How did lefties use bolt action rifles?
- Thread starter BigG
- Start date
Yep, I used a fabric steamer and worked on the stock for hours one day. It's grotesquely amazing to see all that cosmoline goo pour out of the wood.
If it was a soldier, singular, are you certain the video isn't just horizontally flipped? Are all his insignia on the correct side?
In Germany, being left handed is usually looked down upon as being "un-normal". They did not, nor have they ever made k98s configured for left handed shooters. If a recruit had previous shooting experience being left handed before he entered the Wehrmacht it would have been corrected in basic training AND disciplined until he was proficient at shooting right handed!
The Germans have always been excellent riflemen and soldiers. They are absolutely OCD about proper shooting stances and form. Every member of the Wehrmacht including officers were trained as rifle marksmen first (similar to our present USMC). I personally own a few German military shooting manuals published before and during the war that go deeply into detail about how to handle and shoot the K98 and the Gew98M/98b. I can post pictures of the proper shooting stances if anybody is interested.
The riflemen that went into Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and into Stalingrad were excellent shots and very professional soldiers. They had pretty good time to learn to be marksmen as the war was still going pretty good on their side. Only until after the loss at Stalingrad did the SHTF and Germans really get into a "panic mode" and started kicking recruits out the door with the basic minimum training and throwing them into the meat grinder. Don't get me wrong, those guys were excellent shots too but not as proficient as the guys that went in before them.
The Germans have always been excellent riflemen and soldiers. They are absolutely OCD about proper shooting stances and form. Every member of the Wehrmacht including officers were trained as rifle marksmen first (similar to our present USMC). I personally own a few German military shooting manuals published before and during the war that go deeply into detail about how to handle and shoot the K98 and the Gew98M/98b. I can post pictures of the proper shooting stances if anybody is interested.
The riflemen that went into Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and into Stalingrad were excellent shots and very professional soldiers. They had pretty good time to learn to be marksmen as the war was still going pretty good on their side. Only until after the loss at Stalingrad did the SHTF and Germans really get into a "panic mode" and started kicking recruits out the door with the basic minimum training and throwing them into the meat grinder. Don't get me wrong, those guys were excellent shots too but not as proficient as the guys that went in before them.
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Then i still dont understand why i saw a german with a left handed K98. I can show you the video if you want.
Being left-handed was a problem with close order drill. In that situation, of course a left-hander is going to have to do everything right-handed. When you are in combat it's different. I don't have the book with me, but Osprey's Wehrmacht Combat Helmets describes how the buckle of the Stahlhelms was placed on the left side of the helmet for right-handed soldiers and on the right side of the helmet for left-handed soldiers in order to prevent the buckle snagging on the rifle bolt. I forget which source they cited for this 'fact' though.
Yes, left-handed people were punished in schools at this time but I've seen enough photos (that weren't horizontally flipped) of left-handed GIs to believe that left-handed soldiers could and did fire their weapons left-handed. Individual preference has a lot more leeway in combat than in boot camp, as shooting efficiency is a lot more important than looking uniform. Whether a lefty fires left-handed depends on a number of factors, as many teach themselves to shoot right-handed. I am one of those odd people who is lefty but over time has learned to use computers right handed.
Also, speaking as a lefty (in both hand and eye), it is not difficult at all to work the bolt on a Mosin left-handed. It's much more difficult for me to try and shoot the thing right-handed.
Yes, left-handed people were punished in schools at this time but I've seen enough photos (that weren't horizontally flipped) of left-handed GIs to believe that left-handed soldiers could and did fire their weapons left-handed. Individual preference has a lot more leeway in combat than in boot camp, as shooting efficiency is a lot more important than looking uniform. Whether a lefty fires left-handed depends on a number of factors, as many teach themselves to shoot right-handed. I am one of those odd people who is lefty but over time has learned to use computers right handed.
Also, speaking as a lefty (in both hand and eye), it is not difficult at all to work the bolt on a Mosin left-handed. It's much more difficult for me to try and shoot the thing right-handed.
In Russia the lefties are the guys they sent into battle without a rifle and in Germany all the lefties were sent away to summer camp with lots of exercise, a bakery and some really nice large showers.
Ive probably already seen it but go ahead and post it. I can tell you without a doubt the footage was mirrored to make it more "eye apealing" "dramatic" or whatever. Many old movies are edited this way.
I'm a serious K98 collector and I know for a FACT they never made ANY left handed K98s. Manufacturing a left handed K98 would require SERIOUS retooling of the machines/lathes and changes in the manufacturing process at the factory, a thing that would take up valuable time and money...the two things the Germans could NOT afford to loose.
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It's mirrored, the National Color decals were on the right side of the helmet, in this video it's on the left side.
Your right. I just checked my grandpas helmet from WW2 and the Wehrmacht symbol should be on that side. I kinda feel stupid I didnt check that earlier.
When I had my military service some years ago I was forced to carry the gun on the right side and shoot right handed. There was never an option for leftys. There had been the option for lefty Steyr-Augs when it was designed but that was simply dropped... There are no leftys in the austrian army!
You know, until very recently leftys were severely looked down upon in Austria and Germany. Every lefty was "simply" trained (read forced) to use his right hand for writing as a kid. And when they were at it they tried to make him use his right hand for everything else.
My father had to go to a special and expensive private school because no other would have let him learn to write left handed back in the sixites. And back when I was in school, I was treated like an idiot because I
You know, until very recently leftys were severely looked down upon in Austria and Germany. Every lefty was "simply" trained (read forced) to use his right hand for writing as a kid. And when they were at it they tried to make him use his right hand for everything else.
My father had to go to a special and expensive private school because no other would have let him learn to write left handed back in the sixites. And back when I was in school, I was treated like an idiot because I
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Hey it's Bowcaster lol. Remember our minute long "failurefight" in fallenheroes? Couldn't hip shoot each other to save our lives.
OT: No idea :/ Interesting question, though.
OT: No idea :/ Interesting question, though.