blind bat Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I'm a left handed, right eye dominant, I shoot a CZ 85 in IDPA (ESP), a total geek and a vegetarian. I'm a strange bird in just about everyones' eyes. I'm getting fed up with the lack of gear for left handed shooters and thinking about trying to conform by switching to shooting right handed this winter. Has anyone done this successfully? How long did it take you? Any long term problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwoods Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I am a lefty too, I don't know what happened to you since most lefties are smart, meat eaters, and totally cool. I am also playing around with shooting righty. I bought a SW M&P this year. It is totally ambidexterous. Look at all the GM production shooters using the M&P. I think your CZ85 is also totally ambi. if I am correct. I think Rob Leatham is a lefty but shoots righty. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddrod Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 The only thing not ambi on the CZ85 is the mag release button. But why change? The only thing I for see as a problem is the holsters and Bladetech makes lefties for almost everything. All the other equipment is the same. I am a lefty and do not find any short comings of being so. One advantage we have is that to reload you have to have your trigger finger off the trigger to hit the mag release. That automatically prevents you from having an A.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-10_shooter Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) I am a proud left handed shooter who is also right eye dominant. I put a piece of tape over my right eye when I shoot, and use my trigger finger for the mag release on my Glock. Works just fine for me. Edited September 21, 2009 by L-10_shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwin garcia Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I'm lefty all the way. No compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck223 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I'm in the reverse situation. I'm right handed, left eye dominant. While I shoot right handed and don't see changing, I find I have an advantage in stages were I have to shoot around a left sided barricade. I simply switch hands. If you work on your right handed draw and shooting, you might find the versatility will really help in the long run. (And I shoot an STI GP6 which is entirely ambi.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlmiller1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I'm a lefty but when my brother was teaching me to shoot, he discovered I was right eye dominant. He immediately took the guns out of my left hand & put them in my right. He said there was no reason I should handicap myself for my whole life by having to buy left handed holsters, bolt guns, etc so he was going to teach me to shoot right handed. It worked out, I guess. I do have a bit of an advantage when I shoot "weak" handed, though! :-) The eye dominance thing is what should be your determiner, IMHO. I don't think it will take you too long to change over, especially if you do much practice, dry fire, etc. I bet in a month, it will start feeling natural & in two months, it will be natural to you. If you only shoot one match a month & never practice, that is different. That could take a while! The added bonus of being left handed & shooting right handed is when you go for a reload, your left hand(for me that is my "smart" hand) is the one bringing up your mag. I rarely have reload troubles or miss one. Rarely! MLM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind bat Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Leatham is a lefty?!?!? Awesome. Yes, the CZ 85 is almost completely ambi and I prefer hitting the mag release with my trigger finger even on my XD so that never bothered me. I really want a CZ RAMI BD for a CCW and it's only available with the safety on the left side. That might be the straw that breaks the lefties back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I am righthanded but left-eye dominant. I changed to lefty for shooting after slightly more than a year of IPSC. It wasn't hard and was the right thing for me to do. I would suggest changing and see how it goes. Probably the best part would be not having to unlearn bad habits. You can consciously burn in good ones. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkansas48 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 DON’T DO IT ---Don’t go over to the dark side !!! I shoot left handed. Most left handed folks are ambidextrous – we grow up having to do things with our right hand (do you own a pair of left handed scissors ?). I find in IDPA being left handed is an advantage just about as often as a disadvantage. As far as equipment - everything is available, you just have to look harder for it. My son is a lefty also and he tried shooting right handed (both IDPA & USPSA) for a couple of years but has now switched back because he is more accurate left handed. And we are both right eye dominant. Leonardo DaVinci was left handed….how wrong could it be ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I'm a left handed, right eye dominant, I shoot a CZ 85 in IDPA (ESP), a total geek and a vegetarian. I'm a strange bird in just about everyones' eyes. I'm getting fed up with the lack of gear for left handed shooters and thinking about trying to conform by switching to shooting right handed this winter. Has anyone done this successfully? How long did it take you? Any long term problems? There is this guy named Rob L eatham. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away he went from leftie to rightie. But I'm sure he's not a vegeterian. There rumor is that he has done very well over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) I can't comment about a CZ but I've never had any issues getting new holsters for my glocks in lefty. That said, there is an obvious issue with holsters on the used market. Look at Talon Tactical or Ready Tactical (from CPWSA). I ordered them and received both within a week. I'll save you some trouble though, the Ready Tactical is a bit more Dropped and Offset than the Talon. Edited September 29, 2009 by spankaveli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I think Rob Leatham is a lefty but shoots righty. Well yes, but Robbie is also functionally ambidextrous. We're talking a guy who can play with butterfly knives with his left and right hands - at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I do have a bit of an advantage when I shoot "weak" handed, though! Of course you're honest and do that with your right hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 My advice: why make things harder on yourself? Stick with your naturally more dextrous hand. Finding left hand equipment is simply not that hard. As previously mentioned, Blade-Tech makes lefty stuff. Which is a good thing. Last year when I tore my rotator cuff so severely that my right arm literally didn't move for two weeks, I was more than a little glad I already had a left-hand version of my everyday carry rig, a Blade-Tech Standard Belt Holster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlmiller1 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I do have a bit of an advantage when I shoot "weak" handed, though! Of course you're honest and do that with your right hand. You know, I really did ask about that but the powers that be stated if your holster is on the right side, the right hand is your strong hand. Okey dokey, whatever. It is funny you mentioned that though. It came up when some guy's kid was left handed but shot right handed in a two hand grip. The boy tried to shoot left handed on a strong hand string. Everyone slapped him down saying you wear it on the right, that is your strong hand. It sort of seemed unfair in a way to me but it wasn't my decision. Seems as long as you shoot with just one hand, you would be fine but that isn't right(pun intended), evidently. MLM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neomet Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Revel in your leftiness!! Enjoy the ability to curse course designers for making almost all courses left to right friendly. Make ROs ask you which way you are headed at the start of most stages. Proudly disrupt the conga line while doing the stage walkthrough in the "correct" direction. Develop amazing wrist flexibility as you attempt to show clear by essentially turning your gun upside down with the slide pulled back. Never worry about an AD while reloading because your bugger picker is on the mag release and not the trigger. Enjoy! Revel!! Feel sad for those poor right handed souls out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I am sensing a bit of sarcasm here. However you will be relieved to hear that I have sworn a solemn oath to use these psychic powers only for the good of mankind. (Superman pose) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entropic Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I'm starting to like my ambidextrous abilities as well. Although I use a right handed holster, I always shoot better classifier strings with my left hand. After I started shooting skeet more regularly and found out that I was was right eye dominant, I switched to shooting right handed. Now whenever a shotgun stage is dependent on leaning around barriers, I get to tear it up...always nice to be the new guy at a club and get called a ringer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-10_shooter Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Revel in your leftiness!! Enjoy the ability to curse course designers for making almost all courses left to right friendly. Make ROs ask you which way you are headed at the start of most stages. Proudly disrupt the conga line while doing the stage walkthrough in the "correct" direction. Develop amazing wrist flexibility as you attempt to show clear by essentially turning your gun upside down with the slide pulled back. Never worry about an AD while reloading because your bugger picker is on the mag release and not the trigger. Enjoy! Revel!! Feel sad for those poor right handed souls out there. Amen brother, I have ROs always complaining about me using the "wrong" hand. I tell them that I dont want to be like everyone else, monkey see monkey do. I had 4 leftys on my squad this past weekend, really wierd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Leatham is a lefty?!?!? Awesome. Yes, the CZ 85 is almost completely ambi and I prefer hitting the mag release with my trigger finger even on my XD so that never bothered me. I really want a CZ RAMI BD for a CCW and it's only available with the safety on the left side. That might be the straw that breaks the lefties back. Have you just looked at the website?? Or have you talked with CZ. I was looking into a carry gun awhile ago and most I looked had a safety on the left side for right handers. Unless I wanted to go with an upgraded model I would have to add a ambi safety. I would suggest talking with CZ to see if they can add a safety or talk to some smiths and see what they say. I'm not familiar with the gun so it might be possible or it might not. As far as equipment I'm don't have any trouble finding equipment for a lefty. Its harder to find used stuff and might have to wait a couple extra days to get something in but its really never been a problem. Flyin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt2ace Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) I love shooting lefty. Yes, equipment WAS harder to find 10 years ago.....not anymore. Being ambidexterous does help with weak-hand strings. Shooting the USPSA Nationals and Long Island Championship this year, I would stand at the start point of every stage with my left hand raised. Some ROs would see this and figure out they had a lefty up and stand on the correct side for LAMR. A few of the ROs would give me the LAMR command while standing on my right side. I would just stand ther looking at him with my hand raised and a smile on my face . He would look at me and repeat LAMR. I would look down to my right and then back up at him, left hand still raised . At that point, he would look down, see that there was no gun on that side and move to my left side at which point I would LAMR. I never got any attitude, mostly a chuckle and some comment like "Oh, your one of them".......always in good humor. I plan to get a Techware shirt made with an arrow on the back pointing left with the work GUN and one pointing right with the work AMMO. Edited September 30, 2009 by matt2ace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 If you are totally left handed, it will be difficult, but possible. I know of a shooter who cut off some fingers on his right hand and now shoots lefty, he does very well. I am left-handed, right eye dominant...but my right side is actually my stronger side. When I played baseball, I switch hit...accurate left-handed, power right handed, golf left, bowl right, eat left, shoot right as my "strong side". Stages, in USPSA or 3-gun, which require weak-handed shooting, I end up with scores 15% above my class in general. YMMV. Yes, I can flip the butterfly knives syncronized in both hands, and to about 50 feet, I can hit a catchers mit with the right and left, at the same time. I eat meat, I shoot almost all of my meat that my family eats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Revel in your leftiness!! Enjoy the ability to curse course designers for making almost all courses left to right friendly. Make ROs ask you which way you are headed at the start of most stages. Proudly disrupt the conga line while doing the stage walkthrough in the "correct" direction. Develop amazing wrist flexibility as you attempt to show clear by essentially turning your gun upside down with the slide pulled back. Never worry about an AD while reloading because your bugger picker is on the mag release and not the trigger. Enjoy! Revel!! Feel sad for those poor right handed souls out there. I am right-handed and left eye dominant. I naturally prefer completing stages right-to left, which perplexes people. I am with you on the stage designs tending toward being shot left to right. I can shoot rifles equally well right or left, I shoot a bow left and right handed equally well, but I naturally shoot handguns right handed. I found out in the middle of a match that I can shoot with my right eye if I have to. My left contact lens started giving me trouble, and I switched (without thinking about it) to my right eye. My grandfather on my dad's side was ambidextrous, and my dad has ambidextrous tendencies (there are a number of things he can do well either hand). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-10_shooter Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I plan to get a Techware shirt made with an arrow on the back pointing left with the work GUN and one pointing right with the work AMMO. That is awsome, post pics if you do go through with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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