doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vintage Doubles for the Left-Handed Shooter

While I shoot right-handed, my son, being left-eye dominant, shoots from the left side. He shoots my vintage doubles well-enough, but has to adapt himself to the gun. In the back of my mind, I thought I would keep my eye out for a nice vintage lefty for him. I realize lefties only make up approximately 14% of the population, but I was surprised at the absolute dearth of makers who catered to this market segment 100 years ago.

Casually leafy through a dozen or so vintage catalogs (circa 1890 - 1930) from the major American and English makers left me with nothing. I noticed several makers who proudly touted their ability to make you a fine cross-over stock so you could shoot from the right side with your left-eye, but no true left-handed guns.

I figure a left-eyed guy with the wherewithal ($$$) to order a bespoke Purdey, for example, could request/demand a left-handed version, albeit at some sort of premium from the maker. You wouldn't know it from the advertising material.

I was just looking for some feedback on my observation. Were that few true left-handed guns made? I know left-handedness used to be viewed as an oddity and somewhat undesirable trait for many years - e.g., left-handed kids being forced to write with the right hands, etc. Then again, I may just not be looking hard-enough. The "left-handedness" of a shotgun does not exactly jump out at you sitting on a rack unless it has a cheek-piece.

Regards,
Ken

- In terms of a left-handed gun, I mean a true left-handed gun, not just the stock bent the appropriate way - e.g., top lever rotation clockwise vice counter-clockwise, trigger bend to the left, barrel firing order, etc.

The left handed gun section here may give you a small bit of information. http://www.gunsinternational.com/Left-Hand-Shotguns.cfm?cat_id=822

I've shot lefthanded all my life. Because I started out shooting righthanded guns, I got used to the way right handed doubles open, and the firing sequence as it was. I have a few doubles that have been either restocked with left hand dimensions, or bent that way. The single time I tried a true lefthanded double, I was mystified as to how to get the thing open after the shot. It was not comfortable for me to use.
Just having the stock and the triggers bent is as much as I need to improve a guns handling for me. Of course, I have a few that are clearly right handed guns, and I still muddle through with them.

Good Luck with your son and his shooting.

Best,
Ted

I'm a life-long lefty (but, by-no-means politically!) and I just had my English 16 bent about 1/4-inch on to get it back to neutral. Shooting it on doves was the final test that confirmed that I was shooting off to the right just a bit. My primary 12 double has significant cast-on and it is the best fitting gun I've ever owned. By "best-fitting" I mean that it shoots where I look. On sub-gauge guns however, the comb isn't nearly as wide as on 12-bores and I had hoped this dainty little 16 (built on a 20-frame) with it's blade-thin comb wouldn't need to be bent, but I was wrong. I'll function test it this week and then field-test it on birds in the Lake-of-the Woods country the week after. Ain't Fall a Grand Thing?

A former Co-worker of mine once showed me an Ithaca 20ga Flues Field garde which his uncle had ordered new as a Lefty. The only real change I could observe on it was the twist to the triggers. As best as I recall they did not change their position & it still had the more open choke in the right bbl.

Larry Brown had a British 16 bore boxlock that was left handed. The top lever rotated to the left. I don't remember if the triggers were reversed. The stock was fairly straight as it fit Larry fairly well to shoot right handed. MKII

I've always shot left handed, I'm left-eye dominant, but right handed for everything else, golf, fly fishing, archery, pistol shooting, etc. Might explain why I'm such a bad bow and pistol shot...

Anyways, I've always shot old doubles fine. I shoot a later (1946) L.C. Smith, and from what I can tell, it has little to no cast. I've never had trouble with the opening lever, I actually think it is easier left handed. The only "lefty" gun I own is my grandfather's Ithaca 37 pump, with left handed safety, since my father and I are both leftys and we had the safety reversed years ago. Personally, I think that fit is more important than being a purpose built left handed gun.

Ken
Powell's Number 1 Patent "the lifter" is ambidextrous as far as opening is concerned. Trigger alteration would be relatively simple.
Hammer centerfire lifters were made from 1867 into the 1890s.
Most are Damascus but some have steel barrels. Boxlocks are relatively easy to find - but sidelocks are scarce.
These are my specialty - so if you want more info, just let me know.

www.powellspatent.com

All,

I appreciate the responses. Your input reinforces my initial perception that, talking at the marco level here, the availibility of true left-handed guns is a relatively recent phenomenom. I've done some more digging in various vintage catalogs and there is really very little there. (I'm not saying there we no true left-handed guns - just that there was nothing near the volume of left-handed guns as compared to the volume of potential left-eyed/handed customers.)

It seemed odd to me that with so many makers trying to distinguish their product in a crowded double-gun market 100 years ago that no one made a big push into the left-handed market. Obviously the additional cost for essentially two models of the same gun would push the vendor cost up some, but I think there was something more holding the market back. Maybe it was the left-handed stigma to some extent?

Again, thanks for the input.

Ken

My son is a lefty also, but he has no problem shooting SxS of neutral cast. He's become used to the top lever and double trigger configuration. I finally found a gun with cast-on and he shoots it noticably better.