History Main / RightHandedLeftHandedGuns

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} game ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'' also does this, mostly in the name of GunPorn. The weapons are also embellished rather heavily to play up the gun porn angle even more (the Uzi, for example, has an RIS rail immobilizing the charging handle on top and ''another'' charging handle added to the side).

* All ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' games do this, despite their otherwise sensible [[FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism FPS realism]]. This includes using left-handed [=SA80=]'s and [=OTs-14=] "Grozas" without explaining how the player avoids breaking his jaw with the moving bolt handle. One older mod for one game attempts to marginally fix the issue by making the cartridges fly off to the right... except that, given that the weapons' worldmodels are reversed, ''there's no ejection port on the right side of most of the guns''. Newer mods have addressed this via complete overhauls of guns' models and animations.
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} game ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'' also does this, mostly in the name of GunPorn. The weapons are also embellished rather heavily to play up the gun porn angle even more (the Uzi, for example, has an RIS rail immobilizing the charging handle on top and ''another'' charging handle added to the side).
* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' is one of the earliest offenders. In a USENET post, the developers admitted that a right-handed Duke wielding guns with left-side ejection ports wasn't very realistic. Gratuitous spent brass flying across the player's field-of-view was [[RuleOfCool just that cool]]. ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' avoids this for its new pistol, but keeps it for the returning shotgun.

%%(ZCE)* Averted also in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Underground''.

* Zigzagged in the ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'' series. Some weapons are modeled properly, while some are modeled weirdly - such as an [=HK416=] with the ejection port on the left side of the receiver, but the forward assist still firmly on the right.
** ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' and ''Vietnam'' had ''every'' gun modeled as left-handed; this practice stopped from ''2'' and onwards, save for the ''Bad Company'' spinoffs.
* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' has a rather strange example. When you find a shotgun or sniper rifle on the ground, they will have a right-handed ejection port and bolt, but then once you pick it up and use it, the port/bolt is suddenly reversed. The corollary about simply flipping the right-side model for GunsAkimbo also comes up with the ''Paradise Lost'' DLC (which also has another straight example with its "Beta Shotgun"), though that's actually a lesser concern than, say, how the Dude makes a second copy of his current gun appear out of nowhere for a minute just from drinking a can of soda.

* Done terribly in the MMO ''VideoGame/FallenEarth''. The bolt handles are usually on the left, yet your character still uses their right hand to eject spent shells from rifles.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' trilogy contains examples of this trope played straight, and being intentionally averted: right-handed sidearms (like the standard issue magnum automatic) will have correctly displayed right-handed actions and ejection ports, but when you pick up a second from a fallen (right-handed) comrade, it will suddenly be left-handed. This effect is caused by the guns-in-hand graphics and animations being flipped on the X axis for dual wielding, instead of adding a memory-hogging second graphic set.
** The ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' mod VideoGame/BallisticWeapons, which handles GunsAkimbo much the same as ''Marathon'', does this as well - weapons are for the most part modeled correctly for right-handed use, but any dual-wield-capable gun will have its model mirrored when in the player's left hand.
** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' justifies this for its returning, dual-wieldable Enforcer pistol, which is clearly designed with the ability to load its magazines from either side. How your character actually switches someone else's Enforcer around for left-handed use just by picking it up while already having one of their own is another story.
* ''VideoGame/HaloReach'''s DMR ejects spent cases to the right, but the charging handle is on the left and visibly slides back and forth with each shot, putting the user's face in danger if he should ever look down the sight when firing.

* The two ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' games generally mirror a gun's sprite/model for GunsAkimbo. The exception is the SawedOffShotgun of ''VideoGame/{{Blood II|TheChosen}}'', which has your character hold the second shotgun with a ''second right hand'' where their left hand should be. The ''Extra Crispy'' GameMod fixes this.

* Inverted by ''Franchise/DieHard: Nakatomi Plaza''. Probably the only LicensedGame that bothers to take into account that John [=McClane=] is left handed, the models of guns are flipped over to make them suitable for a lefty. Particularly notable with the Steyr AUG, which needs a conversion kit to be fired left handed, which would make them useless to all the right handed terrorists encountered in the game.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' does this with most of its weapons, but a particular standout is the bolt-action hunting rifle. Every single one of the hunting rifles in the Commonwealth is a left-handed model, with the bolt hanging over the left of the stock. Yet the player character holds the weapon right-handed, meaning they must hold onto the rifle by the pistol grip to awkwardly cycle the weapon after every shot. The direction Bethesda took here is very confusing, as the hunting rifle from their [[VideoGame/Fallout3 previous]] ''Fallout'' game was modeled correctly, and even most of the stocks available for ''4''[='=]s bolt-action still have an obvious notch on the right side for the bolt handle to rest in.
** The Handmade Rifle introduced in the ''Nuka World'' add on is an interesting example. It’s based on the AKM, which in of itself is kind of backwards for western shooters anyway with all of the controls on the right hand side of the gun, but it still ejects out the right side. The Handmade Rifle swaps the safety lever and charging handle to the left side, making it seem more correct to those unfamiliar with the AK platform, but it brings with it the issue of the ejection port being on the left side as well.
* The ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' games almost completely avert this - even the [[GunsAkimbo dual pistols]] in the first game clearly have both guns ejecting to the right and left-side-only safety levers - except for one particularly odd standout in ''F.E.A.R. 2''[='=]s SHO Series-3 shotgun: among the many embellishments added to its real-world base to make the in-game model are the bolt and case deflector of a [=C7/M16A2=] - on the left-hand side, the opposite of where they would be on the rifle they came from. Why this is the case is unknown, since while you can clearly see that bolt opening and closing with the pump, the gun still properly ejects shells to the right like the previous game's VK-12.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'':
** Every gun has its magazine either at the bottom or on the left side while every playable character is right-handed, no matter how little sense it makes to hold a gun by the stock to reload it (even when the magazine is at the bottom). Again, this series is all about [[RuleOfCool looking cool as hell]] while shooting bad guys with otherwordly cool guns, so [[MST3KMantra who cares?]]
** ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'': Lampshaded. A fire in the hold of the ship requires several burning crates of supplies to be shot out into space. Ellie complains that this included all the left-handed guns.
* Minor cases in ''VideoGame/GoldenEye2010''; one gun has a flipped ejection port (the Anova [=DP3=]), and a few others have the charging handles (Ivana Spec-R and Kallos TT-9) or the safety lever (AK-47) on the wrong side. It's downplayed in that they all still eject to the right, and the AK's model was fixed for the ''Reloaded'' UpdatedRerelease.

* [[http://www.good-fun.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-On-Stranger-Tides-Wallpaper-10.jpg This]] promotional poster shows [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Captain Jack Sparrow]] dual-wielding a pair of flintlock pistols, one left-handed and one right-handed. Similar to cartridge ejection, the side the mechanism is on ejects a plume of smoke and sparks. Bearing that in mind, closer inspection shows he is holding them in the ''wrong hands'' - i.e. the left-handed gun in his right hand and vice versa.

* In ''Film/RomancingTheStone'', the right-handed Jack Colton uses a left-handed Remington 870 Wingmaster shotgun for some reason.

* One of the real-world reasons ''Series/StargateSG1'' switched its main weapon from the [=MP5=] to the P90 was because the latter weapon ejects spent cartridges straight down behind the shooter's arm, versus the former ejecting cartridges violently out to the right, making it safer to have the actors standing side-by-side while firing when one episode called for such a scene.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' does this with most of its weapons, but a particular standout is the bolt-action hunting rifle. Every single one of the hunting rifles in the Commonwealth is a left-handed model, with the bolt hanging over the left of the stock. Yet the player character holds the weapon right-handed, meaning they must hold onto the rifle by the pistol grip to awkwardly cycle the weapon after every shot. The direction Bethesda took here is very confusing, as the hunting rifle from their [[VideoGame/Fallout3 previous]] ''Fallout'' game was modeled correctly.
** The Handmade Rifle introduced in the ''Nuka World'' add on is an interesting example. It’s based on the AKM, which in of itself is kind of backwards for western shooters anyway with all of the controls on the right hand side of the gun, but it still ejects out the right side. The Handmade Rifle swaps the safety lever and charging handle to the left side, making it seem more correct to those unfamiliar with the AK platform, but it brings with it the issue of the ejection port being on the left side as well. This is likely because of the new PowerArmor mechanic, making the animation for charging a more correct AK awkward when the player is in a suit that straddles the line into MiniMecha territory.

** Every gun has its magazine either at the bottom or on the left side while every playable character is right-handed, no matter how little sense it makes to hold a gun by the stock to reload it (even when the magazine is at the bottom). Again, this series is all about [[RuleOfCool looking cool as hell]] while shooting bad guys with otherwordly cool guns, then [[MST3KMantra who cares?]]

** Every gun has its magazine either at the bottom or on the left side while every playable character is right-handed, no matter how little sense it makes to hold a gun by the stock to reload it (even when the magazine is at the bottom). Again, this series is all about [[RuleOfCool looking cool as hell]] while shooting bad guys with [[CoolGuns otherwordly cool guns]], then [[MST3KMantra who cares?]]

Bottom - How guns are really designed]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' (and [[VideoGame/Destiny2 its sequel) averts this, as all weapons that aren't Hand Cannons, Rocket Launchers, Fusion Rifles, and Linear Fusion Rifles always eject their spent rounds to the right.

[[caption-width-right:320:Top - This trope in full effect. Bottom - How guns are really designed]]

* The two ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' games generally mirror a gun's sprite/model for GunsAkimbo. The exception is the SawedOffShotgun of ''Blood II'', which has your character hold the second one with a ''second right hand'' where their left hand should be. The ''Extra Crispy'' GameMod fixes this.

In a real right handed gun, the ejection port almost always ejects spent casings to the right, away from the shooter. There's a good reason for this; spent casings are typically extremely hot and can be ejected with significant force; although many conventional service weapons like the AR-15/M16 family are designed for ambidextrous operation without need of conversion, using some weapons in the "wrong" hand is potentially dangerous. This is especially true of bullpup weapons. The Austrian Steyr AUG and French FAMAS require conversion for left-hand operation, while the British Army simply trains everyone to use the [=SA80/L85=] and its derivatives right-handed, period. The FN F2000 uses a forward-ejection system, while the P90 SMG/PDW ejects downward.

Another explanation for this trope that has been offered by gamers and game makers is that, in cases where a gun in a game is ''based'' [[AKA47 on a gun in real life but that the developer has not officially licensed]], mirroring the gun gives enough distance from its real world counterpart to be able to dissuade possible legal action for copyright infringement.

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/XBox game ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'' also does this, mostly in the name of GunPorn. The weapons are also embellished rather heavily to play up the gun porn angle even more (the Uzi, for example, has an RIS rail immobilizing the charging handle on top and ''another'' charging handle added to the side).

A trope starting to crop up in videogames, in which a firearm is clearly not designed to be used in the hand it's being held in; since almost all FPS protagonists are right handed, this has them holding left-handed guns. Or when wielding GunsAkimbo, a left-handed gun in the right hand and right-handed gun in the left.

** The German army G36 standard assault rifle is designed to be used by both right- and left-handed soldiers. The ejector is on the right side of the weapon, but a good distance away from the optics, so that a left-handed shooter won't be hit in the face by the casings. It also has a symmetric grip, the safety-selector switch on both sides of the grip, and a unique charging handle that can be quickly grabbed and pulled from either side, so that it can easily be operated from the left hand. It is, however, more difficult for a left-handed soldier to carry the rifle, as it misses a hole for the carrying belt on the right side of the weapon, but this is mainly to avoid interference of the belt with the ejector. The XM8 and MP7, both based on the G36's action, are much the same, also adding bolt releases that can be easily hit with the trigger finger, rather than the left-mounted bolt release on the M4 and M16 the former was attempting to replace.

* The M1 Garand and Short Magazine Lee-Enfield from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII both had sniper mods featuring scopes that were mounted to the left of the receiver, rather than above like most other scoped weapons, so as not to block the insertion (or, in the case of the Garand, ejection) of their clips when the user needed to reload, with the obvious downside that the scopes couldn't be used left-handed (at least without [[GangstaStyle holding it awkwardly]]). The improved Lee-Enfield No.4's sniper mod, the No.4 (T), averted this, using a 90-degree bent mount that fits to the left side of the receiver but still places the optic on the weapon's centerline, which allowed lefties to aim with the scope at the cost of slower reloads (since the scope blocked off the space needed to insert a clip).

** The German army G36 standard assault rifle is designed to be used by both right- and left-handed soldiers. The ejector is on the right side of the weapon, but a good distance away from the optics, so that a left-handed shooter won't be hit in the face by the casings. It also has a symmetric grip, the safety-selector switch on both sides of the grip, and a unique charging handle that can be quickly grabbed and pulled from either side, so that it can easily be operated from the left hand. It is, however, more difficult for a left-handed soldier to carry the rifle, as it misses a hole for the carrying belt on the right side of the weapon, but this is mainly to avoid interference of the belt with the ejector. The XM8 and [[CoolGuns/SubmachineGuns MP7]], both based on the G36's action, are much the same, also adding bolt releases that can be easily hit with the trigger finger, rather than the left-mounted bolt release on the M4 and M16 the former was attempting to replace.

** The German army G36 standard assault rifle is designed to be used by both right- and left-handed soldiers. The ejector is on the right side of the weapon, but a good distance away from the optics, so that a left-handed shooter won't be hit in the face by the casings. It also has a symmetric grip, the safety-selector switch on both sides of the grip, and a unique charging handle that can be quickly grabbed and pulled from either side, so that it can easily be operated from the left hand. It is, however, more difficult for a left-handed soldier to carry the rifle, as it misses a hole for the carrying belt on the right side of the weapon, but this is mainly to avoid interference of the belt with the ejector. The [[RareGuns XM8]] and [[CoolGuns/SubmachineGuns MP7]], both based on the G36's action, are much the same, also adding bolt releases that can be easily hit with the trigger finger, rather than the left-mounted bolt release on the M4 and M16 the former was attempting to replace.

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* ''Project IGI'' plays this straight with the AK-47, but otherwise goes out of its way to avert this, with even a [[GunsAkimbo second Uzi]] being properly modeled rather than just flipping the right-hand gun. The sequel delves more into this: returning guns, even the new model for the AK-47, are still modeled properly, while most of the new guns take this to an extreme, with the left-hand side being a mirror of the right while their right-hand sides are correctly modeled and textured.

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* For years, Remington has been making [[http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/left-hand/model-700-cdl-lh.aspx left-handed bolt-action guns]], and Model 870 shotguns.

* The VZ61 Skorpion machine pistol, thanks to its compact size lacks a charging handle, and rather has two little “nubs” attached to the bolt that ride on either side of the receiver that the operator actuates with their thumb and forefinger, and the brass ejects out the top. The only part that isn’t ambidextrous is the selector.

* The loading gate on a Colt Single Action Army revolver is on the right-hand side; a right-handed shooter has to transfer the gun to his/her left hand to reload in a non-awkward fashion.
** This is more because of its intended use than anything else (it's frequently rumored it was made that way because Samuel Colt was left-handed, but he had nothing to do with the SAA's design, having died about a decade before it came out). Pistols were originally meant to be used by officers and mounted units as a secondary weapon to their swords. Revolvers were worn in a cross draw holster high on the right hip for easy access from a saddle; they were historically used by cavalry ''far'' more often than by infantry (even nowadays, plenty of soldiers will tell you that, ounce for ounce, a couple extra grenades beats a pistol any day of the week). The SAA was originally intended for use by cavalry, and the .45 Long Colt cartridge, much like the massive Colt Walker, was intended to be powerful enough to bring down either man ''or horse'' with one shot.

*** The Browning M2 can be set up to load ammo belts from either side, though since you're invariably firing one from directly behind rather than holding it like a regular weapon, this is less about keeping ejected brass away from the user and more to let it be used in several different mountings, including side-by-side and quad-mounts (like Charlie's sled from ''Film/WaterWorld''), which require flexible feeding and ejecting mechanisms.

*** The CZ Scorpion EVO 3 appears to take a lot of inspiration from the [=MP5=], with strikingly similar controls. From the factory, the Scorpion features a selector lever on both sides, an ambidextrous magazine release directly behind the magazine, that straddles the front most part of the trigger guard, and the charging handle can be swapped to either side (or a second handle could be added to the “wrong” side, thanks to the insane aftermarket). The only things on the weapon that aren’t ambidextrous are the ejection port, which is far enough forward to not be an issue, and the bolt release, located on the left had side of the lower receiver.