Left handed shotgun people shoot right handed guns?

[tank21]

Hi everyone, my wife is a left eye dominant type and she wants to put down my right handed 870 and get a new semi-auto dedicated for herself.   She wants a pretty gun, wood stock, blued barrel and probably a pretty receiver too.  I have not found anything that seems to fit the bill in the left handed arena.  My question for you is what do all you left handed shooters use?  It is primarily for pheasants/trap but there are ducks/geese as well.  I know the O/U is the obvious choice but she really likes have 3 shells (chances).  Would like to hear what people use/settle with if they are left handed.

Thanks!

[philts100]

National Rifleman just put out a good article about left handers shooting right handed guns and left hand specific guns. It's worth checking out. Talks in depth about the potential dangers of a lefty shooting a right handed gun that I was unaware of. I am a lefty and started with right handed shotguns with a straight cast stock, then moved to a dedicated left hand 870. I moved to the Ithaca 37 after that because its bottom eject and lighter, but still your still stuck fighting the safety on the wrong side. I think there are quite a few new options in left hand but finding one with nice wood and a pretty receiver might be tough. If she is ok fighting the safety the Ithaca 37 is a prime choice. I will say all the lefty's that I know including myself have switched to doubles, just makes it easier.

[Iveexcaped3]

The only one that really fits your comment is the benelli montefeltro. Witch is my next purchase. I currently run a Tristar viper g2

[Bareback]

Not a semi, Browning BPS bottom ejects

[rtspring]

I’m left rye dominant, don’t own one left handed gun.   Never had a issue in 49 years. 

Left handed guns actually feel weird.   

[kselkhunter]

For mostly upland and getting a blued/wood version.....an O/U or S/S is indeed the simplest choice for a lefty.


For a lefty semi-auto, give the left-handed Benelli Montelfreto a look.    That could be a good fit for your wife if she's OK with a 12 gauge.


I would argue the 3rd shell is a waste for many average shooters in a semi-auto.  Not saying your wife is an average shooter, so not intending to insult.  My point is with just the one choke, many times the bird is too far away by the third shot and it results in a miss or worse not enough shot in the bird to bring it down.   I'm not talking about pass shooting geese, as they're all at the same general range and there are guys that are very good at those shots.  I'm talking about upland, and by the time a person gets to the third shot on a quail or pheasant or dove that bird is usually out of reasonable range for the choke that shot is passing through.   Same on decoying ducks.   

Ever since I started hand loading TSS, I don't bother loading my 3rd shell in the semi-auto.   I pay much closer attention to what is a good shot for me, and what isn't now that I'm burning $$ with every shot.   And I found myself not firing the 3rd shot anymore, as I came to the realization it really wasn't that effective.   In fact I find myself taking my O/U with me on waterfowl hunts if I'm in a blind (it's blued/wood not camo), as I like having the two chokes.  First shot is for close decoying bird, second is for fleeing longer distance bird.   

[GWP]

“Three shells. Two for moving it along, one for the focused shot”
Spoken by the gun trainer that worked with my ‘lefty’ wife. She is ‘neither’ eye dominant, and he tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her to shoot right hand.
Got her a 3” mag 12 Montifeltro LH that she shot well, but she also had said it might be fun to have a ‘pretty one’, plus, she prefers O/U.
Which is why she now (for years) has a ‘stunning’ grade 6 Browning O/U (was a secret birthday present) with gold inlay, that we drove down to Oregon to the ‘Stock Doctor’ and had it fitted LH for her. Fun stuff and well worth the cost and time. Two sets of snap on butt pads for heavy or light jacket too! Neat!
We (used to) Chukar hunt, so it got some dings, but it is hers, and the dings are an ‘honest’ testament to a ‘working’ gun.
I reversed the safety to R/H (easy to do) and put ‘clamp on’ turkey sights on the LH Montifeltro for a turkey or deer gun.
I shot her LH gun and was very surprised at how much it hurt. She shot my RH ones before getting the Montifeltro and said they hurt her but she figured that was ‘just shooting’ until she got her a LH.
Get her a LH and have it fitted to her.

[Jingles]

Keep looking as there are lefties out there but expect to pay an additional $75 to $100 more than the same gun in right hand.

[Special T]

Left handed firearms make up 3% of new sales. As a r handed Peron left eye dominate shooter I can tell you that you either need to open you wallet or go for something more ambidextrous friendly. I love my side by sides and shoot a Mossberg  because the safety is up top. I hate my 870.  Several years back I missed a deal on here for a LH sbe2 because I didn't think I had the funds. I'm kicking myself now.  I would go for a double barrel if I could get away with it but the cost and availability of a synthetic parkerized sxs I in spitting distance of an auto... but the style... awesome.

[Remnar]

 How "pretty" is she thinking ?
If just classic blue and wood . A tried and true Remington 11-87 LH wouldnt be a bad choice IMHOP .

[ChesapeakeMan]

Syren (Fabarm) L4S Sporting left hand if it's in your budget.  I was looking at them for my daughter.  They are really nice autoloaders.  Drawbacks are price (depending on budget), it's only a 2 3/4" chamber and shortest barrel is 28".  These may or may not be deal breakers for you.

I ended up finding a 20 gauge Remington 870 lw Wingmaster for her.  I put a Heads Up Shooting Systems stock on it.  These are great  for women and kids.  They have a shortened length of pull with a nice Limbsaver pad, raised comb and the butt is canted left or right depending on handing.  These stocks are available  for 1100's and 11/87's too.  We switched to a left handed safety and added some extended Trulock chokes.  Sweet shooting gun for a lefty women or kid.

I ended up running across a left handed Benelli M2 20 gauge for a decent price.  It has the Comfort Tech stock which helped alteration.  With the right shims and adjustment plates we got it dialed in for drop and cast.  I then added the raised cheek piece to fine tune the fit.  A purple Briley charging handle and bolt release gave it a little splash of color.  Briley extended choke tubes topped it off.  This isn't blued steel and walnut but the plastic stock was much easier and cheaper to customize for proper fit.  She loves this gun.  She  shoots trap weekly with it and has no complaints.   She has shot a few ducks with it too.

[Gobble]

I’m left handed and shoot a right handed Winchester Model 50 Semi Auto

[RobinHoodlum]

This may be a 'left field' suggestion, but if she's willing to consider a pump, consider looking for an older Ithaca model 37. With bottom eject and zero cast, it is equally suitable for right and left handed shooters. Very nice guns that can be had for a reasonable price. But most of the older ones are 2 3/4" guns that prefer lead shot or other 'soft metal' shot. 

[hunter399]

Just a suggestion.....
Buy a cheap eye patch on old Amazon,and start training to be a right hand shooter.
I'm left eye dominate ,when I was a kid I would take a band aid and cover up my left eye at target range practice.
Until my right eye took over the work.

[tank21]

Thank you for the reply's guys.  I had her read the thread last night, a lot of good info here.  Thank you.  I hadn't read them all and so also glad things didn't got off the rails too   

I am thinking that she might go with the O/U.  kselkhunter, you bring up really good points regarding the dual chokes.  She is right handed, and it gave her pause when I told her that reloading might be a total pain left handed.

When looking, is all fit and finish that puts you down the road?  Is there a good ol' standard 870 of the O/U world?  Really reliable, decent looking and bang for the buck really nice?  How about gold standard?  Is there a model that is the crème del a crème?   That is also around $2k?  Any hard no's because they just suck?