From 1795 ...
Nobody was, and still is, more interested in shooting accuracy than the U.S. Military. If curved buttplates contributed to accuracy, they would have stuck with them.
The modern military has different weapons for snipers than infantry, but I don't know how far that goes back. That very fact, though, leads me to think that accuracy is not the primary goal of the bulk of their rifles for quite some time now. It is the primary factor for sniping no doubt. Of course the butt shape isn't different.
As to the users in period, it's my notion that they were most concerned about caliber and type of arm, smooth v. rifled, than any myriad of styling choices because the various regions didn't intermix so much as we do now. I don't think a man wanting a second gun in South Carolina was going to have the option of getting a NY or Ohio variation at his local source. But I haven't put any study into into such. Perhaps the rich guys traveled all around and made big collections, but not the common fellow who certainly did not have a small armory of long guns as most shooters do today.
The craziest looking weapons I've seen have always been for accuracy or speed in some artificially constructed course of fire, like a chunk gun-specific to that purpose and a compromise when pushed into any other use.
Flat butts are just not as aesthetically pleasing to my eye and I wonder if that was not a great part of the longevity of curvy butts.
Recent Posts
