Ordering A Factory Rifle, How Long?

I have a friend who will be getting married in October and I was thinking it would be nice to get him a rifle with the proceeds from his bachelor party instead of just handing him a bunch of cash (this also prevents his wife from spending it on knick-knacks for the house).

He's recently gotten into shooting and doesn't own a centerfire rifle yet and (since he's left handed) I'm thinking a Savage model 11GL in .308 would be perfect for him.

My question is, since I very rarely see left handed rifles on dealer shelves or at the local gun shows, I'm guessing that it will have to be ordered and was wondering approximately how long it will take before the dealer receives the rifle?

What am I looking at here; days, weeks, months?

# # What am I looking at here; days, weeks, months? # That's going to depend on your dealer's suppliers. If does not have it on the racks or on the shelves and you specifically order an item he'll call around to his sources and ask if they have it. If they do, it's probably just a matter of a few days before it's in your town and ready to purchase. (With waiting periods if applicable.)

If his regular sources don't have it, it will take a bit longer as they wait for it to come in or he will have to range further afield, possibly sending a FFL copy to a jobber or dealer he's not dealt with before.

Just a WAG, but a regular production item it will probably be available within a month or so at most. Provided that there is an adequate supply of them out there... Something that's really in demand could take a bit longer. Witness the waiting time for those Seecamp pocket pistols...

I have no idea how Remchester and Co. sets up the lines for southpaw rifles, shotguns, etc. My guess is that they do up a batch occasionally rather than maintain a steady small flow. It's already enough of a pain being a lefty rifleman with the limited caliber selection and model grade choice. I keep looking at catalogs to see if anyone offers southpaw bolt guns in .22 Hornet but no go so far.

Seems these days with computer controlled machinery that offering a full selection on a left handed action wouldn't be much of a trick to accomplish to accommodate a roughly ten percent share of the shooting population.

Better stop... going from info to rant...

Brian Nolen <raises left fist in lefty power salute>

How it was explained to me was that you don't necessarilly order from the factory direct, most FFL's order from a distributor so depending on the firearm the distributor has a left hand gun sitting in his warehouse waiting for you, unless it's something from the factory custom shop or a limited edition firearm you should have it in about a weeks time, there are plenty of exceptions to this 'Bushmaster' comes to mind, unless Savage has a policy of building left hand guns as ordered your gunstore should be able to make a few calls and find one.

FWIW Bob M

No standard answer. Quick if the distributor has the LH models in stock, longer if they have to go back to the factory.

Try a gun show in your area. I generally see several LH models (all different makes and models from time to time) at every gun show here in Houston.

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# I have a friend who will be getting married in October and # I was thinking it would be nice to get him a rifle with the # proceeds from his bachelor party instead of just handing him # a bunch of cash (this also prevents his wife from spending # it on knick-knacks for the house).

Just a thought here: Would this be considered a 'straw purchase' by the

Even though he is left handed have you seen him operating right handed guns? I'm a lefty & shoot that way but prefer my bolt guns to be set up right handed. I'm just used to it I guess. I could shoot a left handed action if I had one but never really felt the need for it.

John

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# # My question is, since I very rarely see left handed rifles # on dealer shelves or at the local gun shows, I'm guessing # that it will have to be ordered and was wondering approximately # how long it will take before the dealer receives the rifle?

If you will go to http://www.galleryofguns.com/gunlocator/ locatorstart.asp and click on 'Lefties click here', you will find that they have a lot of left-handed rifles already in stock.

John Cowart