Didn't Give My Son the Boy Scout 10/22

[swilliams]

Not because he doesn't deserve it! I started to worry that it's not the best rifle for him. He really hasn't done any shooting since I first took the kids to the range for a safety course two summers ago, so he doesn't have real-life shooting skills yet. Here's the problem (if it is a problem).

He's right-handed, but left eye is dominant. When we were at the range, the instructor had him shooting lefty, to accommodate his dominant eye. With the Boy Scout 10/22 being a semi-auto, I'm worried about him being able to use it as a lefty. Are there better options out there? Are there adaptations we can make for him?

Please let me know what you think. He has his first Boy Scout meeting tonight, so I wanted this to be part of his crossing from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

 

[NY Leatherneck]

Wouldn't be worried about semi with eye dominance but maybe adding a more forgiving sight such as a red dot would help although best to learn with irons1st.

 

[cgrutt]

That's awesome to hear congrats. They say cross-dominate should shoot on dominate eye, so I agree to have him shoot lefty. Savage makes a Mark II GLY and CZ makes a 452 for lefties. Savage is about $250 and CZ is about $350, I think. They are both bolt guns, which in my view is better to have him learn than on a semi. That said, most guns are set up for right handed shooters, so may actually be doing him a dis-service having him learn to shoot with a left-handed gun. Many left handed shooters adapt to shoot right handed guns. Your call...

FWIW Boy Scout ranges generally require use of their guns and they (22LR) are usually right handed bolt action. He won't be able to bring his own gun to a BSA range and will probably have to shoot a right handed gun anyway.

BTW I recently bought the CZ455 which is essentially the same gun as the 452 and it is a terrific gun. Would highly recommend taking a look at it.

 

[nortatoga]

I see plenty of lefties shooting 10/22's at Appleseed Shoots and at my Club! They are left hand friendly!

 

[Snappo]

How about a nice lever action 22? Those are ambi. To quote one of my best friends: Every gun safe in America should have a Henry H001 in it.

 

[dsdmmat]

Not because he doesn't deserve it! I started to worry that it's not the best rifle for him. He really hasn't done any shooting since I first took the kids to the range for a safety course two summers ago, so he doesn't have real-life shooting skills yet. Here's the problem (if it is a problem).

He's right-handed, but left eye is dominant. When we were at the range, the instructor had him shooting lefty, to accommodate his dominant eye. With the Boy Scout 10/22 being a semi-auto, I'm worried about him being able to use it as a lefty. Are there better options out there? Are there adaptations we can make for him?

Please let me know what you think. He has his first Boy Scout meeting tonight, so I wanted this to be part of his crossing from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

Lefty here. The ejection port on the 10/22 is not an issue for left handed shooters. The spent brass flys out well ahead of the right shoulder when ejected.

There are other ways to deal with eye dominance issues that would not require him to shoot left handed. for example you could put a piece of tape over his left shooting glasses lens, that will force the right eye to take over and after a dozen range sessions or so the right eye will become dominate for shooting. How to overcome cross-dominance

 

[Snappo]

Lefty here. The ejection port on the 10/22 is not an issue for left handed shooters. The spent brass flys out well ahead of the right shoulder when ejected.

There are other ways to deal with eye dominance issues that would not require him to shoot left handed. for example you could put a piece of tape over his left shooting glasses lens, that will force the right eye to take over and after a dozen range sessions or so the right eye will become dominate for shooting.

Is that true? I never knew that. Makes sense though - if someone has a catastrophic injury of their dominant eye the brain does learn to use the other eye.

I am left eye dominant and I shoot with my right hand controlling the bolt and left hand controlling the trigger. I shoot right handed rifles. I qualified just fine in USAF and that's how I have been shooting since my teenage years with no problem. I had horrible problems with my Stemple 76/45 and sold it for that reason. I had to toss out a few semi auto pistols for the same reason. But 1911's are not an issue, and like I said no right hand rifles have been an issue.

 

[dsdmmat]

Is that true? I never knew that. Makes sense though - if someone has a catastrophic injury of their dominant eye the brain does learn to use the other eye.

I am left eye dominant and I shoot with my right hand controlling the bolt and left hand controlling the trigger. I shoot right handed rifles. I qualified just fine in USAF and that's how I have been shooting since my teenage years with no problem. I had horrible problems with my Stemple 76/45 and sold it for that reason. I had to toss out a few semi auto pistols for the same reason. But 1911's are not an issue, and like I said no right hand rifles have been an issue.

pistols are not an issue because you just lean your head to conform to the dominate eye. there are other tricks you can use but the tape is the easiest. I do not own a left handed gun as neither of my kids are left handed shooters, they wouldn't know what to do with it if I had one. My father being a lefty never owned any either so I was never exposed to them. I had a sears and roebucks semi auto 22 rifle as a kid and never had any issues shooting it left handed.

 

[Snappo]

pistols are not an issue because you just lean your head to conform to the dominate eye. there are other tricks you can use but the tape is the easiest. I do not own a left handed gun as neither of my kids are left handed shooters, they wouldn't know what to do with it if I had one. My father being a lefty never owned any either so I was never exposed to them. I had a sears and roebucks semi auto 22 rifle as a kid and never had any issues shooting it left handed.

I have had some SA pistols and FA sub guns that fling the brass into my face because they have right side ejection and I have a dominant left eye.

 

[swilliams]

Lefty here. The ejection port on the 10/22 is not an issue for left handed shooters. The spent brass flys out well ahead of the right shoulder when ejected.

There are other ways to deal with eye dominance issues that would not require him to shoot left handed. for example you could put a piece of tape over his left shooting glasses lens, that will force the right eye to take over and after a dozen range sessions or so the right eye will become dominate for shooting. How to overcome cross-dominance

Interesting article - thanks!! The author notes that though there are ways to train the eye, many shooters and the optometrist he spoke to recommend teaching the kid to be a left-handed shooter, but that for older people, it's easier to switch eyes than hands. Hmmm. Good to know you don't have issues with the ejection port. I'd love to give him this specific gun. After all, this is what I bought it for, but we can always gift it to his younger right/right brother in two years.

 

[dsdmmat]

Interesting article - thanks!! The author notes that though there are ways to train the eye, many shooters and the optometrist he spoke to recommend teaching the kid to be a left-handed shooter, but that for older people, it's easier to switch eyes than hands. Hmmm. Good to know you don't have issues with the ejection port. I'd love to give him this specific gun. After all, this is what I bought it for, but we can always gift it to his younger right/right brother in two years.

I would teach him to shoot right handed if it were my kid. It just makes life easier in the long run for him. Especially if he joins the military.

 

[capitalcrew]

Don't worry about it. I'm wrong eye dominant and shoot lefty to accommodate it. None of my guns are lefty guns. I've never been hit with brass or anything. The only time he'll have trouble with with thumb hole stocks that are super molded. I can't shoot those, my hand doesn't fit.

 

[Snappo]

Don't worry about it. I'm wrong eye dominant and shoot lefty to accommodate it. None of my guns are lefty guns. I've never been hit with brass or anything. The only time he'll have trouble with with thumb hole stocks that are super molded. I can't shoot those, my hand doesn't fit.

The left hand hole stocks at Boyds Gunstocks are REALLY nice! I put one on my Remington 700 XHR. Really solid fit and finish.

 

[S&W Fan]

I'm another lefty here. I have been shooting right handed guns all of my life with no issues. I have also owned a 10/22 for over 25 years and shooting it left handed is no problem at all.

 

[dsdmmat]

I have had some SA pistols and FA sub guns that fling the brass into my face because they have right side ejection and I have a dominant left eye.

You just need to tune the ejectors to prevent that.

 

[Snappo]

You just need to tune the ejectors to prevent that.

Now you are probably going beyond my level of firearms knowledge. How is the ejection port angle adjusted? Is that by the extractor itself? Or are you changing like the ramp feed angle and whatnot too? I really worry when I touch firearms pieces - in the land of machining skills I am more like Forest Gump. I'm a computer guy trained to sit behind a screen and think great thoughts. When I look at firearms designs I just look in awe as if it's some sort of magic that was imparted on humans by some omnipotent being. I buy things and if it doesn't eject the spent case in a predictable way that doesn't involve smacking me in the melon; I just sell the thing and buy something else. LOL

 

[Snappo]

I'm another lefty here. I have been shooting right handed guns all of my life with no issues. I have also owned a 10/22 for over 25 years and shooting it left handed is no problem at all.

I always felt if someone could invent a left hand conversion for 10/22 for like $200 they could make a cottage industry out of that and make tens of millions of dollars. I read somewhere that the 10/22 is the most owned firearm in America. They made something like 6 million units since 1964. So if a third of Americans are left handed and 10% of those folks think a left handed 10/22 is a cool idea; you are talking about 200,000 people wanting to buy one. So if you sell it for $200 and half of it is profit, the profit is half of $40 million dollars. That's a nice chunk of chocolate. I could retire on that! LOL

 

[Doc8404]

• Not because he doesn't deserve it! I started to worry that it's not the best rifle for him. He really hasn't done any shooting since I first took the kids to the range for a safety course two summers ago, so he doesn't have real-life shooting skills yet. Here's the problem (if it is a problem).

He's right-handed, but left eye is dominant. When we were at the range, the instructor had him shooting lefty, to accommodate his dominant eye. With the Boy Scout 10/22 being a semi-auto, I'm worried about him being able to use it as a lefty. Are there better options out there? Are there adaptations we can make for him?

Please let me know what you think. He has his first Boy Scout meeting tonight, so I wanted this to be part of his crossing from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

I didn't read any replies.
I shoot lefty due to my left eye being dominant.
I shot lefty since I was an NRA Smallbore expert.
Same in the military with AR and shotgun.

No worries until you get something like the MVP Varmint. Palm swell makes it a PITA.

 

[dsdmmat]

Now you are probably going beyond my level of firearms knowledge. How is the ejection port angle adjusted? Is that by the extractor itself? Or are you changing like the ramp feed angle and whatnot too? I really worry when I touch firearms pieces - in the land of machining skills I am more like Forest Gump. I'm a computer guy trained to sit behind a screen and think great thoughts. When I look at firearms designs I just look in awe as if it's some sort of magic that was imparted on humans by some omnipotent being. I buy things and if it doesn't eject the spent case in a predictable way that doesn't involve smacking me in the melon; I just sell the thing and buy something else. LOL

The ejector is what determines the trajectory of the brass coming out of the ejection port. An upward angle cut on an ejector will throw it right in your face. A slight bevel on the side with an upward cut will throw it over your right shoulder, and so on.

 

[Snappo]

The ejector is what determines the trajectory of the brass coming out of the ejection port. An upward angle cut on an ejector will throw it right in your face. A slight bevel on the side with an upward cut will throw it over your right shoulder, and so on.

As soon as you say "Snap - I need you to take that dremel and touch that part" a huge red flag goes off and says "I am so gonna fuck this thing up to the point it's unusable". I fuck up wood in my wood shop. Can you imagine me with metal?

 

[capitalcrew]

If you're fucking up wood they have a pill for that fyi.

Why you'd ever need it in your shop is another question entirely.

 

[Snappo]

If you're fucking up wood they have a pill for that fyi.

Why you'd ever need it in your shop is another question entirely.

LOL. Maybe my wife put me in chastity!

I am getting better at woodworking; but I will never be a Norm Abram. That's for sure. Angles on a mitre are my nemesis. Seriously. None of my picture frame angles are ever perfect. My dove tails are terribad too, even with a device for it.

 

[dsdmmat]

As soon as you say "Snap - I need you to take that dremel and touch that part" a huge red flag goes off and says "I am so gonna fuck this thing up to the point it's unusable". I fuck up wood in my wood shop. Can you imagine me with metal?

Jewelers files make small angle changes that is all that is required, not chainsaw type changes.

 

[capitalcrew]

LOL. Maybe my wife put me in chastity!

I am getting better at woodworking; but I will never be a Norm Abram. That's for sure. Angles on a mitre are my nemesis. Seriously. None of my picture frame angles are ever perfect. My dove tails are terribad too, even with a device for it.

I added a rabbet cut to a pine board with a hunting knife the other day.

Gotta do one more when I get a chance haha.

 

[Saltwater60]

Savage has some left handed semi auto .22's. I bought a savage brand new for my son for $165.00. I don't remember the model number, but gander mountain was the only place that had it. Price was right too. It's a nice shooting gun. I also agree that you can't go wrong with the ruger 10/22

 

[MoMan]

Another southpaw here. I also shoot all of my rifles left handed, and only own 2 left handed rifles, all the rest are right handed. My 10/22 is a right handed rifle, and I have absolutely no problems with the ejected brass. It's no big deal at all with any rifle I shoot, including my AR, and SKS!

CONGRTAS on your Son's Crossing over to Boy Scouts!!

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

I think the real question should be why is there such a rash of left handed shooters on here? That's the wrong hand to be handed!

 

[Darth]

I'm cross dominant. Never changed me from being a RH long gun shooter though...

 

[Bananabandit]

Lot more lefties than I thought.


Bad mother!!! Ill take it for safe keeping.

 

[Robin]

I'm left handed and right eye dominant. The dominant eye isn't a problem unless you are shooting open eyes instinctively, and even then it can have its advantages when shooting the opposite. I would have him shooting in the position that HE is most comfortable with, which sounds like, right handed. Most of the shooting equipment he will encounter will be right handed, and believe me, after a life time of adapting, right hand is the way to go, especially in the shooting sports. Best of luck to him.
Robin