Left hand shooting conversion process

[Richard Flanders]

It was gorgeous here today.... 50deg and sunny, so I went back downriver to my favorite private sand bar to try shooting clays again with a 26" VH12. The first 80 clays or so was a bit depressing and saw me hit very few. After that I decided to try a different ready position. Instead of my long-favored Churchillian low-gun position, I tried a half high-gun position, which ended up giving me a much cleaner, faster and better gun mount and I smashed the next 30/35 birds and I wasn't punishing my already bruised shoulder as before. What a difference that made. I also picked up the pace to as fast as I could put in a shell and step on the electric trigger for the thrower and I tried to mount the gun and shoot as quickly as I could. The barrels got pretty hot, but it worked! I was finally powdering them one after another, 15 in a row at one point. I'm pretty sure I was just doing too much thinking and "aiming" before. I picked up all the unbroken clays and shot at them until the box of 135 was kaput.... and I had but one shell left. I went through ~7 boxes of 1oz reloads. Good thing I have 5-gallon buckets full in the basement. Next nice day I'll be back down there with two boxes of clays and at least a case of shells. I just might figure this out afterall. The effort might just get to be fun from here on.

[Phillip Carr]

Richard it sounds like shooting left handed is becoming more natural. Due to an eye injury I shoot left handed but am right hand domenant. I wish you continued success making the switch.

[john pulis]

Good luck with the transition. It will take time and determination but it will get easier and more "natural" with practice. I had to have cast off stocks bent or shaped to cast on or at least neutral and shot with my right eye closed/glasses blurred till left became dominant. Good luck.

[Todd Poer]

Good for you Richard and glad to see others with similar needs that had to switch and work through it chime in. What a great feeling when something old becomes something new again and that light bulb clicks. I'll bet you were as giddy as a school girl when you hit 10 in a row but then 30/35, wow! What a great moment to get that endorphin shot and build that confidence up. I'll bet you were soaring a mile high off the ground without need of your flying contraption. Thanks for sharing.

BTW there is so much shotgun shooting content out there you are probably rediscovering about eye control and letting body mechanics and instincts take over. I can only imagine how awkward that is at first akin to probably like learning to swing a football bat. Glad you were able get some success to build off of. Sounds like you have found the right base process and technique for a good foundation to grow from. Remember if your not green your not growing so read up more on those techniques like the three shell trick and breaking down the process. Good stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1y-e4Sw0t0

Bully for all you guys that are going through all that.

[Phil Yearout]

It begs the question: did Jimi Hendricks shoot shotguns upside down?

[Richard Flanders]

I am a bit amped up and was upn'attem at 0300 this morning reloading my shell box and picking a gun or two for today's trip back to the bar for more experimentation and trying to figure out a way to wrap my skinned, bruised, bloody and arthritic left hand middle finger that insists on getting into a fight with the back of the trigger guard when I pull the front trigger - that really hurts, though my new ready position and smoother mount seemed to remediate the problem to some degree. I even got on my long-ignored and dusty 12ga press at 0330 and reloaded a 1-gal bucket of shells just to make sure I still knew how. Going to be another nice day and it's supposed to start snowing and raining tonight. C'mon sun! Time to come up! Let's go!

[John Dallas]

Look forward to hooking up with you at Bald Mountain this summer so you can show off your new prowess!

[Todd Poer]

Shooting gloves my friend is so far best solution that I have found other than a single trigger gun. Welcome to disenfranchised world of lefty shooting. Just about every Parker that I shoot that has double triggers in typical configuration works on that middle section of the finger. The edge of those triggers is about as sharp as a butter knife and like you my trigger finger brushes up against it when reaching over that left barrel trigger. The right barrel when fired and ensuing recoil rubs or bounces that trigger edge back and into finger. For me after a shooting a box of shells it looks like about a half dozen nicks in the skin. Not too big a deal if upland hunting since don't shoot that much but I generally use gloves when hunting anyway. After about the 35th round of fairly continuous shooting it really starts to get noticeable if not not shooting with gloves. I have worn through pair of Orvis shooting gloves right at same spot. I don't seem to have any problem with the trigger guard banging into middle finger though.

It doesn't impact tall lefty fellas so much with long skinny fingers. The only other solution if you don't like gloves is maybe one of those Lycra stripping sleeves that goes only over one finger. I have those for fly fishing when having to work a clouser or deceiver when stripping a lot of line. Having a fly line pulled over same spot a whole bunch can make a finger raw as well.

I used to wonder if it would be practical or even doable without much trouble switching right and left triggers but that maybe harder said then done since triggers are ever so slightly tilted for right handed shooters. It looks simple enough to do which means it probably isn't.

If and when ready to buy next Parker I am going to look hard at the single trigger skeet gun or one with a Miller trigger.

[Todd Poer]

It begs the question: did Jimi Hendricks shoot shotguns upside down?

I think the only thing Jimmy Hendrix had anything to do with shotgunning was with cans of beer.

[Richard Flanders]

Just now back from punishing a box of clays with a 28" VH20 and a 28" 1-1/2 frame damascus CHE12. Didn't take long; I don't think I missed more than 20 birds out of the box if even that, and many of them just vaporized. Too fun. Didn't beat my middle finger up too badly either; very little fresh blood when I pulled my glove off. Since I can't stretch my fingers, a single trigger gun would be a big improvement on that front. Both of these guns today have nice slim grips and a fair bit of DAH, which helps. The C grade really works well for me and just made clays disappear like magic when I did my part.

I can't speak highly enough of the little <$300 12V-powered portable Atlas thrower I'm using. This would be near impossible to do with my Trius step thrower; you just can't do your footwork properly after stepping on the cocking arm. By the time you get yourself right the clay is over the horizon. It's v clumsy. This Atlas has a foot switch on a long wire so you can move around side to side a long ways. The switch is sensitive and the magazine holds 50 clays and the legs are easily adjustable to allow three different vertical angles of throw. The unit breaks down and fits into a squat medium Action Packer that is easy to move around and get into a rig or a plane. I threw approx 175 clays yesterday using a smallish 300CCA Duracell garden tractor battery and it hardly needed a charge afterwards. I'm sure it would throw well over 200 clays nonstop. The manufacturer told me that I would only get about 100 throws out of that battery. This thing makes shooting alone a much better experience. The only way I'm going to figure this lefty shooting thing out is because I have this thrower and can go out and shoot alone and undistracted any time I please. If I were to give it away today, I'd consider it having paid for itself in spades in just my two outings in the past 24hrs. Time to go down and finish topping off a bucket of reloads....

[Charles Shelton]

Richard,
WRT switching from R to L - been there done that and back again due to right eye retina operations.

I actually made the move R to L fine WRT accuracy, but not speed. Had to for rifles and shotguns; this made me buy some lever action rifles that I could shoot either handed.

A few years went by and one day after poking a .458 hole through a Bison where it barely felt it, the darn thing ran from left to right at about 50 yards. This was with guide and videographer there and it made me mad and I instinctively switched my 1886 45-90 to my right shoulder AND eye and dropped the beast with a shot through both front shoulders ( my DG load of 450 grain FMJ at 2150 fps). Back in the saddle again!

More years and another right eye operation for lens sack breaking loose and I am back to lefty again with shot gun and iron sighted rifles ( scope still works with right eye) .

So, hang in there and keep on shooting and hunting! You have a lot of company.

[Mike Franzen]

Rich, I was very impressed with your left Side shooting when we were in Montana. Had you not said anything about it, I would have thought you always shot that way. I remember you telling me those birds were your first kills since you made the switch. Glad to hear you are gaining more confidence and enjoying the process. Looking forward to hunting with you again.

[Mike Franzen]

Here’s something you might try for that middle finger problem. Pack of 3 Toe Protector Gel Cushion Comfort Stretchable Elastic Soft Callus & Corn Wrap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YJBQ0XC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_t.a2Bb2NDHCVD