Left Handed Shotgun or...

[shasta]

I live in CA too and my local dealer had no problem getting me a 11-87. I have an older 1100 too. Both work well. The 11-87 is not as perty but shoots great and is probably the most gun for the money.
Bulk "O" rings are cheap from Brownells and can easly be replaced.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Most brands have left handed shotguns, but getting a youth model is where you run into problems. Why not just buy the shotgun you like the most and have a shorter stock put on it? Then when your son gets bigger, he can just take off the small stock and put the original back on?

Eddie

 

[Bubba Tex]

Benelli makes their Montefeltro in a left handed 12, $1120 suggested retail on their site. I think you can then order the youth model stock and just bolt it on in place of the long stock, then when the son grows in to it, switch back. My wife has the youth model 20 and likes it a lot.

Benelli - Firearms - Montefeltro

Personally, I shoot my 20 SxS at everything, dove, quail, pheasant, chukar, except geese and ducks. I'm even getting a hankerin' for a 28 SxS for dove and quail...anyone got one they'd like to find a new home for?

 

[LoneCowboy]

My wife is right handed, but left eye dominant, thus, she shoots lefty.
AFter kicking my behind continuously, i finally got her a Browning 525 O/U lefty
Now it's even worse how bad she beats me. But I gotta admit, it felt TOTALLY wrong when I picked it up, so I guess I know what she was going thru. (palm swell wrong side, etc)

She likes a 12 3/4 length of pull , so we had it shortened by a gunfitter and he put some weight back in the stock to balance it. It slides right up for her.

Spend the $200 bucks and have it fitted correctly, you won't believe the difference.
You can get left handed stocks from Cole's for Beretta 391's
But any good gunfitter should be able to bend it and get the LOP correct, along with the angle at the shoulder.
Most women have long necks and need a higher comb also.

 

[gsganzer]

I shoot lefty and I'm a big fan of the Browning BPS for lefties as a field gun, however, it's a pump action.

In your case though, I'd look for an O/U, especially for shooting dove. They're a lot safer for someone who's inexperienced with guns or shoot infrequently. You can easily check to see if they're loaded and you KNOW that they're in a safe state if you see the action broke open. Another unforeseen benefit is you can use guage reducers or tubes in them (you can shoot 410, 28, 20 ga. in a 12 ga gun). This gives you a whole bunch of versatility.

Just my .02

 

[GA WTDeer]

My wife is right handed, but left eye dominant, thus, she shoots lefty.
AFter kicking my behind continuously, i finally got her a Browning 525 O/U lefty
Now it's even worse how bad she beats me. But I gotta admit, it felt TOTALLY wrong when I picked it up, so I guess I know what she was going thru. (palm swell wrong side, etc)

She likes a 12 3/4 length of pull , so we had it shortened by a gunfitter and he put some weight back in the stock to balance it. It slides right up for her.

Spend the $200 bucks and have it fitted correctly, you won't believe the difference.
You can get left handed stocks from Cole's for Beretta 391's
But any good gunfitter should be able to bend it and get the LOP correct, along with the angle at the shoulder.
Most women have long necks and need a higher comb also.

Will she only be hunting dove with it? If so, go with a O/U and have the stock smithed down to her pull. Look at Tristar or Traditions, around $800 or do the same with an auto. A left hand full size gun will be easier to fine. I'm with Lone CowBoy . Clay

 

[3RRL]

Great feedback guys, thank you.
Anymore information and especially links is great so I can "see" the gun. I went to some gun manufacturer's links but did not navigate the sites properly and missed some of the models. So the model and perhaps a link would be of great help to me.

As far as just dove hunting, that is just for now and the very next season in line here. There will be other upland game hunts and perhaps waterfowl as the wife and kid take to it more and more. My plan is to get the shortened stock with ability to replace to standard length pull later.

The over/under suggestion is not out of the question either. So any info/links regarding them for leftys would also help.
Thanks,
Rob-

 

[Soundguy]

I took an auto loader bird hunting exactly twice.. both were brownings.. both jammed.. somebody else got the birds I was looking at.

It's now DBL-barrel.. or pump action only for me.. and I do fine with them.

Soundguy

I want to get Loretta her own shotgun for Dove season this year.
She shoots left handed so I was looking for a left handed 12 gage autoloader. It needs to have a shorter stock ... about 12-3/4" to 13" pull length and a 26" multi choke barrel.

She could then hand it down to Wesley who also shoots left handed.
Both of them would need a "youth model" if I could find one in 12 gage, not 20 gage and left handed. I thought about getting an over and under but would like to know if there are any autoloaders out there with those specs that are under a thousand bucks. I saw one Remington model 11-87 in New Mexico that could be equipped that way, but they wouldn't sell it to me since I'm from California....bummer.

Another model I saw was the Charles Daly 12 gage autoloader Field Hunter VR-MC Left Hand. It comes with either 24", 26" or 28" barrels. I was thinking of asking if I could get another butt stock with 12-1/2 pull for it. But I don't know anything about this model.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[KaiB]

I'm with the guys who say fit is everything with a shotgun. Vote for a nice O/U fitted by a pro - she'll out shoot you in two years and keep the gun forever.

Women are indeed different than men. Please be shure to double check that she is also left eyed...I am left handed, but right eyed, and shoot right handed.

It took me forever to find a gun which fits; and I only found out what I needed after I took a clays course.

I'm also with the guys who vote 20g. Mine has barrel sets for 20 and 28, lotsa fun to out shoot the other guys.

 

[gsganzer]

3RRL,
Here's a link to Stoeger who has a youth O/U. They're very resonably priced.

You can shop for one on gunbroker.com they have links to an FFL holder in your area that will handle the transaction for a minimal fee.