There are many guns on the market that have certain ambidextrous features. There are some that have interchangeable options for the left-handed shooter. And there are some designed specifically for lefties. Those guns designed for the left-handed were far and away out of my price range. Nothing that appealed to me had the left-handed options.

In terms of handguns, I have a revolver which had no options other than to learn to use it as-is, and a semi-auto which had some options to reverse to make it easier for me. I did research how to change out the magazine release on the Walther Creed. But in the end, I opted to leave it the way it came.

Every new shooter has ideas of certain tactical practice. Although I might have been the oldest new shooter, I was not immune to the thoughts of the tactical.  Being left-handed, purchasing the Smith and Wesson 686 allowed me to dive into the world of adapting to a gun designed for a right-handed person.

At first, I tried to release the cylinder by pressing the latch with my left thumb.   This posed several problems. Not the least of which was the instability of the weapon in my hand. I was able to release the cylinder, but there was, especially later into the range time, the problem of a very hot cylinder rolling out onto my index finger. I tried several different hand positions for using this technique, but none of them did anything to decrease the time it took for me to eject the spent shells and reload.

So, I gave up on making the revolver work the way a lefty might want it to work, and instead put my focus on making myself adapt to what I needed to do to properly and efficiently use the firearm. Now I use the following technique:

I carefully switch hands. I shift the gun into my right hand, use my right thumb to press the latch, swing out the cylinder, tip the gun up and press the ejection rod to drop the spent brass.

Is it as fast as a righty might perform a reload? Certainly not. But I can say that I am not terribly slow at this either. And after so much practice, this method requires no thought.

Good safety practices must still prevail. But with time and practice, a left-handed person can use the standard reloading practices with the only modification being the passing of the gun from one hand to the other.

The semi-auto was another story. It gave me the very tempting option of changing the magazine release to allow me to press it with my left thumb.

I chose not to make the change, after a lot of thought both ways on the idea. In the end, I suppose prompted partially by my adapting to the revolver, that I would just adapt to the way the Creed was built. There were two ideas that really sealed the deal for me in the end. In speaking with a Police Officer friend of mine, two very important considerations came up. One, I am the only lefty in my house. And two, why would I train myself into a position of rendering my training useless in the event things go to hell and I need to pick up someone else’s gun to defend myself and/or others?

So, my Walther is still designed for a right-handed person. I simply made these additions to my reload or malfunction clearing:

The first step I use is to press the magazine release with my index finger. This was a simple adjustment and in a short amount of time, anyone could turn this into a habit.

Next, turn the ejection port down. In the event of a jam, you want to avoid any hand positioning that might press a misfired or improperly ejected shell into the gun’s interior. Having the ejection port facing down allows gravity to be your friend.

From here it is a simple matter of placing a new magazine into the gun, rack the slide, and you are back in business.

This may not be official or common practice, but it is what I do and it works for me. I prefer the thought that if I fall, my Wife would be able to pick up the gun and use it normally and without her trying to make adjustments she had not trained for. Anyway, those are my thoughts.