Custom Left Hand Rifles - 4 to 6 week completion times on left hand rifles

[aclark573]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Since I am a left handed shooter, of course I feel that you should build for us lefties....It is often hard to find the rifle you want because you are left handed. I understand the majority of shooters are right handed, however, there are a few of us that would enjoy the same opportunities as right handers. Food for thought=God only made a few perfect people,,,the rest are right handed. haha gun)

 

[FLbob]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

personally,I'm a righty,but my brother who is also right handed,shoots left handed.I know it can be hard to find a place to get quality rifles from,so imo yes it would be great if the southpaws had a place to get a great rifle.

 

[ROBSTER]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

I am right handed but it would make great business cents to offer a left handed version.
robster

 

[paulvollmar]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

As most of you know I am offering "Ready To Ship" or "4 to 6 week" precision long range hunting rifles.

So far I have not offered left hand versions. I am curious as to how much demand there may be for left hand rifles?

If it gets you a 10% increase in sales, do it!

 

[tresspasse]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Well, I watch your threads faithfully, although I'm just not in the price market to purchase a custom rifle. However, I've just got to give you my input on this one. I am right handed. However, all my scoped bolt rifles are left handed because I'm visually impaired in my right eye. It's just impossible to sight down a right handed rifle with my right eye. If the stock doesn't have a comb over cheek plate, the gun can be shot left handed, but resetting for the next shot is difficult.

So just know, although there may not be a large percentage of left hand shooters out there, it is larger than just the left handed buyers in the market.

 

[ndbwhunter]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

I think your decision to begin manufacturing left-handed custom rifles would be a wise one. I am left-handed, and as with most of the others that have posted in this discussion, I feel that offering left-handed custom rifles would not only expand our options, it would also be good for business.

Stocking left-handed rifles would not be a wise decision because of the low demand, but maintaining a minimal stock for select calibers would be great for the customers and wouldn't increase your inventory costs by much.

Personally, I would like the option to buy one of your rifles, but if you choose not to offer them in left-handed versions, I'll still survive. Base your decision on future demand predictions, as well as the cost of stocking parts. How much of a difference is there in price between right and left-handed parts?

 

[Daves762]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

I inherited a left hand rifle and found it nice to be able to cycle the action with my "off hand" while my trigger hand held the rifle solid on my shoulder.

This works well from a prone position off a tripod, and off a bench as well.

I know several lefty's that shoot righty cause they can't get the rifle they want in left hand without special order or long wait.

I think that if you were the exclusive offerer of a left hander available at the same price and timeframe you may be surprised at the sales.

 

[2nd Amendment Man]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Nice idea to work with lefties, but seems like a bad business decision. For whatever it is worth, my shooting pals are right handed. Quality takes time, and maybe a little longer for lefties.

 

[kellyc33]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

You absolutely should. My son is left handed and he shoots a custom rifle.

 

[Anschutz]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Len,

I'm not a lefty, I'm just a good honest fella who gets ****ed off when gunmakers try to jack the price of their left-handed rifle up a little bit like it is a rarity.

Obviously you are a businessman and as such you are trying to satisfy every customer possible. Of course, there are those who are unsatisfiable but you just have to let those go. That being said there are a few ways you can go about catering to lefty's.

You can keep just a few southpaw actions in stock and build them as the orders come in but this isn't the most economical because you're business is already unpredictable as is and you never know when exactly your next order will come in. Or you can order the actions as you get the order creating a slightly longer lead time but still better than some of the other times I've seen. The last option would be to have lefty's supply the action or rifle to you for you to build to your specs. This way you don't have to have actions sitting around collecting dust.

This is just the way I see things but I am not an entrepreneur as you are, just a Cadet with little business experience.

-Cadet Wells

 

[orion2000]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

I am left handed. I grew up shooting right handed rifles from the left side. About 15 years ago, I found out that they actually make left handed rifles. I have not purchased a right hand rifle for myself since then. I have had two custom rifles built in the last 10 years. Both left handed. Just finished the second one.

I can not guarantee that I will buy a custom rifle from LRH if you offer them in left hand. However, I CAN guarantee that I will never buy a custom rifle for myself that is NOT left hand.

As far as cartridge selection, personally, I prefer rifles that are chambered for common SAAMI cartridges that can be purchased in a pinch if I get separated from my handloads. EG: 300 WM. I think if you bump your LRH cartridge poll up against the SAAMI ammo sales or reloading die sales info, you will get a pretty clear picture of where to start.

Sincerely, "Thank you !" for asking...

Warren

P.S. I found LRH by Googling for "Left Handed Rifles For Sale"...

 

[Derek M.]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

I'm right handed, left eye dominant, thus I shoot archery and rifles/shotguns/muzzleloaders left handed.

The problem I have (which I did for years) when shooting a right bolt gun is the location of the safety. I hate extending my thumb over the stock or having to move my right hand back to work the safety. Though the gun shoots well with the bolt on either side, I like to shoot every part of the rifle on the LEFT side. It simply works better for me.

Responding to the post where the father toted 2 lefties in WY for a few years and roughly 85 gun shows, that is certainly a concern. To the contrary, when I go to the local Bass Pro Shop, or any of the major stores around, either private or chain, no left handed bolt rifle lasts long on the shelf. And I stop by many stores at least 2x/month just to look.

Bass Pro said they sell most inside of a month or so on average. Of course, there is usually only 1 left bolt per 20 right bolts on the rack.

 

[jonthomps]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Heck Ya! I'd definitely offer them. I'm a lefty and would love a faster option for a 1/2 MOA, well-built longrange stick. Even your 4-6 week option would be a great start. And while I'm at it, an option for the McMillian HTG stock in desert and/or GAP camo would be the bees knees.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Re: Left Hand Rifles - How much interest is there in "Ready To Ship" left hand rifles

Len,

The left handed rifle may be a segment of the market which needs to be addressed. Here is my observation and thoughts on the topic.

I participate in several hunter safety classes each year sponsored by the sportsmans club I belong to. Part of the class' is having the students live fire the club's Anschutz bolt .22's on the range, usually just a few rounds each because of time. This provides some exposure and we get to see and correct where necessary, their safe gun handling skills. Lately, many, but not all of these students are youth, women and men who have had little or no experience shooting. This lack of experience has brought a number of "issues" to light. One issue important to this dialog is many are left eye dominant or in the case this past weekend, two were blind in their right eye thus forced to shoot "left handed."

Some of these left eye dominant students who have, or at least claim to have had some shooting experience, struggle trying to shoot "right handed. Of this group, many try to see the sights with their left eye. When I get them to sit on the right side of the bench and shoot left handed, many are amazed at how easy it is for them to see the sights, pick-up the target and put a good group on paper. An eye opening (no pun intended) experience for most, As a result, a number of them have asked for additional time at the range after the prescribed class.

As for myself, I am left eye dominant. As a teenager I was taught to shoot right handed by a former brown boot Marine DI who wouldn't hear of it to shoot left handed. "That's not how it's done" still resonates in my head. In any case, he taught me well and today, I shoot all diciplines right handed with both eyes open. But this took a lot of practice to be comfortable with. Now 40 years later I find I can shoot from the left side but I'm not comfortable with it. I'll continue to shoot right handed.

While many new hunters won't be purchasing a new high end rifle, some will put it on their wish list. Most will start to hunt and shoot with dad's gun or the boyfriends or husbands gun or perhaps a new "first gun." In any case, these new hunters and shooters are aware that the left side IS a choice they could and should take advantage of.

Having said all this, I would suggest having some components available to build left handed rifles with minimal delay and minimal excess cost where possible.

I hope this helps,

W.E.C.