side scope for a Whitworth Rifle

[Lewis348]

Could Someone maybe give me some more information on this scope please .I understand its for a civil war period Whitworth rifle to be mounted on the left hand side.I understand it is quite rare.It seems complete ?can someone advise if i am correct and how to mount it please.

Original wooden case, optics good.

 

[Bedford County Doc]

Did you ever find any information on these scopes and why they were mounted on the side? There is a "volunteer" replica model on gunbroker.com for sale that has a side-mounted replica period scope...

 

[ResearchPress]

Did you ever find any information on these scopes and why they were mounted on the side? There is a "volunteer" replica model on gunbroker.com for sale that has a side-mounted replica period scope...

I saw the above when first posted but don’t know what it is and could never find anything on the maker. It’s not like any scope mount I have seen that is associated with Whitworth rifles. Maybe it is for artillery?

However, the side mounted rifle scope enabled elevation to be set to long range without depression of the scope interfering with the line of sight. Additionally, it avoided the necessity of having to use the full length tube sights and have little or no cheek contact with the stock as elevations increased. Illustrated below is a Civil War era Whitworth rifle with Side mounted Davidson scope.

David