Historical Question: Left handed muskets and rifles?

[Ultravox]

Is there any evidence that there were left handed rifles and muskets used around the time of the revolutionary war? Or did everyone shoot right handed?

 

[4V50 Gary]

All muskets were right handed and any soldier in any army would have had the left hand drilled out of him. Unless he was a jager or marksman, it was not unusual for some soldiers to close their eyes when they fired.

Left handed locks were not unknown. You can have a left handed fowler or rifle if you had the money as some gunsmiths in America could make everything from scratch. If they couldn't make the lock or didn't have the time, they could salvage a left handed lock from a double gun. Locks could also be imported.

 

[Rachen]

4V50 Gary is right about the military arms. The military of the olden days operated on total and utmost conformity, and if you weren't like the rest of them, well, you will be made like the rest of them.

But the 1700s to the 1920s was the era of the "custom jobs". Most fine rifles in the hands of backwoodsmen, hunters, and expeditioners were not military firearms. They were custom built by gunsmiths the majority of whose names are not remembered today, despite their hard work. So you would definitely have people who had rifles and guns built and tailored to their exact needs.