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Statistics and Prejudice
Paul Castle and George Whitfield, the Chief Instructors for Sabre Tactical Training, estimate that nine out of 10 people are right-handed. This statistic makes it highly unlikely that many conventional pistol shooting techniques and products are going to account for the left-handed person. Therefore, many left-handers are going to have to adapt to existing options.
In addition to being forced to adapt to a right-handed world, left-handed people have been a source of prejudice and mistrust for centuries. The left hand has been associated with being the side of the devil, and the word "left" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "lyft" meaning "weak" or "broken."
Differences of Left-Handed Shooters
Left-handed shooters tend to organize their shooting style in the opposite fashion of standard right-handed people. A left-hander will carry his pistol on his left side and his ammunition clips on the right, essentially resembling a mirror image of a right-handed fighter. The United States Marine Corps reflects this tendency in its pistol training manual, specifying that left-handed Marines should reverse all instructions in the manual.
Pistol Types and Left-Handedness
For the left-handed shooter, some pistol types are more effective than others. Gun Week author R.K. Campbell suggests that left-handed shooters choose semi-automatic pistols, due to the easier access of their safety and magazine releases, especially on modern Beretta, Browning and Smith and Wesson models.
Effectiveness of Left-Handed Shooting
Left-handed shooters have a number of advantages over more orthodox shooters. Since left-handed people are forced to cope with right-handed practices and equipment, they are more capable of adapting to varied shooting conditions and circumstances. Left-handers also have an advantage when shooting semi-automatic weaponry against a barricade, because the side ejection port on the pistol faces away from the barricade, ejecting the empty cartridge freely. For right-handed shooters leaning against a barricade, the empty cartridges may bounce back into the ejection port, jamming the gun.
Tips for Left-Handed Shooters
For left-handed people shooting in a right-handed world, many will have to cope with equipment designed for righties. Some guns are designed with neutral handling in mind, but they remain a small percentage. Therefore left-handers can follow a few tips to make shooting more friendly. Specially ordering pistols with left-handed shooting in mind is possible, but R.K. Campbell suggests choosing pistols and holsters with more friendly left-handed access. In competition shooting, keeping the left-hander on the left side of the team will offer the shooter the full range of ability.