? about southern guns

[jim m]

I have a friend that is building a half stock and was asking me about the shape of the forestock on most southern guns. question was were they more round or v shaped. most of the pics I have seen don't show this detail to well. I told him I wasn't sure there would be a right or wrong way unless you were trying to emulate a specific original but my experience is very limited

[Ken G]

As far as I know round would be the most common.  I can't say that I have seen one with a strong Vee shape but someone may have.
Ken

[Mark Elliott]

I have only seen one southern rifle with a strong "V" shaped forearm.   It is a published rifle and there was no way to tell from the photo the shape of the forearm.  When I saw the rifle in person, I was shocked.  Both the upper and lower forearm were "V" shaped.  It was a very uncomfortable gun to handle.

Mark E.

[LynnC]

I too have seen one with the upper forearm V shaped.  It was a later percussion rifle with classic southern mountain iron furniture.  Refinished - too bad.........Lynn

[oakridge]

I've seen a lot of southern half-stocks, but most are mid-nineteenth century. All of them have rounded forestocks.

[Roger Fisher]

Round!

[Dennis Glazener]

I have seen three NC Gillespie's with vee shaped forearms. One of them is a signed Philip Gillespie dated 1846.

The next is an unsigned one probably made 1810-1820 and is a  flint.  The other is circa 1840's. In all cases both the upper and lower forearm is vee shaped.

My flint Mathew Gillespie appears to an almost twin to the early unsigned rifle and I would bet the stock was cut from the same template but mine has a rounded forearm and the other one is vee shaped. That's about the only difference in the two rifles.  Looking at them at a distance you can not tell the vee shaped one from the rounded.
Dennis