Double cheek pieces

[albert]

I have a question for thought , after seeing the fine guns that were posted , had me wondering , were rifles with double cheek pieces limited to a few builders in just a few areas ?   I have a presentation rifle built for an ex sheriff in New York that has doubles . Would like opinions from those more knowledgeable than me .

[Tanselman]

I think you find a smattering of double-cheeked rifles from a number of areas, with perhaps the Midwest and Ohio being the most common area...but I've seen them from Eastern states as well...but never too common. They seem to be made for something more than just general usage. The common "theory" is that many were made for shooting from horse-back, so a hunter could shoot either to the right or left without excessive body movement or wasted time. Perhaps the same holds true for hunting anything that moves quickly, where the hunter wants to get on point quickly without undue effort. But then, it also seems like there were one or two makers in Ohio and Indiana that just liked to make double-cheeked rifles, mostly later percussion half-stocked guns, and probably thought the extra cheek made their rifles seem special...and maybe even provided the opportunity to put more silver on them!  Shelby Gallien

[WElliott]

Years ago, I had a double cheekpiece rifle that was made in West Virginia.. Perhaps, rather than being a regional style, they were made in various areas for a family with both a right and left hand shooter. 

[T*O*F]

Original on bottom, my interpretation on top (which I did on a whim).  Lock is marked Buffalo.

[OLUT]

I have a question for thought , after seeing the fine guns that were posted , had me wondering , were rifles with double cheek pieces limited to a few builders in just a few areas ?   I have a presentation rifle built for an ex sheriff in New York that has doubles . Would like opinions from those more knowledgeable than me .

For what it is worth, in the late 1950's I asked the same question of a quite knowledgeable collector (who was born in 1889). His answer was that they were occasionally built for left handed shooters when the only lock available was a right handed one ...that way with the gun having two cheekpieces, a right hander could also use it. Don't know if it is true, but I'll pass it along anyway. I do have a double cheekpiece percussion over under gun made by the Horn family of Hazelton, Luzerne County, Pa that is awaiting Bill Paton's inspection this summer

[Hungry Horse]

 I have one. It’s a full stock, back action percussion, in .32 cal. With a maple full stock. It’s barrel is marked W.H.Brown. The location of the gunsmith is a little sketchy, because W. H. Brown moved around quite a bit. But, the gun came from a local family that said it was purchase in the state it now resides in, and that is California. W.H. Brown was a material witness in the Deringer vs. Plate trial when Plate, and the Slotterbeck brothers were put on trial for counterfeiting Deringer pistols. This was in the late 1860’s, or early 1870’s.

  Hungry Horse