few hot rounds where I've blown primers and my face did not feel anything different than with regular mild loads...
     
    If this is for prs/nrl type shooting, it’s a no go.

    Your support hand is what actually hold the rifle (hence the word support). So, you want to keep that hand on the rifle at all times unless absolutely necessary. Bolt manipulation, parallax adjustment, dialing turrets, etc etc should be done with the firing hand.
     
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    It’s really not too bad.
     
    There is a limited amount of new idea's these days, and this is another one that fits this category.... Give it a try, I did and found out why not many do. The theory, is much better than the practice.

    You maybe one of the few who it does suit..... Sometimes you just need to find out for yourself, to scratch the itch.
    Cheers
    Pete