Which Longrife to buy

[mushka]

I am right handed but shoot long guns left handed due to a vision problem. I have bp long guns both left hand and right handed but can't tell any difference in shooting them. Both work equally well for me.

 

[RobinR]

If you don’t see what you want at Pecatonica or Sitting Fox call and ask I know Pecatonica has lots of options not listed on their website.
Keep in mind these parts sets require lots of work and some skill to build. The butt plate cut to close fit at pecatonica is well worth the extra cost and is very close to fitting.

Thanks for the info! I have been looking at both sites all morning long. hard choice to make.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Flintlocker
I am left handed and have shot right handed guns all my life. About 15 years ago I got a left handed Benelli shotgun. I was amazed at how much more I could see after the shot, with the gas and empty not blowing accross my face! I believe it is true with flintlocks.
Just my two cents
3 trees

An interesting observation you have! It does not seem to apply for me, but then again shooters do not necessarily experience all shooting the same.
Thanks for the reply
Flintlocklar

 

[87TT]

Thanks for the info! I have been looking at both sites all morning long. hard choice to make.

They will take some work as well as research to make them as correct as possible. The stock I got from Pecatonica was a nice piece of wood but I removed a LOT. I also had to deepen the ramrod channel to get the web thinner. One side of the forestock was thicker as well as the butt stock etc. etc. Took me probably 150 hours to build the rifle and I'm new at this and not an expert. I bought the books but what helped me most was the full size plans from Track. (Pecatonica has them.)

 

[tenngun]

I'm no expert on Southern long rifles. Weren't most of them smaller calibers? Not many elk or buffalo down there back then.

I have not used a TVM parts set.

I have assembled and finished four Kiblers, two SMR and two colonials. They are the best wood to metal fit available. The locks are now the best mass produced locks. That makes them my first choice if I want a Colonial or SMR. The slight addition cost is of no consequence if you value your time at all.

I have also scratch built about two dozen rifles and several pistols and shotguns. I have also stocked a bunch of modern guns. I have used abuta dozen regular parts sets. Based on my experience I would rather build from a plank than use a common pre carved stock. Precarves range from OK, most are problematical, some are completely unusable. I usually spend more time figuring work arounds for built in errors than the time saved working from a plank. They normally end up with inletting gaps that were not my fault. I have also used some expensive pre carved stocks for firewood. IT is a pig in a poke.

A precarve and parts set will get you a usable rifle. It may have construction flaws and will likely not be historically correct.

IF you want an elk rifle I suggest a Kibler Colonial in 62. That is if you can use the right hand stock. Good luck.

Many southern mountian rifles were small pea shooters. Down to .28.
Jake and Sam’s father was a Tennessee/ North Carolina rifle maker when buff was still trampling around in the trans Appalachian country
I THINK that the classic Hawken was the child of SMR.... iron mountain, crescent butt, long tang and trigger bar, lightly scrolled trigger guard all put me in mind of their daddy’s gun.
This is from Museum of the fur trade. In .54 it should be up to Elk

 

[AZbpBurner]

Between High School & College years, I'd shoot at a public range north of Columbus, Ohio. There was often an elderly gent there with a table filled with flintlock rifles. Each one looked to be a work of art. I initially thought he ws a rifle builder bringing out his latest builds for testing before forwarding them on to a buyer. Upon close examination, some looked nearly brand new, while others were obviously carried, used and worn. All were meticulously cared for. During conversation, while watching him shoot, I discovered these were a part of his family legacy, an enormous collection passed down for him to care for until ready for the next generation. Most had accompanying powder horns and bags of balls, all marked as to which rifle they belonged. Some balls were older looking, and some he had just cast before his trip to the range. Powder was all from casks with vintage predating the Civil War. An ancestor of his was a local official, judge or banker who accumulated these rifles from estates of well-to-do citizens and friends. They were the guns used on special occasions as turkey shoots and not necessarily daily carries. At every trip out to shoot, he always had a new batch to shoot. I don't think I ever saw the same one more than a couple of times.
One day he asked me if I'd like to shoot some of them. My Mom was a lefthander, and so am I. She nearly convinced me early on that I had to do everything lefthanded, with lefthander tools, something I never was comfortable with. So, I was a lefthanded shooter, firing his righthanded relics. He told me it wasn't any different than shooting a flintlock double barrel shotgun - one of the locks would be in-line with "my side" of the gun. It took just a few shots to get used to shooting a righthanded rifle lefthanded.

All my modern rifles are righthanded - I did have a lefthanded bolt rifle but found it awkward, and I eventually sold it. I have a lefthanded .50 cal flint GPR and another .54 cal flint rifle. After shooting my other righthanded flint and percussion rifles, the lefties feel initially awkward, but quickly become natural to shoot.

If you plan on having only one or 2 rifles and are lefthanded, and that's all you plan to ever shoot, a lefthanded rifle is just the ticket. It's made to fit you. But, given opportunity to shoot or own a righthanded rifle, don't pass it up, since it's not that difficult to adapt to.

And it never hurts to have a lefthanded flint rifle on hand on range trips. Quite often there will be some poor, lost looking sweet young lefthanded girl watching Daddy or boyfriend shoot his righthanded stuff. I have yet to have any of them refuse to shoot my lefty flints, and one even dragged her dad over to look at it after she quickly learned how to load, prime, fire (and not flinch). She was busting balloons and water jugs at 100 yards with PRB's. She pointed and told her dad that "This" is what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. I provided several on-line retail links. Daddy was disappointed that he was now "stuck" with that spendy pink camo-stocked, suppressed AR that he "built for her" and was busy shooting.

 

[RobinR]

I love the info I have received from everyone and I do appreciate it because it gives lots of food for thought. I had always loved Flintlocks and now that kits are made for lefts I am going to build one for myself. I was able to shoot one at Williamsburg and I will have to say it didn't bother me too much. But for me the aiming was just a bit off. With a lefty I know it will work best. Now with that said I do plan on getting a Brown Bess and a Charleville musket which of course will be right-handed to keep the Historical look. Both will be shot for fun only. My youngest son is a Marine who is an Expert Shot and is a lefty too. But he wants to shoot the Flintlock left-handed. This a an evolving hobby for this Family.

 

[Bigdaddy61]

I’ve never seen a right hander buy a left handed gun.

Hi all I am a right hander and i need to shoot with a L/H/ fifle because i don"t know why but i can't close my left eye when i am shooting.

 

[Marinekayak]

Going to throw this out there because the thread seems to have migrated to l vs r. Your eye dominance is more important in shooting than your dominate hand. Check to see which eye is your dominate eye. Fully extend both hands and make a small hole to look through using your hands keep both eyes open and focus on a distant object. Then close one eye then the other you will find that you are actually using one eye to focus on the distant object thats your dominate eye thats the one you should be using to shoot a rifle. A right handed person who is left eye dominate will in the long term benefit more from shooting left handed with a rifle. With new shooters we always check to see which eye is dominant and train them on that eye.

 

[Bob McBride]

Going to throw this out there because the thread seems to have migrated to l vs r. Your eye dominance is more important in shooting than your dominate hand. Check to see which eye is your dominate eye. Fully extend both hands and make a small hole to look through using your hands keep both eyes open and focus on a distant object. Then close one eye then the other you will find that you are actually using one eye to focus on the distant object thats your dominate eye thats the one you should be using to shoot a rifle. A right handed person who is left eye dominate will in the long term benefit more from shooting left handed with a rifle. With new shooters we always check to see which eye is dominant and train them on that eye.

100%. I’m a lefty but shoot rifles right because of eye dominance. It’s an easy switch. Practice lifting, shouldering, and sighting your dominant eye side. Took me about 100 shoulders in one day for it to feel right. Cross eye dominant shooting is an unnecessary complication. IME.

 

[Kansas Kid]

So when it comes to shooting you are left handed so use a left handed rife. I’m left handed and right eye dominant and have had two major shoulder surgery’s and can barely hold up a rifle if I were to try to shoot right handed. I’m right footed and kick with my right. It’s just the reality of life. Shoot what fits you best.

Right handed shooters need to get over and look beyond their perception it’s all about the side that the lock is located on. It more about a cheek plate on the correct side. Stock cast in the proper direction. Patch box not grating into my cheek.

Big Daddy: you could put a blinder over your eye.

 

[TraderVic]

Hi all I am a right hander and i need to shoot with a L/H/ fifle because i don"t know why but i can't close my left eye when i am shooting.

I have always been a right handed shooter and I can't close my left eye either (due to a surgery). One can learn to shoot with the left eye open as I have or you can put a piece of Scott tape across your glasses in front of your left eye.

 

[omark]

I always shoot with both eyes open. Was taught way by my dad when I was about 4 or 5.

 

[MI MAN]

I am very close to jumping in with both feet to purchase a kit, but the decision has been a hard one to make. Right now I am trying to decide between a Track of the Wolf Southern Mountain flintlock longrifle vs a TVM Early Virginia kit. I would love to get a Jim Kilber kit but for me I need a Left-handed flint.

My first kit was appropriately a Kibler rifle. For the next build, I chose a half stock percussion. It is a nice kit but I was not ready for this level. The rifle will turn out fairly good but I should have tried one of the easier track full stock flintlock kits for my next kit; a little more forgiving while learning.

 

[RobinR]

My first kit was appropriately a Kibler rifle. For the next build, I chose a half stock percussion. It is a nice kit but I was not ready for this level. The rifle will turn out fairly good but I should have tried one of the easier track full stock flintlock kits for my next kit; a little more forgiving while learning.

I am taking a different route now. Taking a class thru thru The Log Cabin and building from a stock. Learning how to build the whole process. I have gone thru a few class and just having so much fun with it. Also getting to meeting some great people too!