Lefty flintlocks "back in the day"?
- Thread starter Claven2
- Start date
I doubt if many muskets were made with left handed locks, but sporting guns were. There are some left hand Kentuckies pictured in Kindig's book. Not many, mind you. I still have that original, never fitted, never finished left hand flint lock that we discussed ages ago.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
I'm sure that most lefties back then did like many do these days and just use right handed guns. Seen lots of people do it but I'd still worry a bit about buring off the end of my nose.
Custom guns have never been cheap so left handed guns were probably not too common.
Custom guns have never been cheap so left handed guns were probably not too common.
Yeah, well, I'm too old to learn to shoot right handed and I'm too scared to regularly shoot a RH flintlock. I value my eyes and face and eyebrows - some guys do this regularly with no issues, presumably they wear glasses and never have accidents.
Personally, I'm a more prudent sort.
I ask because I ordered a nifty looking .54cal iron-trimmed lefty Lehman trade rifle kit form TOTOW today to build. Went left handed, but was curious if similar guns ever existed "in period". I would have maybe preferred a hook-breech Hawken in the same cal, but they are backordered and I was impatient - LOL.
Ideally it turns out well enough that I can finally sell my reliable but not ideally inletted and fit Lyman great plains in .54cal. That Lyman caplock is very reliable and accurate, but the Lyman factory finish leaves a lot to be deisred IMHO (or my standards are too high?). The lock inletting isn't very tight compared to original guns I've handled, the stock contours are ugly and the cheekpiece is a joke IMHO - more like a total lack of shaping or inletting there. It does shoot though so it's stayed in the stable. It's an average Lyman Great Plains, but they just don't stack up to a custom build.
I'm desperately hoping a nicely built TOTW lefty rock crusher will be just the thing to dethrone it - LOL.
Yes, I remember that lock #### - very nice little number. I always thought it would look great on a little .32 or .36 squirrel gun. If you donate it to the cause, I'll eventually build one - lol.
Personally, I'm a more prudent sort.
I ask because I ordered a nifty looking .54cal iron-trimmed lefty Lehman trade rifle kit form TOTOW today to build. Went left handed, but was curious if similar guns ever existed "in period". I would have maybe preferred a hook-breech Hawken in the same cal, but they are backordered and I was impatient - LOL.
Ideally it turns out well enough that I can finally sell my reliable but not ideally inletted and fit Lyman great plains in .54cal. That Lyman caplock is very reliable and accurate, but the Lyman factory finish leaves a lot to be deisred IMHO (or my standards are too high?). The lock inletting isn't very tight compared to original guns I've handled, the stock contours are ugly and the cheekpiece is a joke IMHO - more like a total lack of shaping or inletting there. It does shoot though so it's stayed in the stable. It's an average Lyman Great Plains, but they just don't stack up to a custom build.
I'm desperately hoping a nicely built TOTW lefty rock crusher will be just the thing to dethrone it - LOL.
Yes, I remember that lock #### - very nice little number. I always thought it would look great on a little .32 or .36 squirrel gun. If you donate it to the cause, I'll eventually build one - lol.
Perhaps, but I think most Pennsylvania long rifles, for example, were all custom jobs to begin with - so if some existed, they likely were not a whole lot more money than a RH model - or that's my theory anyhow.
In those days, most sporting guns were custom made, with the exception of trade guns, which were produced in quantity to a standard pattern for trading with the Indians. Even those were hand made, one at a time, rather than being assembled from mass-produced parts.
Although there were undoubtedly left-handed flintlock guns made, I suspect the fact that left-handedness was discouraged until recently ensured that fewer were made than might be otherwise.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
Most sporting rifles were custom made but not many guns in early N. America were sporting rifles. The average Joe was most likely using an all purpose smooth bore similar to a military musket or a trade gun. Finer custom guns are over represented in collections because they were more likely to be well cared for and kept in the family. All the old general use guns got beat up from use and weren't kept when cartridge rifles started to be available after the Civil War.
Of the custom guns many were made in a way similar to the way Claven is building his. A set of parts were bought and assembled to suit the customer. Left handed hardware was available but not likely easy to come by. Generic right handed locks and hardware were probably made in a semi mass production way or shipped from Europe by the crate full.
It would have been a fairly small select bunch of customers who would go the extra mile to get one. Not sure how much the left handed = Devil stigma would go to prevent people from buying one either but I would guess it would have been a big issue in some areas.
