Well I another thread about this and the q loader but I thought I would take a poll on this. Here is my situation. I am looking at the a-5 to upgrade from my current gun but I shoot left handed and all the a-5s are made for right handers and there is no way to mod the gun to flip the hopper to the other side(I am sure this can be done with some $$$$). The hopper looks like a real hassle for those who mainly shoot left handed, but is seems to me that there are those that still use it with that hopper like that. Yes, I can shoot right handed, in fact I am right handed in everything that I do except shooting guns, bows, paint ball guns, ect. because I am left eyed dominate. I feel 10 times more comfortable shooting left handed. O.k. enough rambling, I want to hear what you guys think from your experience about the hopper affecting left handed shooters.

I shoot mostly with my left and I have no issues whatsoever.

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I shoot left handed. I think shooting the A5 left handed has its advantages. One thing is that you do not have to reach over the gun to refill your hopper, just bring it up with your left hand and open the hopper with you right hand. I do have an offset X7 hopper and have no problems, but a standard hopper is ok also.
later,
Billy

darth mason
I see that you have a red dot sight on your gun, is that also easy to use left handed? I hear that they work the best when using both eyes, so would the hopper get in the way for using both eyes? Thanks for the input!

I took the red dot off. I was not using it. I took it off and have a better field of view. Yes, you use both eyes when using a red dot scope or sight. But I have found that with paintball guns, that it is not very accurate. With fire arms, with red dot scopes, you zero your metal sights and the line up the red dot with you sight picture. The bullet will hit that point, but in paintball the paintballs are not as accurate as firearms and will sometimes be off. I prefer a more open sight vision than using a red dot scope due to the limited amount of area the scope lets you look at it. Plus, I have found with left handed shooters that we need to hold the gun at little more in front to get the right eye around the hooper. The offset will help some, plus add about 30 more paintballs. That is why I like a non-stock A5, so I do not have to keep the gun at the same spot to shoot it. I can move it around my sight picutre more, like a sub-machine gun, I would say.
later,
Billy
P.S. I need to change my sig.

On shooting left handed: with the cyclone forcing paint into the breech, I just tilt the marker to the right until the cyclone is no longer in my line of sight.

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Couldn't you use one of those hopper offset tubes, just reversed so it moves the hopper to the left? I imagine it wouldn't be too bad with an X-7 hopper.

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Tippmann A5 -- ICP B-5 Mod -- APE Rampage Board -- Tippmann Double Trigger w/ Spring Mods -- Whisper Barrel -- Polished Internals -- Sight Cover Rail -- X7 Hopper -- 32 Degrees Remote with slide check -- Custom Y-Harness pod pack.

I only shoot left handed once in a while...being a righty...I'm lucky in that aspect.

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Eventhough I normally fight right handed, (and I'm ambidextrous) when the need arises I never found it a problem shooting as a lefty. I personally would suggest using the X7 hopper instead on the standard hopper for a lower profile and better visibility, but I would say that regardless if you used it right or left handed. lol

"you make do with what you got, if you can make it better then great, if not.... live with it"
Quote from my daddy

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Full time "Lefty" here....
I don't have a problem with it, since I shoot both eyes open. Being left handed for so many years, you adapt to the marker you are using. Also, reloading is so simple left handed, I do not even take the marker out of my shoulder to fill the hopper. I have more problems out of my remote when I switch sides than shooting the marker either side..and for you right handed out there, practice left handed shooting, it will help you.....

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USMC - 1981 TO 1991+USNR - 2003 TO PRESENT
Current Location: The Big Sandbox
Tippmann A-5, M4 Stock and Fore grip, 16 inch barrel, remote air, polished internals, R/T, thanks to Mad Dawg Paintball...