Left hand MIL quality rifle?

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03-26-21, 19:50
czgunner

Left hand MIL quality rifle?

I'm left handed and left eye dominant. I'm not at all interested in anything other than a left hand rifle.
That out of the way, I'm interested in putting together a lefty bolt gun that has qualities that would mimic the quality and reliability of a right hand rifle that would be used by military.
Obviously the Remington 700 has been there and done that, right? The problem is the last several years of abysmal quality control.
I currently have a Tikka T3 in 6.5x55, and a Savage 110 in .260 Rem. Lastly I have a K31 in 7.5 Swiss (obviously) with a pretty rare Swiss left hand conversion.
I LOVE the Tikka, but the liberal use of plastics makes me concerned. The Savage is OK. I built it years ago. It's had several instances where it didn't want to feed very smoothly, and I've had to "stutter" the bolt to get it in battery, I've read this is fairly common with them. The Swiss K31 is neat, but the cartridge is difficult to obtain, and I do reload. Parts aren't exactly abundant.
I would like to stay with something short action, .308 or otherwise.
Is there something that is somewhat affordable (sub $1500) that would fit that description?
I have no fantasies about being a sniper or anything like that. Just wanting a rugged and dependable bolt gun with the least amount of MIM/cast/polymer parts.
Any thoughts?
03-26-21, 20:31
Lawnchair 04

I’m pretty sure you can get a bergara B14 HMR in left hand last I checked anyway.
04-05-21, 07:56
Lost River

You should probably research the heritage of the Tikka T3s.

Their lineage comes from both the Sako TRG sniper rifle series which were designed to handle the extreme conditions of the arctic, as well as the desert, and the Tikkakoski (hence "Tikka") company which has been producing military rifles for over a century.

Tikkakoski has made everything from Mosin Nagants to Suomi submachine guns. The Tikka M65A sniper rifle was used to develop the SAKO TRG in the 90s.

T3s are the evolution from those. If you want to replace a couple of polymer pieces (which after owning and using them in extremely cold environments, I have never seen one break), there are numerous aftermarket suppliers. I doubt you will find a more reliable left handed bolt action being produced today.

https://i.imgur.com/WWCXC3c.jpg?1
04-07-21, 08:18
Esq.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost River

You should probably research the heritage of the Tikka T3s.

Their lineage comes from both the Sako TRG sniper rifle series which were designed to handle the extreme conditions of the arctic, as well as the desert, and the Tikkakoski (hence "Tikka") company which has been producing military rifles for over a century.

Tikkakoski has made everything from Mosin Nagants to Suomi submachine guns. The Tikka M65A sniper rifle was used to develop the SAKO TRG in the 90s.

T3s are the evolution from those. If you want to replace a couple of polymer pieces (which after owning and using them in extremely cold environments, I have never seen one break), there are numerous aftermarket suppliers. I doubt you will find a more reliable left handed bolt action being produced today.

https://i.imgur.com/WWCXC3c.jpg?1

I would see if they make that Canuck Ranger Rifle in a left hand version. That's as close as you are going to get.

https://www.tactical-life.com/firear...-arctic-rifle/
04-07-21, 09:56
Failure2Stop

Quote:

Originally Posted by czgunner

I'm interested in putting together a lefty bolt gun that has qualities that would mimic the quality and reliability of a right hand rifle that would be used by military.

If you are serious about this statement, you are severely limited in options.

Current US Military program of record precision manually feeding rifles:
Remington M2010. Long-action .300 Win Mag. Fielded by US Army and SOCOM elements. Set to be replaced by the Mk 22.
Mk 13 Mod 7. Long-action .300 Win Mag. fielded by USMC and SOCOM elements. Set to be replaced by the Mk 22
MK 22. Long-action .338 Norma Mag, .300 Norma Mag, and .308 Win. Awarded in 2019, set to replace M2010 and Mk 13 across the board.

No other rifle in existence has proven to meet or exceed the capabilities of the Mk 22 MRAD. The question is: are you sure you care? The military has a long list of requirements specific to their use, fielding, storage, logistics, and repair that precludes a wide swath of very good potential candidates. Some of those requirements prioritize some attributes above others, and those might not be YOUR priority trade-offs.
There are a whole lot of very good rifles that perform admirably in challenging conditions across the US, in the most competitive environments.
The leaders in these are short-action Remington 700-based receivers, in one of the several excellent purpose-driven chassis available on the market.
As most of those receiver manufacturers are boutique, they are of high quality and many have left-handed options.

Some examples available, in no order, are Defiance Machine, Impact Precision, Curtis Custom, Big Horn Arms, and Falkor. There's a lot of info out there on all of these (and other options) to refine your preferences/needs.

The next step is the stock/chassis, with a whole lot of them built around the 700 actions. This is really where the rubber meets the road, but your level of experience/knowledge/application matrix is a significant part of that decision, and there are much better resources than me for that.