Any Southpaws shoot a righthand flinter

[davemcg]

How does that work out for you?

 

[trent/OH]

I'm right-handed, left eye dominant, but due to a retinal hemorrhage now shoot left handed. Quite frankly, my scores are better now than they were before. I've primed so many times with my right hand though, that I still prime that way, then have to turn 180 to shoot.
Try it. Really try it, and concentrate on your sights and breathing and trigger squeeze. And wear protective glasses. I don't even notice the commotion in the lock after the trigger trips.

 

[RC]

works out okay fer me..never had a problem............(with shooting :hmm: ) matter of fact, had gun pic'd in my signature built with a righty lock,but stocked for a lefty :grin: ..
ya know, auctually, if yer lookin down center of barrel top...flash is 1/2"-3/4" off center of barrel,which side really matter? :2 :hmm: I have a lefty and a righty..makes no diff to me... both work the same.. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have shot RH flinters as a LHer. However, the problem I had with the flash was due to the reaction of my Right EYE to the flash, and not my Left Eye looking down the barrel. I learned to close my right eye when shooting the RH lock( Some people can't do that), and that stopped the sometime flinching I experienced.

The Benefit of shooting a LH action as a LHer is having that stock block the view of your Right eye of the flash.( It works the same for RHers shooting a RH lock.) For some reason, the unconscious part of the brain( autonomous system) seems more comfortable shooting that way. If you learn to shoot with the locks on both sides of the stock, then shooting a DB flintlock poses no real problems, either. Not too many people have had the opportunity to shoot a DB flinter, however, me included.

There are two manifestations arising out of shooting a RH lock LHed: a. A serious Flinch; and b. Cross-eying, where at the last second, the shooter closes his aiming eye, and now focuses on the front sight with his other eye. As a shooting coach, you can stand behind the shooter, and you will see both the flinch, and the jerking of the barrel towards the other eye at the last second, which leads to a miss on the target.

Having the shooter close that other eye( the Right Eye in the case of a LHed shooter shooting a RH lock)usually helps both problem. It stops the second one.

Dry firing, and then firing only priming charge until the shooter ignores the flash with his aiming eye is the way to stop the flinch. Using a well-tuned lock that is fast also helps to get rid of the flint.

Practicing with light loads is the way to keep the flinch from coming back. You need to shoot at least 500 rds without flinching before the brain forgets about flinching. That seems like a lot of shooting, but you are trying to train " Muscle memory", in this case, mostly the muscles in your eyes. Dry firing can be part of this correct practice, so you don't go broke buying powder, flints and lead.

I hope that helps.

Paul

 

[Mike Brooks]

It's never bothered me what side the lock is on.

 

[davemcg]

Paul,

1st off Happy Birthday! :hatsoff:

I've always closed my right eye when shooting a shouldered weapon and kept both open for pistol shooting, so I don't see right eye flinch as being much of a problem. Used to have a RH'd friend that shot left handed because he couldn't close his left eye independently so I know what you mean.

RC,
I'd never looked too close at your signature gun before, that is pretty neat!

Anyway I am severly lefthanded and have been looking into getting a flinter, but kinda wanted to avoid a lefty if possible, sounds like it's not that critical of a deal.
Thanks for the info. and insight! :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

Yep, do everything Left handed "except" shoot a rifle, any rifle. And I'm left eye dominant, go figure.

 

[twotoescharlie]

No Problem.

TTC

 

[jbwilliams3]

I'm left-eye dominant and have always shot left-handed. The side that the lock is on doesn't bother me at all.

The architecture of the gun, depending on what you're shooting, can make it much more annoying and not as easy to point quickly though”“ cheek piece, cast, etc. That's the reason I'm having a left-hand gun made for me- not like RC's, though, which is a pretty swell idea.

 

[2172]

Have 4 flinters, 2 left handed, 2 right. Shot the righthand ones for a number of years, and got the lefties to see if there was any difference...I think there is a slight edge in shooting the lefthanded ones, but not much..Hank

 

[paulvallandigham]

When I was trained to shoot a modern shotgun, I was told to keep both eyes open, to force me to look at the moving target rather than the front bead sight on my shotgun.

When I shot modern rifles, I learned to just ignore my right eye, and kept it open, too. However, when I began shooting Flintlocks, it became obvious that I needed to close that right eye, or ignore what it was trying to get my brain to do because of that the Flash in the pan when shooting RH locks.

I was amused to find the answer was so simple. I understand that lots of shooters have ALWAYS closed their left eye when aiming or pointing a gun with their right eyes, be it handgun, rifle, or shotgun. Most are no longer conscious of the fact that they do close or ignore their left eye.

I suspect that is why you get a wide range of comments to your question. But, its a good question for this forum. :thumbsup:

 

[musketman]

Any Southpaws shoot a righthand flinter, how does that work out for you?

Back in the 1980's my brother and our friend "Possum" were out hunting, Possum always used his 12 gauge shot gun and wanted to try shooting a muzzleloader to see if he'd like them or not, so I handed him my T/C Renegade flintlock. I didn't take notice until it was too late the way he shoulder the gun up.

Possum is left handed and he shot my right handed flintlock Renegade only once, needless to say he set his long ZZ-Top style beard on fire with the side blast from the vent.

Once my brother and I gained control of our laughter, we managed to put the fire on his face out with a barrage of snowballs after I took custody of my gun of course. I can still see his smoldering beard and slushy snowballs dripping off his bewildered face. :rotf: (true story)

 

[mazo kid]

I started out shooting a right hand flintlock left handed. As Paul mentions, you have to be conscious of your right eye. Also, wear eye protection if shooting from the lefty position. And... pay attention to your right arm unless you like being peppered with hot flash particles! I have several left hand flinters now and must say I prefer shooting them.

 

[Aggie85]

As mentioned everyone will have different experiences shooting a right handed flintlock left handed. My experience has been if I see a good flash with my right eye, my shots are dead on. When I don't see a flash my shots start to open up.

Have not had an issue with burning powder from the lock either from a flinter, but shooting CCI Musket Caps on a percussion.......... now your talking serious burn rash if my arm is uncovered. Not as bad with RWS Caps but still better to keep my arm covered

 

[Brasilikilt]

I am a southpaw who has only shot right handed rifles and muskets.

I don't think I have ever shot a left-handed gun, so I wouldn't really know any difference.

I am however very conscious of the flash flaring uncomfortably close to my face, so my flinch factor is a bit more than what you would encounter with a rightie shooting a RH gun.

After several hundred rounds shot through my primary rifle, I have gotten used to it and have scored decently on trail walks.
I am still wanting a lefty gun built for a guy my size......building/paying for one is a different matter altogether

 

[Stormrider51]

I'm a lefty and started shooting frontstuffers back in the late 1950's which was long before anyone thought to make locks that suit us "southpaws". I'd have to say that my love of flinters is almost as much from not having my right forearm peppered by debris from a percussion cap as anything else. Once I discovered a "nipple cup" even that problem was solved but by then I was hooked on flint. Somehow the small flash just didn't bothered me. I learned to use the the minimum amount of powder in the pan to get the job done and all was good. Am also one of the few who doesn't have a truly dominant eye so I always shoot with my right eye closed. This probably helps.

John

 

[T.C.Albert]

Im left handed, but learned to fire all shoulder arms righty style ...that was handy as it kept spent shells outta my face in the service...but I do shoot pistols with my left hand...so my side arm made up for it...however I find R.H. flint pistols no problem really...
TCA

 

[texcl]

I've always used r/h flintlocks but just built a lefthanded tennessee rifle and I'm having a l/h virginia made as well. I think the ergonomics of l/h guns are more appealing to me than which side the lock is, the flash doesn't seem to bother me. If the gun handles well I wouldn't worry about which side the lock is on.

 

[KHickam]

I shoot left handed - never bothered my shooting as far as I can tell. :thumbsup:

 

[JV Puleo]

I've never shot a LH rifle either...I've really only shot original rifles and there just aren't any LH flint NE rifles that I've ever seen. In any case, it doesn't bother me and I've never given it much thought...except for having the patchbox up against my cheek!