Left Handed AR

[comp73]

I have started gathering parts for a left hand AR build. I have the LH stripped upper and LH BCG on order. Besides the LH/ambi selector switch, does anyone know if any other parts are LH specific?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Mark

[Mack]

I have the Norgon mag release on mine. It allows you to release the mag with your trigger finger if you are shooting left handed. But it doesn't change the mag realease on the right side of the rifle. I really like it!

[SlickTX]

Take a look at the Stag Arms website. They have full left hand rifles, lowers, uppers, kits, etc. I'm starting to build up a left handed Stag lower for my wrong-handed son.

[comp73]

I have the Norgon mag release on mine. It allows you to release the mag with your trigger finger if you are shooting left handed. But it doesn't change the mag realease on the right side of the rifle. I really like it!

That Norgon looks pretty cool. I'll have to see if I can find one of those at the next gun show so I can actually compare it to a standard one.

Take a look at the Stag Arms website. They have full left hand rifles, lowers, uppers, kits, etc. I'm starting to build up a left handed Stag lower for my wrong-handed son.

I had to buy the BCG from the Stag site and the stripped upper from Cobra tactical. They were the only 2 places I could find the LH stuff in stock and neither site had both. I did not see anything on the Stag site about LH models needing anything else, other than the ambi selector switch. I also downloaded the manual from Stag and the only other LH specific part it mentions is the dust cover. I'm still not convinced that the dust cover is LH specific. Once I get the upper, I'll verify that.

I just wanted to make sure I did not need to worry about anything else. I was not aware of the need for a LH BCG until after I purchased the upper, so I'm just trying to limit any additional surprises that may be in store.

Thanks for the help.

Mark

Edited due to my lack of understanding English

[KC5AV]

I wasn't aware that the BCG was LH specific. Good to know. I'm a leftie, but I've always just shot RH, but also have thought about building a LH AR.

[The Annoyed Man]

I wasn't aware that the BCG was LH specific. Good to know. I'm a leftie, but I've always just shot RH, but also have thought about building a LH AR.

Take a look at your BCG. The ejector post is on the left side of the bolt face where it will cause the spent case to pivot toward the right as it is being pulled from the chamber by the right side extrator claw. When it gets clear of the chamber the combined actions of the ejector and extractor throw the case out the right side of the receiver. Bolt for a left handed gun requires the ejector post to be on the right side of the bolt face, and the extractor claw to be on the left side of the bolt face. I've never looked at a left-handed bolt, but I would imagine that its direction of rotation is therefore reversed, which would of course require the bolt cam pin to be located on the right side of the gas key instead of on the left.

http://www.ar15.com/content/guides/part ... rrier.html

http://www.ar15.com/content/guides/parts/bolt.html

[comp73]

I just got the LH BCG in today. TAM is right on the money in his description. I will take some pics tomorrow in the daylight and post them with some pics of a standard BCG for comparison so ya'll can see the differences for you.

Another thing I just noticed. The upper is a complete stripped LH upper, so the dust cover came installed, upside down. Its built like this, the pin is made to go on top of the ejection port. After popping it a few times, I can see that the dust cover will definitely strike anything mounted on the rail directly above it. I'll post pics of this as well tomorrow.

Mark

[Kadelic]

I'm a total AR newb and being a lefty was drawn in by this thread. I recently purchased my first AR, a RRA LAR-15LH LEF-T Elite Operator-L. It's left handed even down to the left handed barrel twist, ISYN. I doubt I can contribute anything worthwhile to the OP's build but I couldn't help joining in on this thread for my own education. Looking forward to pics of the finished rifle!

[comp73]

Having issues getting the pics from my wifes camera to the computer. She's a nurse and works overnights so it would not be in my best interest to wake her up just to find a cable. I'll post picks of the pieces later this afternoon.

BTW, the pics did not turn out great, but you can see the differences.

I'm a total AR newb and being a lefty was drawn in by this thread. I recently purchased my first AR, a RRA LAR-15LH LEF-T Elite Operator-L. It's left handed even down to the left handed barrel twist, ISYN. I doubt I can contribute anything worthwhile to the OP's build but I couldn't help joining in on this thread for my own education. Looking forward to pics of the finished rifle!

Kadelic,

I'm curious, when opening, does your dust cover flip up or down?

Mark

[Kadelic]

Mine flips down.

[The Annoyed Man]

Mine flips down.

I'm a little puzzled for why comp73's would need to flip upward rather than downward.

Here is a picture of the upper receiver parts, exploded vew, for a right-handed receiver:

As you can see from the picture, there is no obvious reason why the dust cover can't be flipped horizontally to achieve the correct orientation on a left-handed receiver. The only thing I could think of is that there must be something to the shape of the contour on the inner side of the dust cover which is bumped by it's corresponding shape on the bolt carrier, as the bolt carrier moves rearward, popping the dust cover open. But then I just checked those things on my own right-handed receiver, and I can see no reason why it couldn't simply be flipped horizontally to work on the other side. So this one eludes me.

I will say this: I am left-handed, and there are some things I am kind of militant about, and other things on which I find it easy to compromise. For instance (and I've had other left-handers disagree with me on this on these pages), but I am kind of militant about left-handed bolt action rifles. I'm of the opinion that there are enough left-handed shooters (10-15% depending on whose figures you use) to make it practical for the major rifle manufacturers to offer a left-handed version in all of their models....or at least a left-handed version in their most popular models. I have owned both right and left handed bolt action rifles. My current bolt rifle is a left-handed Remington 700 of extreme accuracy, and I'll never buy another right handed bolt rifle as long as I live. For me, the experience of using a proper left-handed bolt rifle is so clearly superior to the compromise made to shoot a right-handed bolt rifle from the left shoulder that I simply refuse to ever do it again.

On the other hand, I've accommodated myself well to right-handed ARs by the addition of an ambidextrous safety and an ambidextrous charging handle, and I can live with a 1911 that has an ambidextrous thumb safety.

I would be interested to see, comp78, how much difference it makes to you to have a for-realz left-handed AR15 after having owned and shot it for a while.

[Kadelic]

Just for reference, here's the exploded view of the left handed upper from my RRA manual.

[The Annoyed Man]

Well on that picture, the dust cover is properly oriented, pivoting at the bottom edge.

[comp73]

All,

My apologies for being late with these.

See additional pics under next post.

[comp73]

All,

Here are the rest of the pics.