I'm a lefty but I've never felt inconvenienced by any of the AR's I've shot; but I've never really lived with one for any length of time.  

Is a left handed upper that big a deal (advantage, convenience, etc) ?  
My kids are right handed; Is it a big deal for a righty to shoot on a lefty upper?  
Aside from the basic upper shell itself, are any of the parts used to build it up that are left hand specific?
Is there such a thing as a left handed lower?  

TIA.  

I'm not a lefty, but;

Quoted: Is a left handed upper that big a deal (advantage, convenience, etc) ?

personal decision, the brass deflector on a regular C7/A2 upper was designed  for left handed shooter's

My kids are right handed; Is it a big deal for a righty to shoot on a lefty upper?

the left handed upper has the BD, so in theory, it should work for right handed, as the regular works for left  

Aside from the basic upper shell itself, are any of the parts used to build it up that are left hand specific?

bolt and bolt carrier

Is there such a thing as a left handed lower?

no, but there are Ambi- mag releases, selectors and charge handle latches  

I'm a lefty, the lefty uppers are a nice thought, but like he said, the brass won't hit you any way if you fire left handed. You also need a barrel with a left handed or ambidextrous barrel extension.

Really, the only things you need on an AR for ambidextrous use are the mag release and safety. The safety won't really be needed unless you are on a two way range, and even then there are techniques. The ambidextrous magazine release is a must have IMO though. Makes everything SO much easier. It sucks though when I go from my AR-15 to my M16 at work. I'm used to the ambidextrous safety, but none exist for the M16.

Thanks for the info.  I think I'll go righty.  I've found that one of the best things about being a left handed shooter is that you can look into the chamber more easily.  Makes it a lot easier to verify the status of the weapon and clear malfs.  

I'm a lefty (left-handed, not left-wingedhippie.gif) and I went with a regular AR. My reasoning was:

-same design as used in military/LE, which I plan on doing
-design is meant to be ambidextrous, as it is based on a military rifle
-I shoot both left and right handed (now mostly right-handed), as everyone shooter should be able to do

Definitely go with a regular AR.

I don't really see any advantage for a left handed upper.  As other's have stated, the normal upper is designed to prevent the brass from impacting the face of a leftie.  Buying a dedicated leftie upper may have a few disadvantages.  
1:  Resale....I doubt that any right handed shooters will want a left handed lower....so your potential market is reduced to only lefties....and you know how many there are out there in relation to righties
2.  If you are forced to transition to a right handed stance...your going to be back to the origional problem....
3.  It's a solution in search of a problem

IIRC 1/3rd of all humans are left handed.

The left handed model is great. Get it. If it was meant to be ambidextrous, let's get all the righties to shoot the lefty version.

It really is much nicer to shoot. If you want others to shoot right handed, just swap out uppers.

Why are you concerned about your kids shooting a left handed rifle? Seriously, if you are concerned about that, you already know in your heart of hearts that a left handed version is better for you than a right handed version. If you thought it was no big deal you wouldn't even be wondering.

Give the left hand version a try before you commit.

Quoted: IIRC 1/3rd of all humans are left handed.

More like 7% - 10%.  Felt like .05% when I tried to sell a left handed Savage Police model once!

I've owned ARs since 1993 (chalk up another one for the AWB!) and all I need is an ambi safety and an "ambi-catch" mag release.

I had a Beretta Storm which is reversible, and the novelty of that wore off pretty quickly.  My son is right handed, and never had any problems shooting the storm "unconverted" but again, it didn't help me any either.

I appreciate when a company offers products designed specifically for the right-minded, but in this case, I just didn't see a need.

i love my left handed uppers i have a dpms and a stag.  

just last weekend i was up in the snow shooting i took my colt M4 upper and my stag.

i was wearing a coat with a hood i shot the stag no problem i shot the colt i had a couple of hot pcs
of brass hit my hood a couple caught and one feel down my shirt it did not hurt but i had to stop down
and fish out the brass and pull it out .

ive also had grit shoot out onto my glasses from shooting a right handed upper which would have been my eye .

funny story i let my cousins right handed teenage daughter shoot my left handed dpms and she had brass fall down
shirt i had to catch my rifle since she just about dropped it not to mention a momment of concern to what made her
freek out which tuned to laughs when we found out what happened.

its really not that big of deal to shoot right handed rifles being left handed but givin the option why not own a rifle
designed for the way you shoot guys are spending over $200 for a flashlight guys will pay over $150 for a stock that will do the same as a $45 stock its all about personal preferance and getting the edge and the cool factor.

guys will spend hundreds even thousands for the right optics and the right stock and the right handgaurds the right
laser the right flip up sights the right ammo all due to preferance of all the gidgets and gadgets and upgrades float tubes all to get that minor advantage when all they may have really needed was what was included in the box my
favorite was getting a left handed upper

What i still dont understand if why some guys still put down and question the left handed uppers?



my 2.5 cents

I am a lefty. I have never seen the need for a lefty upper.

I put ambi-safeties on all my lowers and learned to change mags with my right hand. The way I change mags is just as easy and fast as any right-handed technique.

That said, my modifications have nothing to do with the upper. A lefty upper simply throws brass the other direction. Since I have never been hit by flying brass, I do not see the advantage. Replacement parts are only available from a few sources. That is not a plus.

If you want a lefty upper, go for it. Plan on keeping it for the rest of your life, because very few people would be interested in buying it from you used.

Quoted: If you want a lefty upper, go for it. Plan on keeping it for the rest of your life, because very few people would be interested in buying it from you used.

How many guns have you sold out of your collection? Do you buy guns so that you can sell them?

I think left handed people might be interested in buying left hand guns. JMO.