Lefties ....

[nighthunter]

How do left handed people cast bullets? My son is left handed and all the molds I'm familiar with are definately made for right handed people. I've never seen this discussed here. There have to be a few lefties in here and I'd like to hear what they have to say on the subject.
Nighthunter

[SharpsShooter]

I hold the mold in my left hand, but work the bottom pour and cut sprues with a gloved right hand. Works fine. My Lee and Lyman molds have the sprue cutter handle on the right side...never thought about it, but how does a righty do it?

[Dye]

nighthunter
I hold the mould in my right hand and cut the sprue with my gloved left hand. I haved changed the casting pot's handle to the left side on 2 lee 10 lb. pots and the RCBS can be changed to either side.

Be carefull Dye

[Bullshop]

I am a lefty and have the control handle on the right side of my pot. I hold the mold in my left hand with the sprue hing on the left and the dog leg on the sprue plate right. Operate control arm of pot with right hand. Use gloved hand to put a bit of thumb pressure downward on the plate while turning counter clock wise with right hand. It seems to me they are set up for lefties. I just cant stand to have the blocks reversed in the handles. Even with a Lyman four I have the extension of the sprue plate forward when closed not back as I see most do.
I have also seen a few pics posted of the lee six with the sprue handle forward when closed but I just cant stand it that way. I run a lee six with the three handles together when closed and operate the same as any other, holding the mold in my left and cutting the sprue with my right by swinging the plate to the right.
You know they say anyone that is left handed isnt in thier right mind. Checks out by me!
BIC/BS

[eka]

I'm a lefty too, and I work'em same as Bullshop. I hadn't really thought about another way.

Keith

[snowwolfe]

An interesting fact is very very few of us lefties perform everything left handed. Most of us can use either hand for certain things. While most right handers are strickly right handed. For example, I bat, swing a golf club and bowl right handed. But I eat,shoot and throw a ball left handed.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Dunno if this is a left-handed technique, or just another of the many adaptations we develop to get along in a right-handed world. My dipper pot is on the right side of the bench. I hold the mould in my left hand and dip with the right. As I take one slide step to the left, the ladle goes back in the pot, the mould goes to the right hand, and the left hand picks up the mould mallet. After striking off the sprue and dropping the boolit(s) the mould goes back to the left hand, the mallet returns to the sprue box, and a slide step to the right returns me to the pot for another filling. I think this whole technique may be driven by a right-handed ladle. Depending on make and sprue cutter mounting, some of my mould blocks are reversed in the handles, and in some cases the handles must be modified to allow striking the sprue from a comfortable direction.

[bruce drake]

I keep my LEE 10lb pot on the right side of my bench. Dip my ladle with my left and pour into the mold which held in my right. Whack the sprue plate with a wooden dowel with my left and dump the bullet into water bucket off to my right.

I use the Boyscout whittling rule when it comes to waterbuckets. Its located under the full extension point of my arm to prevent splatter from going into my pot.

The key to teaching your son how to cast is to let him develop his own rthym. He may have a method better than any of ours for his own speed or method as long as its done safely.

Bruce

[Char-Gar]

I am a southpaw also, but have not given it much thought. But here is what I do.

I hold the mold handles with my left hand under the spout and open the pot with my right hand.

I remove the mold with my left and and invert it, spru down on the Bruce B rag.

I change the mold handled to my right and and pick up my knocker stick with my left and.

I turn the mold on it's side and knock off the spru, with a blow away from the body.

[gutshot_again]

I bottom pour four and six cavity moulds and hold the mould in my left hand and operate the valve with my right hand. With Lyman four cavity moulds I place the mould on a scrap piece of wood on it's side and whack the sprue plate. I have the sprue plate pointing towards me, but it doesn't matter - just what you get used to as I've tried both. I do use the mallet with my left hand. However, I cast with two four cavity moulds at a time so set one down with my left hand, turn the other mould over with my right as I pick up the mallet with my left hand and cut the sprue, and tap the handles to eject the bullets. Then set down the mallet use both hands to close the mould and just keep it in my left. With Lee's six cavity moulds I have handle pointing to me and just operate it right handed, then pick up the mallet with my left hand and tap the handles to eject the bullets.

Single and double cavities I ladle pour. I hold the mould with my right hand and use the ladle with my left hand. I took a RCBS ladle and drilled and tapped the other side of the bowl (or whatever you call it) for the handle. Then plugged the existing hole with a cut off bolt. The sprue cut off handle is on my right. I never could get used to pouring with my right hand so did the modification mentioned. Suppose it would also work with Lyman ladles, but the RCBS seems to be set up for it. As an added advantage (at least it seems so to me) I can now have the sprue as loose as I want and just push it closed with the ladle when I go to pour. Anyway, I also use two or three moulds when ladle casting. When I set one mould down, I pick up the next with my left and use my right hand to cut the sprue, turn the mould upside down, shift the mould to my right hand, and pick up the mallet with my left, then tap the handle to eject the bullet. Set down the mallet, close the mould and shift it to my right hand and pick up the ladle with my left and pour again.

Bullshot, I have to agree with you when you say "You know they say anyone that is left handed isnt in thier right mind" - but I'll add that there are only two types of people in the world - those that are left handed and those that wish they were.

To add to what snowwolfe said, I am left handed, but bat right handed. I use a bait casting reel, but use a right handed reel and cast with my left hand. And for shooting single action revolvers, Samuel Colt must have been left handed.

[Pawpaw]

I'm a southpaw, but I never really thought about it. I just cast the bullets. Growing up in a right-handed world makes a southpaw adjust.

So I walked outside and picked up a mold. Mold in my left hand, worked the spout lever with my right hand. Changed mold to right hand, picked up whacking stick and whacked sprue plate. Open mold, dump bullets. Change mold to left hand. Repeat.


Gutshot sez: "To add to what snowwolfe said, I am left handed, but bat right handed. I use a bait casting reel, but use a right handed reel and cast with my left hand. And for shooting single action revolvers, Samuel Colt must have been left handed."

I agree. There has never been a more left-handed firearm design than the Colt SAA. My youngest son is truly left-handed and he handles an SAA like no one's business. All the controls are on the right side.

[NVcurmudgeon]

According to an old gun magazine or maybe Gun Digest article, both Sam Colt and Bill Ruger were left-handed.

[454PB]

Us lefties have to become adaptive in this world. I play guitar right handed, shoot nothing but right handed guns, and bat/golf right handed.

I use a Lyman dipper, and cut the handle off and brazed it on the other side.

The thing I hate the worst is shooting semiautos and getting hit in the face by empties. I have a Desert Eagle .44 mag that is especially bad for this. The upside is the aforementioned design of the single action for left handers.

[NVcurmudgeon]

One more example of how easily southpaws can adapt to a right-handed world. At the age of fifty, I was the manager of fifteen right-handed Little Leaguers, and no lefties. I had never bunted in my life because my only baseball skill was being able to get the bat on the ball. In teaching my team, I demonstrated bunting right-handed, and picked it up as if I had always done it. Of course, after all that work, ALL the little varmints refused to bunt in a game, they were all plate-shy!

[Leftoverdj]

Reloading and casting pretty much forces us to become ambidexterous. I believe that I am naturally ambidexterous, but culturally righthanded with exceptions. I shoot longguns and pool lefthanded, pistols with either hand, but a preference for right, and most other stuff righthanded. When I was shooting PPC, my lefthanded scores were as high as my right, and I believe that a few months practice could make me a lefthanded pistol shooter.