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Left bolt / Right port for right handed shooter

D

DMack

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2023
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87
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Anyone ever try this? I have been wondering if it would be easier to manipulate while keeping your head on the rifle and maintaining a shooting grip with your right hand.
Light recoiling rifle in a chassis, thinking 6 Creed or similar.

Lemme know what you think....
 
Be interesting to see you try and how you like it. Maybe shoot a left-handed gun awhile and see how the bolt stroke feels to you.

I think I'd prefer the right bolt/left port version because if you have to pull you left arm back far enough to finish the bolt stroke, you've lost position anyway. As a right-handed bolt gunner for a long time, I'm used to operating the bolt right-handed without lifting my head or moving my shoulder anyway.
 
I do that with my benchrest rifle. It also ejects the fired case out the right side.
If you're not going to have a repeater then a left port on a right bolt action is a good way to go.
 
DMack said:
Anyone ever try this? I have been wondering if it would be easier to manipulate while keeping your head on the rifle and maintaining a shooting grip with your right hand.
Light recoiling rifle in a chassis, thinking 6 Creed or similar.

Lemme know what you think....
Click to expand...
I like your thinking, it makes sense to me as well. I will add it depends on the trigger and the bolt timing. This is based on a right bolt left port AMT 450ss I have. This rifle I believe was built in the late 90's. It's a short range benchrest in 22-250 (I inherited it from my late father-in-law). It has a jewel trigger and it completely upsets the rifle opening the bolt (cocking the action). It is this one scenario in which I believe left bolt right port would be better. This being said with all the actions and triggers used today I believe it would be a non issue especially with a Borden action.
 
I had a bench gun with left bolt right port. I perfer left handed actions for prairie dogs and benchrest. Manipulating the bolt and loading with my left hand allows me to never get off the scope and maintain a conassistant weld.
 
DMack said:
Anyone ever try this? I have been wondering if it would be easier to manipulate while keeping your head on the rifle and maintaining a shooting grip with your right hand.
Light recoiling rifle in a chassis, thinking 6 Creed or similar.

Lemme know what you think....
Click to expand...
Yes, and I prefer my dominant side, the right hand/right port, even though I am left-eye dominant.
 
..here's my son shooting my Borden TPE action that is Right bolt/Left port, makes it easy to handle timed competition at matches...
20210704_111144.jpg
 
Shooting bench rest, it really doesn't matter to me. However, when hunting prairie dogs, left bolt and left port for me. Shooting bolt handguns, I never have to take my right hand off the grip and maintain the same hold. Shooting single shot, I would also rather pick my brass out instead of ejecting to the dirt.
 
I had a Savage Model 12 built years ago. 6.5 x 284 Norma, left port, right bolt with 30" target
barrel/trigger. My first long range rifle before long range was "the thing". Used it to cull deer at the deer lease. Just have the next bullet ready to load. Worked great!

The other guys thought I was nuts. Hah.
 
DMack said:
Anyone ever try this? I have been wondering if it would be easier to manipulate while keeping your head on the rifle and maintaining a shooting grip with your right hand.
Light recoiling rifle in a chassis, thinking 6 Creed or similar.

Lemme know what you think....
Click to expand...
I've been trying to convince folks of this for years but left/left for right handers and right/right for left. Better feed control, constant target acquisition, never loosing trigger control....other than hunting rifles where a second fast follow-up may be required. I've converted many bench, and prone shooters ..but it's been a struggle .....until they try it!
P.S. when I first started shooting and for many years after, left handed rifles didn't exist...being a lefty....made it easy for me to quickly see the benefits of off handed shooting.
 
I watched a video of a shooting match for African PH's and one guy was shooting a 458 win mag. right handed shooter, left handed rifle. he operated that bolt faster than I have ever seen ejecting shells with his left hand and won the completion with the fastest score, he was unreal. but his life may depend on his speed someday
 
The only thing I dont like about right handed bolt actions (I shoot left) is the location of the safety. The only exception would be the ambidextrous shotgun style safety behind the receiver on some actions. For all other purposes I enjoy shooting a right handed bolt rifle on a bench or prone. My hunting rigs are left handed for the proper safety location and also because I don't like the bolt hooking on anything if I sling the rifle.
 

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