View Full Version : Best handgun for lefties??
So, after shooting a variety of pistols and revolvers over the past few decades, I'd be interested in some other opinions as to which handguns work best for you other lefties out there and why it works for you. If you have any "secrets" that have helped you improve shooting left in a right-handed world, please share.
Thanks!!
gtmtnbiker98
06-29-10, 12:26
The newer HK "P" Series and HK45s are truly ambidextrous.
Only the decocker on the new HK pistols is a little hard to get to left handed.
The HK45 is pretty slick for lefties when you swap the safety/decocker lever over.
Wait, HK45 doesn't have the P30 style rear decocker? Old style safety-decocker all in one?
The M&P is quite ambi oriented.
Wait, HK45 doesn't have the P30 style rear decocker? Old style safety-decocker all in one?
Not sure of all the Variants, but the V1 has this:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee192/SHIVAN308/SaleStuff/Hk45/IMG_3803.jpg
I am a lefty and while I don't have the experience many on this site do, I have messed with a few over the years. After shooting one over the last 7 years or so my vote is for a Glock. No safety to reach for and now the new ones have the ambi (or reversible) mag release. I have 2nd and 3rd gen models and release the magazine with my index finger. The slide release is another matter. I don't have a really good one there. I also shoot revolvers quite a bit and they're a two handed operation no matter how you slice it.
Probably a bunch of others, the M&P come to mind first, but the Glock is my choice at this time.
Army Chief
06-29-10, 17:21
HK P7 ... and most subsequent offerings from Oberndorf.
AC
lethal dose
06-29-10, 17:32
Can't speak from a true lefty pov but I train left handed and have a friend who is a seasoned left handed shooter. He buys what he shoots best (glock) and sticks with it.
MadcapMagician
06-29-10, 18:32
The M&P family. However, with practice most polymer striker fired designs can be used by a lefty.
M&P works for me. Now if we're talking any handgun, the Colt 1873 SAA is pretty friendly to this sinister (left-handed) individual...
For me, M&P's because of the ambi slide stop. I have no experience with the newer H&K's but, imagine they would be just as lefty-friendly.
As a lefty, I've become quite comfortable with a number of different pistols. I will have to say, IMHO, they only pistols that are completely anti-lefty are the Sig P Series. Also revolvers involve switching the gun to my right hand to engage the cylinder release.
Right now, the most comfortable pistol for me is my Glock. With an extended slide lock lever, it is very lefty friendly. I even have the original magazine release which I engage with my trigger finger without hardly adjusting my shooting grip. I'm also very confident and comfortable with my Beretta 92fs, although the ambi safety is more difficult to engage compared to the right handed lever. 1911's with an ambi safety are also very comfortable for me.
What's more important that choice of gun is getting use to and training to manipulate it. I actually still use the left side slide release (the one for righty's thumbs) even when presented with a gun that has an ambi slide release :p Force of habit I guess. But that's what I train myself to do.
Catorze: I've been pretty muck dedicated to GLOCK ever since my department transitioned to them in the early 90s, and as a southpaw with many thousands of rounds launched down range, I can speak with a little experience.
The GLOCK is completely left hand user friendly. The magazine catch is easily manipulated with the left trigger finger, so long as the operator is cognizant of not holding the right side of the mag catch in with the thumb. The slide can be locked open by turning the pistol horizontal while maintaining a shooting grip. The right hand then sort of cups the slide, with the right thumb resting somewhere between the AUSTRIA and the caliber markings on the slide and the middle/ring/ pinky fingers making contact with the rear cocking serrations on the other side of the slide. Pull back on the slide and your right thumb should be very close to the slide stop, which is slid up, locking the slide to the rear. As far as releasing the slide goes, that's done by pulling back on the slide and letting it slam forward. I do not normally release the slide with the slide stop lever.
Hope this helps...
The LEM P2000/P30 is the most lefty friendly out of the box pistol I've ever seen. In truth, ambi friendly might be more descriptive as it's good to go for either hand as it ships. The M&P is ever so slightly a step behind because of the mag release.
The LEM P2000/P30 is the most lefty friendly out of the box pistol I've ever seen. In truth, ambi friendly might be more descriptive as it's good to go for either hand as it ships. The M&P is ever so slightly a step behind because of the mag release.
I would'nt think the M&P's mag release would be a problem..It is easily switched from left to right..
M&P for me. CZ 85 combat as well (ambi safeties and slide release levers).
I prefer a Glock's over pretty all other guns out there, with that said i have spent a lot of time behind this platform and can run the gun pretty well. I am a true believer that it is not for everyone, find what works for you and learn to master it as best as you can.
I can work the levers in a Glock very well and i have learned to reload the gun pretty well also, i was asked by other members if i can post the way i reload so here it goes!!
By the way, the gun is clear and the magazines are empty not even dummy rounds!!! i figure i trow that out before some one calls me out on it. I asked a buddy the favor to help me by recording it for me..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginloui/4748737128/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginloui/4748738020/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginloui/4748727146/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginloui/4748086789/
I learned this technique from a Fellow Instructor (Aron Roberts) that I worked with In US Training Center (when it was still called Blackwater) some time ago, Hands down this is the fastest way i have learned to reload the Gun as a lefty. It takes a lot of practice to get good with this technique, I started doing it with empty magazines not even dummy rounds. I did this to develop strength by having to over come the Magazine spring when dry firing, I spent a lot of time just developing technique not speed. once i got comfortable with that i started using dummy rounds and picking up the speed.
Now i can use this with Glock's, Sig Pistols, Berrettas and a lot of other platforms.
Just a way, not the way!!!!
I would'nt think the M&P's mag release would be a problem..It is easily switched from left to right..
I understand that. I'm not criticizing the M&P, just saying that the P2000/P30 is slightly more ambi friendly because the mag release works for either hand with zero switching of anything.
H&K p7 or p7m8. S&W 3rd generation autos were also very LH friendly with ambi safety/decocker and slide stop reachable with left index finger. Glock is not bad, except for slide stop access.
...my vote is for a Glock. No safety to reach for and now the new ones have the ambi (or reversible) mag release. I have 2nd and 3rd gen models and release the magazine with my index finger. The slide release is another matter...
I have a Gen4 22 I bought for the reversible mag release, but found if you reverse it, you also need Gen4 mags (notched on both sides), which aren't real prevalent right now, so I left it alone. The new style button is flat enough to not hit my trigger finger like previous generations (before the LAV option), and releasing the mag with my index finger isn't anything new. Slide release isn't a deal breaker - I can always slingshot it in a pinch.
... pistols that are completely anti-lefty are the Sig P Series... I actually still use the left side slide release... But that's what I train myself to do.
I'm surprised you find Sig Ps anti-left. for me, since there's no manual safety, I manipulate my 229 pretty well: index finger to release the mag, slingshot the slide, decocking doesn't have to be pretty. I also shoot a 96FS and found that slingshotting the slide can safe the weapon at the most inconvenient time if not paying sharp attention. I also found (early on) that reaching across the open slide with my right hand to manipulate the slide release can bite too. I'd be interested in your technical for using the left-side slide release when you shoot. Do you reach under your firing hand with your non-firing hand and pull it with your middle finger(s)? I find that works, but isn't as fast as slingshotting (for me).
I'd be interested in your technical for using the left-side slide release when you shoot. Do you reach under your firing hand with your non-firing hand and pull it with your middle finger(s)? I find that works, but isn't as fast as slingshotting (for me).
Not the OP but, I sweep my right index finger to the slide stop as I re-establish my two-handed firing grip.
Not the OP but, I sweep my right index finger to the slide stop as I re-establish my two-handed firing grip.
I actually sweep the slide release with my trigger finger (shooting hand index finger) while re-establishing my two-handed firing grip. Recently however, I am practicing with the slingshot method. But I feel the classic Sig's are anti-lefty because the placement of the slide release means the only method I have of releasing the slide would be slingshoting it. At least with a slide release that I can sweep with my index finger, I have that choice in a pinch if my support hand were injured, ect.
Note: I'm don't want to come off as a Sig basher. I appreciate the quality of their firearms. However, as a lefty, I do find the placement of the slide release to be in an inconvenient place.
I dont mind shooting Sig as a lefty, you dont have to worry about a safety and you have all the time in the world to get your weapon back to double action after the engagement. the slingshot method is the easiest way to learn how to reload as a lefty, but there are faster ways to reload as a lefty.
Most of the time i never had the option to have a left handed weapon. The military never gave you an option on what you could carry, even now in my present job i was given a gun to carry.(thank god it was a G17)
I ended up having to get use to a right handed world as a lefty, we have a lot more lefty friendly platforms that are very dependable.
I think the H&K P2000 with the LEM trigger is my favorite pistol if i wanted one with left levers.
Thanks all! I was most surprised to see recommendations for the P7. After contemplation and more time at the range, I'm decided to continue working out the kinks with my Gen4 G22. It's the first Glock I've owned, and once I started focusing more on trigger control than the grip, the angle isn't as big a deal as it once seemed. Thanks again!
Well this is another southpaw voting for the M&P.
Army Chief
07-12-10, 20:19
Thanks all! I was most surprised to see recommendations for the P7 ...
I'm not sure why, really: the P7 has been the benchmark of ambidextrous pistol design for more than 30 years. Now, it's entirely true that the P7 no longer conforms to any definition of a "modern" handgun for purposes beyond CCW; that said, it still doesn't get much better for a southpaw shooter.
AC
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