The past couple of weeks I have viewed DVDs titled "The Crossing" and "Zulu." One pertains to the American Revolution in December 1776, the other the Zulu War in January 1879. Both films showed regular soldiers in the British army shooting left-handed. While I could accept this "wrong-handed" gun handling were it occurring a long way into a severe fire fight - right shoulders getting so sore from recoil that the soldier was forced to switch - the circumstance of the DVDs showed this to be occurring near the beginning of a battle, when there was no reason to have switched shoulders.

Especially in the eighteenth century style of warfare, left-handed shooters would not have been tolerated. Dunno about Martini-Henry single shot rifles in the late nineteenth century.

So in western armies, when did soldiers being left-handed shooters become acceptable?

maybe tomorrow...

It is television.
Even the smallest details are wrong.

Mark

I am unconcerned about the verisimilitude of entertainment. The films merely alerted me to a question for which I have no answer.

Until some unknown changes occurred in regulations, training, weaponry, or something else??, regular armies shot rifles from the soldiers' right shoulder. Yes, the Martini-Henry hammerless single-shot rifle is truly ambidextrous (British rifle has no safety), but did that feature metamorphose into a benefit - that is, lefties could shoot leftie? I dont' know.

I know that when Great Britain was creating manufacturing changes that transformed the SMLE No. 1 Mk. III to a No. 4 Mk. I, there was strong consideration for creating left-handed version also. Ultimately, this was ruled out, probably because of additional cost over the service life of a left-handed rifle action. This does not respond to my query. Rather, it shows that the issue was real and recognized as a problem.

Left handed behaviour has ben actively discouraged in British society until fairly recently, say late 1980s - 1990s on. My father's father, a cabinet maker - joiner, was left handed. He was genuinely ambidextrous. I guess by practice but he favoured the left side.

I and one of my sisters are left handed. The education system back in 19XX was not so 'understanding'. My sister went to a girls' school and was allowed to write left handed. I went to a school where you had to 'write properly'. My sister writes left handed. I do not, at least, not very well. However, I own & shoot left handed bolt action rifles and use tools left handed.

I have been on army ranges shooting and it causes comments - mainly due to the arrangement of the line of shooters and other shooters complaining about muzzle blast being closer to them / their noise perception etc.

So, from the above, I am wondering if left handed shooters are actively tolerated in the UK military today. We could have an exchange of "Dilbert experiences" at work, based around IT departments, desk layouts and left handed mice / cable connection arrangements. I think conformity / cost is the driving issue for any large organisation.

My understanding is left handed military rifles were not actively considered / pushed into production in either the UK or Germany as only 10 - 15% of the whole population is left handed.So, the manufacturing costs and delays would have been un-justified, especially when countries were gearing up for an imminent war.

Additionally, the military is about conformity and unity. You could not have some soldiers with left handed rifles on parade while the others were right handed. The parade would not look orderly and neat. The purpose of the army training is to build cohesive teams not perpetuate individuality.

Not withstanding the above, I believe soldiers were taught to shoot off both shoulders, following experience gained fighting on the North West Frontier of British Indian / Afghanistan and the Boer War - shooting around both sides of rocks.

Regards the current UK service rifle, the SA 80, I believe it's design precludes left hand operation. The bolt comes back on 'curved' path and part of the mechanism juts outside the main receiver body 'footprint'. This curved mechanism path would break your cheek bone if operated left handed - your face would be too close / in the wrong place.

I think in this respect, lefthanders are more fortunate in the US military as the M16 type rifle's design enables the rifle to be fired more safely off both shoulders. Additionally, an aftermarket company, Stag Arms?, makes left handed kits for the issue army rifle.

I believe both the Austrian Steyr and the French service rifles are ambidextrous systems, or come with government issue change out kits for the receivers as 'armoury standards', enabling left handed use.

So, these systems would suggest late 1990s - early 2000s on, accommodations have been made for left handed shooters.

It really isn't just a shooting a gun issue, being left handed has been a negative aspect in society for as long as humans have been on Earth.

At one time according to legend or myth or maybe actual accounts left handed people were shunned and even killed.

I am left handed and have been thinking about the discrimination I have faced my entire life.

I am tired of the right handed man having his right foot on my throat.

Maybe some sort of civil rights action is in order that would require everything be ambidextrous.

No more discrimination based on which hand we use. It is so embarrassing to have a left handed pitcher singled out only to pitch to a left handed batter. I could go on but you get the idea.

We are born this way, it is not a choice.

quote:

When did left-handed shooters become officially tolerated in western armies?

When they started to issue pistol-gripped rifles like the M-16