Suggestions for left handed shooters?

[berserker]

So, although I am right handed and shoot handguns right handed, I am left eye dominant, so I shoot rifles lefty. This makes for easy transition drills, but complicates operation of my carbine. (I now know that left handed uppers exist, but it's too late for that). However, I never really give much thought to the amount of unnecesary movement involved because I have been doing it for so long.

I have always operated the selector switch with my left thumb, moving it from the other side of the lower. Do they make ambidextrous switch? If so, lefties, do you find it helpful?

I charge with my left hand. I run a BCM Gunfighter medium charging handle, which makes grabbing it easier, but it always seemed easier to stay on target by holding up the gun via the foregrip/right hand rather than the pistol grip/left hand. I see a few companies are making true ambidextrous charging handles. It almost feels awkward when I try and charge with my right hand. Any suggestions?

Finally, reloads involve inserting a mag with the right hand, then rotating the gun until the bolt stop faces the sky and releasing it with my right hand. Any other suggestions?

[Chameleox]

I charge with my left hand. I run a BCM Gunfighter medium charging handle, which makes grabbing it easier, but it always seemed easier to stay on target by holding up the gun via the foregrip/right hand rather than the pistol grip/left hand. I see a few companies are making true ambidextrous charging handles. It almost feels awkward when I try and charge with my right hand. Any suggestions?

Finally, reloads involve inserting a mag with the right hand, then rotating the gun until the bolt stop faces the sky and releasing it with my right hand. Any other suggestions?

I'm not a lefty (though I am left eye dominant). I thought this video from GreyGroup was helpful in working on left handed manipulations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9XbW1QFH4

Hope this helps.

[JSantoro]

Yes, there are ambi selectors. As a pure righty, I find them enormously helpful, so it's not a vast leap to think that it'd be so for a lefty.

Grey Search button, keyword "dominant," (i.e., "cross-dominant"), limited to thread-titles only and to the Training and Tactics subforum: https://www.m4carbine.net/search.php?searchid=5088604

The threads are older, but the last one is pertinent to a lot of the manipulation aspects. I know hal_555, in particular, made the switch to going all-around lefty his "labor of love," and he's met with success doing that. One possibility among many...

Orange Search button, keywords "cross-dominant" : https://www.m4carbine.net/gtsearch.p...102j1003328j14

A lot of the above info revolves around actual use of one's "Other Strong Eye," but you have a lot of folks you can reach out to in terms of firearm manipulations. Most of them will encourage you to seek competent professional training (presuming you've not done so...?), as it's the best place to seek out and try techniques other than what you already do.

Larry Vickers, for instance, shoots carbine lefty, pistol righty, provides instruction....but he's not the only one. Training and practice generally cures awkwardness; there's no such thing as "muscle memory," but anything is awkward until one builds the correct neural pathways. LAV, unless I'm completely off, teaches lefties to simply use the stock safety by applying the trigger finger to it in the same motion as putting the booger-hook on the bang-switch.

Other suggestions:
CH - Maintain your left hand on the fire-control group, keep the butt on your shoulder/chest, rotate gun clockwise, come over the top with your right hand, do an Austin Powers judo-chop or similar to the CH, pull back to do what you need to do. I don't mean actually CHOP, just envision the heel/knife-edge of your hand being what contacts the arm of the CH so you can pull it back....

Immediate Action, for example, might go like so: push/pull magazine with right hand --> rotate & judo-chop to rack the CH --> replace right hand to forearm of weapon/re-acquire target or seek new target/attempt to fire.

Reloads - yeah, right hand reloads, but a couple of options besides rotating....

1) Use your trigger finger to hit the release; it should be out of the guard, anyway, as part of the reload.... See what this cat does @ the 15sec mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WdCKTLCnEc

2) You know how folks do a magwell grip when firing...? Go that way, using your right hand to go around the front of the magwell to reach the release.

Both methods work, whether you're cross-dominant, or just a righty that's shooting lefty for whatever reason.

[Zane1844]

I am learning manipulations myself, I am in the same situation as you.

What I did however, was a put an ambi safety selector, and charging handle on my rifle, and it is so much nicer, especially the charging handle!

[berserker]

Yes, there are ambi selectors. As a pure righty, I find them enormously helpful, so it's not a vast leap to think that it'd be so for a lefty.

Grey Search button, keyword "dominant," (i.e., "cross-dominant"), limited to thread-titles only and to the Training and Tactics subforum: https://www.m4carbine.net/search.php?searchid=5088604

The threads are older, but the last one is pertinent to a lot of the manipulation aspects. I know hal_555, in particular, made the switch to going all-around lefty his "labor of love," and he's met with success doing that. One possibility among many...

Orange Search button, keywords "cross-dominant" : https://www.m4carbine.net/gtsearch.p...102j1003328j14

A lot of the above info revolves around actual use of one's "Other Strong Eye," but you have a lot of folks you can reach out to in terms of firearm manipulations. Most of them will encourage you to seek competent professional training (presuming you've not done so...?), as it's the best place to seek out and try techniques other than what you already do.

Larry Vickers, for instance, shoots carbine lefty, pistol righty, provides instruction....but he's not the only one. Training and practice generally cures awkwardness; there's no such thing as "muscle memory," but anything is awkward until one builds the correct neural pathways. LAV, unless I'm completely off, teaches lefties to simply use the stock safety by applying the trigger finger to it in the same motion as putting the booger-hook on the bang-switch.

Other suggestions:
CH - Maintain your left hand on the fire-control group, keep the butt on your shoulder/chest, rotate gun clockwise, come over the top with your right hand, do an Austin Powers judo-chop or similar to the CH, pull back to do what you need to do. I don't mean actually CHOP, just envision the heel/knife-edge of your hand being what contacts the arm of the CH so you can pull it back....

Immediate Action, for example, might go like so: push/pull magazine with right hand --> rotate & judo-chop to rack the CH --> replace right hand to forearm of weapon/re-acquire target or seek new target/attempt to fire.

Reloads - yeah, right hand reloads, but a couple of options besides rotating....

1) Use your trigger finger to hit the release; it should be out of the guard, anyway, as part of the reload.... See what this cat does @ the 15sec mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WdCKTLCnEc

2) You know how folks do a magwell grip when firing...? Go that way, using your right hand to go around the front of the magwell to reach the release.

Both methods work, whether you're cross-dominant, or just a righty that's shooting lefty for whatever reason.

Thanks for the suggestions. I had browsed most of those threads but it seemed like most of the discussion was about sight picture/eye dominance (I'm past that right handed, left eye dominant, pistols righty, rifles lefty, done) and little about manipulation.

I appreciate the suggestions, I'll be at the range next week and I'll try working the trigger finger safety switch, trigger finger bolt release, and right hand charging.

Also, I never realized that about LAV, I'll have to look into one of his courses.

[berserker]

I'm not a lefty (though I am left eye dominant). I thought this video from GreyGroup was helpful in working on left handed manipulations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9XbW1QFH4

Hope this helps.

Yes, thank you, I'll try that for the bolt release!

[berserker]

I am learning manipulations myself, I am in the same situation as you.

What I did however, was a put an ambi safety selector, and charging handle on my rifle, and it is so much nicer, especially the charging handle!

So how do you operate the charging handle...right handed? Do you find your range of motion limited by your left shoulder/chest?

[Zane1844]

So how do you operate the charging handle...right handed? Do you find your range of motion limited by your left shoulder/chest?

I use it how a righty would use his. Its ambidextrous. I take my right hand off the rifle and charge the weapon if its unloaded, or if it jammed.

And no, the motion feels fine, it is way better than when I had to reach over and use the CH when I had a standard BCM. Then I found it difficult, and had to use my left hand to operate the CH. Usually for me, I put the buttstock in between my arm and body to have the muzzle facing slightly up, then I pull the CH back with my right hand. Use my right hand to take the mag out and check if the bullet that is always on the right chambered, by seeing that the top bullet is on the left.

But I do not do that every time I am out of ammo. That is just when I first start shooting.

[Guns-up.50]

I have been running carbines for about 8 years now. Being a left I have accommodated for the lack of ambidexterity on my own.. I use no ambi controls,, I have no issues with them they are just not for me.

Safety: Break master grip rotating left hand back, sweep the safety down when presenting rifle and rotating back to master grip. As you bring the rifle down remove finger from trigger and sweep the safety off.

Charging: Cant the weapon slightly to the right, with a bladed hand sweep the Ch to the rear. This is also nice for gravity will work with you on malfunction drills.

Reload: strip mag with right hand thumb on mag release. stripping will ensure positive extraction and since your hand is already in that motion it loses no time. Leaving the rifle in front of you(I tuck the rifle under my arm a little) insert your fresh mag with grip of choice. To access the bolt release I return my right hand to the forward grip position, MY index and middle fingers on my left hand cross (for more leverage) and depress the bolt release.

[specopsscout]

As an added point as it applies to the ambidextrous charging handle, it doesn't work quite as well from the right side of the weapon, as a lot of us lefties want it to. The forward assist can and does get in the way of attempting to mirror techniques for the left side. Depending on your optics and BUIS, you can end up with a fairly narrow work space to engage the right side lever.
I have ambi selector levers on mine, but they are nearly a vestigial thing after fourteen or so years of military service and approaching twenty in LE. For most of that time on issue weapons, the selector levers were a left side only affair. I use the second knuckle of my trigger finger to engage and disengage the lever, and have only more recently been training to use my thumb to change the selector. Old habits die hard under stress. I've been releasing the bolt as demonstrated in the Grey Group video previously posted for decades.