First build but im a lefty, i need a little help

[Deer Hunter]

I bought my 1st Grendel last yr for hunting deer, a J & T Dist 24" tackdriving upper and put it on a DPMS Lower. I shot a nice 8 pt he scored about 115 B & C at about 250 yards, not a hard shot by any means but i placed it right behind the shoulder and he hit the dirt right where he stood. I was impressed to say the least but thats not why m posting my first tonight.
I just finished my first DPMS lower from scratch, suprisingly fairly easy. I only hope the upper is as easy and that leads me to my questions. Im a left so i thought DPMS Southpaw stripped upper or Stag? Any preferences, why? J & T dist 20" HBAR or 18" Alexander Arms 6,5 grendel barrel?
Last but not least, what kind of bolt assembly. Can i adapt a standard Grendel bolt assembly a send the bolts out the opposite side or can i order a left hand bolt assembly. Any help will be appreciated, thanks DH

[ricsmall]

seems that there was an old thread on here about someone building a lefty grendel. IIRC, all they said about bolt was "classified". I could be mistaken, could have been on another board. Bet you could do a search though.

[seatleroadwr]

I'm left handed as well but shoo righthanded gear, mostly because the parts are so much easier to find. I have a buddy who was a Marine drill instructor who told me that the Marines tell their recruits that the rifle does not know if it is right or left handed and that the fire control just happens to be on the left side. There are actually a few advantages for a left hander using right handed stuff such as easier access to the bolt release.

If you really want a left handed rifle, the bolt will be your biggest challenge.

[gunrestorer]

I'am right handed but naturally shoot left,I personaly have never owned or shot a left hand rifle. Never has been a problem for me, I guess I have gotten used to it.I also like the fact that I can shoot most anyone elses rifle without having to "retrain" myself, also if you ever want or need to sell it it is a lot easier to do if it is right hand rifle.

[Whelenon]

I'm a lefty and I too don't see the need to build a lefty, especially with the AR for a bunch of reasons. I have no problems shooting a righty, parts availability, paying a premium to build a left handed AR, if I ever want to sell it finding a buyer is a problem and I probably won't get as much.

Barrel selection, I prefer AA but have no experience with J&T.

That said if you want to build one go for it, it's been done before. Stag has been building lefty's the for a long time, not sure how long DPMS has been in it but they and Stag have a good reputations. I would expect a good product from both, but their products are primarily for the 223/5.56. The bolt is the fly in the ointment, it has to be a left handed bolt. Go to:

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?569-My-LEFT-HANDED-Grendel-is-complete!/page2

Try contacting KDOGG43 and/or do a search for "left handed", for additional information.

Good luck.

[LRRPF52]

For a left-hand AR, standard bolts don't work, because the RH bolt is set-up for a RH ejection angle. The bolts are also peened on the downside of the cam pin hole, so that they can't be installed improperly.

A purpose-built LH bolt is essential for a LH gun so that the ejection angle is correct.

[Deer Hunter]

I thought that would be the case. Ive got Left handed bolt action guns but i to have right handed ARs in 5.56, 6.5 grendel & .308 and i love them , i just thought since i was building gun from scractch i might as well make it a L H model. Thanks for thr replies.

[ricsmall]

I thought that would be the case. Ive got Left handed bolt action guns but i to have right handed ARs in 5.56, 6.5 grendel & .308 and i love them , i just thought since i was building gun from scractch i might as well make it a L H model. Thanks for thr replies.

Deer hunter

If youre dead set on a left hand gun, there is a custom search engine in the "6.5 grendel ar's and other semi autos" section. Im not sure how to imbed that link, as i try to spend more time loading and shooting than on the pc. But, you can search "left hand grendels" and find that thread. i found it, but dont know how to imbed it. BTW, as someone else stated, you can have a left hand 5.56 bolt opened up and deepened, it should not require heat treatment, as ive had many bolt gun bolts opened up and they did not. A good machinist wont get it hot enough to distemper the steel, unless its only surface hardened, which I dont think ar bolts are. You should then be able to fit a grendel extractor to the bolt, as I'm not sure that you could effectively modify a 5.56 extractor to work. Just do some exploration before you give up. Good luck.

Richard

[Deer Hunter]

I went with right handed ar's for the exact same reasons as most of yall. I could get the 6.8 bolt assembly fro Stag and i thought that could be modified but like Seatleroadwr said. The gun doesnt know if its a righty or a lefty and like gunrestorer said ive gotten use to shooting right handed guns as good or better than their owners in alot of cases. I will build another right handed Grendel if thats the only way. The deflector works perfectly on all my guns, hot brass has never been a problem. But im gonna keep trying to look for info over the weekend.
One other question for the group. I thought about and 18 " AA LITE BARREL AND then ive also thought about a 16" J & T ss flutted bull barrel. For the owners out there of 16" barrels. Will i still be able to shoot 3-500 yard shots? I know im losing some velocity but if it still keeps me in that yardage range i'll trade the difference for manuverability in my stand.

[Mattw]

Have you considered a side charging upper? My GF is a lefty and loves using the side charging uppers over the standard charging handle. I haven't really taken note of the degree they eject at, I will next time we go, but both my AA and Ops-4 seem to eject at about 100-110 degrees. She has never been hit by a shell shooting left handed from my side chargers, just something else to think about.

[Deer Hunter]

Mattw, is your side charger upper a AA? If not where did you get it?

[Mattw]

My Grendel has an AA right side charge and my 5.56 has an LAR Grizzly Ops-4 ambidextrous side charge. http://www.largrizzly.com/web/guest/ops-4-uppers I updated some photo's of the Ops-4 today in the photo gallery section.