Lefty AR

The second thing that really caught my eye in Guns and Ammo this month was just an ad- but one for a left hand action AR! Made by Stag Arms it's a true left hand action- "Left-Handed Ejection Port, Ejection Port Door, Brass Deflector, Forward Assist, Ambi-Selector."

As a southpaw I tend to really appreciate items made specifically for me, and this is a great idea. Of course the standard AR can be used left handed, unlike the British Army's bullpup SA80 which I used during my service. With that I had to shoot right handed- and being left eye dominant, it's a bit of a pain to shoot right hand and right eye. It does help that the SA80 is easy to shoot well (I'll not go into functining or cleaning right now) but a left hand version should have been available. The Steyr AUG can be easily switched from right to left- pretty much essential for a bullpup weapon, but a feature that was forgotten in the SA80.

Getting back to the point, the Stag left-hand AR is not essential but in a right-hand dominated world, it's certainly enticing for the lefty. Four versions are available- three with 16" barrels and one with a 20". They are available as full rifles or uppers only. Just so you right handed folks don't feel left out, Stag also thoughtfully produce a version for you too.

The Stag website has a few copies of reviews on their website and the April edition of Guns gave the lefty AR a good write up:

I must confess that none of those [other ARs] prepared me for the first shot from the Stag. honestly I thought I had encountered a squib load because there was simply no recoil...What it was was simply the most effective muzzle brake I've shot on this type of weapon.

There were no stoppages whatsoever with a wide variety of ammo that included ball, hollowpoint, softpoint and nylon-tipped loads. And it got more than the normal number of rounds simply because it was fun. I'm a little old to be called to war, but I bought the gun anyhow. Just in case war comes to me.

Oh, and reviewer Charles Petty reports excellent accuracy. All in all this looks like a great choice for the left-handed shooter. Or the right handed one for that matter.