TargetTalk

Hey there, I’m a junior in high school who has been shooting pretty decent sporter for the past 5 or six years or so. I finally moved to the big city of my state (from population of 8,000 to pop. of 110,000), so I have access to more clubs and resources. Unfortunately, I am part of the 10% that does everything backwards, meaning the vast majority of club equipment is useless to be because I’m left handed. My new club only have two lefty jackets, both of which are rather ill fitting (or maybe I’m just not accustomed to jackets?) and a hammerli precision rifle that doesn’t extend as far as I would like into my shoulder during prone and kneeling to accommodate my lanky arms. however, I do own a challenger for sporter competitions.

I guess my questions are whether I can use right handed jackets or if jacket size really doesn’t matter than much right now, and whether I can use my challenger instead of a hammerli and still get precision results. I’ve heard other people talk about how challengers are practically cheap precision rifles, but I don’t know if they are precise enough or are allowed by precision rules.

Go buy a lefty jacket, glove and sling if you can afford it. Maybe $200-$250 total. Then donate it back to the club. That's how most clubs get their equipment over time.

See if you can design a spacer from wood to extend the butt plate of the rifle.

I’ll have to look around for jackets. We have plenty of spacers for the butt plate, but the screws aren’t long enough and getting longer ones might make it too long for standing.

Just exchange spacers and screws when you change positions.

i changed left hand to right hand when i first time touch air rifle 7 months ago,just because there aren't any lefthanded clothing & rifle in my club. in competion u should face to face other shooter and u heartbeat is closer than the righthanded. find left hand jack&rifle or change-self. it's a selection.maybe the difference between lift and right for shoot is not like writting or eating。
good luck。

Being a southpaw does present its challenges in this sport. I will try to touch on a few of the points you are facing here:

bdutton is correct, it is possible to purchase 'off the rack' shooting clothing for about 25% of the cost of a custom suit. There has gotten to be this belief that somehow a custom suit and the most expensive rifle you can find is a requirement for precision, it is not. Ask the supply houses about their off the rack clothing, some have their own house brand and others will carry the European manufacturers (AHG, Sauer, Thune etc.) If you can, try jackets (and eventually pants) from several different manufacturers as each has their own 'standard' body. For instance, if you are lanky (tall and thin) Monard may be a better fit than a Sauer or Thune. A properly fitting jacket is especially critical in the sling positions where the sling can pull the jacket down the arm if not properly anchored to the body. Basic gloves are not that expensive and I recommend having your own anyhow. (kind of a hygiene thing-I live in a warm humid climate and after a solid summer of sweating into my glove it gets kinda gross, I don't wanna put my own hand in there after a while.) You can make due with a RH sling although a LH sling is easier to work with in position. There are some very elaborate slings out there, you don't need anything like them, a basic Gehmann Model 430 (leather) or 432 (synthetic) sling or similar from another manufacturer is what you need and will be cost effective.

As for the rifle, you would be allowed to shoot a Challenger in precision competition to get started. Not sure what kind of accessories will attach to the forend so that might be a limitation. You would be able to add weight up to the 5.5kg (12 lbs ) precision limit. That would get you started but you would be at a disadvantage. The suggestion of a butt spacer to get the length you like is a good one. Longer screws can be obtained from places like monsterbolt.com in smaller quantities. Companies like McMaster-Carr have a greater selection of fasteners but you often have to purchase in quantities of 25 or 50 which is annoying when you need 2.

If you go the spacer route on an AR-20 I would recommend you find a spacer that is one size does all positions. Fiddling with disassembling the rifle and reassembling the rifle during position changeover in a match would be very time consuming.

Not clear about your budget but if you watch things like but Buy Sell Trade column on this site you may run across an older FWB 700 or similar that can be converted to a LH grip although the butt stock does not just flip over. An FWB 800 the grip can be changed and the hardware in the butt stock will flip over to the LH side. I am not sure about the Walthers but expect similar would be true. Point there being an FWB 700 or Walther LG 300 rifle can be found for sub $2000 (which is still a lot of money) There are some other basic precision rifles out there but they are not terribly common.

Yeah, so that is my 2 cents

'dude