How big wuz ...???

[Razor]

The average 'Colonial'  ca. late 1700's & early 1800's  ?
...compared to a modern sized individual...
The reason I ask here, is because it relates directly to the dimensions of a Longrifle.
Specifically the LOP, drop and cast-off....
Going through some old reference material, I found generalized dimensions, and am wondering If those same
dimensions might be  small/short for current shooters...
or.. have they been 'adjusted' in the last 100 yrs ?
Put another way...
Are modern reproduction longrifles the same dimensions as the originals ??

Thoughts, comments, guesses or enlightened information anyone

[Dryball]

I believe most of the originals had a shorter length of pull then modern replicas, as the average man of the 1700s was considerably shorter then todays average man. Of course there would be many exceptions...there would be the occasional 6 footers.

Ned

[FrankG]

My original Tenn. rifle is only 12-1/4" lop !

[Doug]

One way to find out is to go to some of the books that have photos of original rifles, like Kendigs or John Bivens find the reference to the length of the barrel, measure the barrel in the picture and form a ratio between the stated length of the barrel and the measured length.  This ratio is the information that you need to figure the LOP of the original.

Example:  you have a picture of an original rifle that states the barrel length is 40", the picture of the rifle from muzzle to but plate is 3 3/8'' long, the breech of the barrel should be approximately behind the cock on a flintlock so measure from the center of the cock to the muzzle, lets say that this is 2 3/4"so to form our ratio we divide our measurement, 2 3/4" by 40" and come up with .06875 now to further refine our ratio we need to divide 1 by .06875 which gives us 14.5454...  So now we know that the ratio of the picture is 1'' : 14.54" so we measure the but of the rifle and find that it is 7/8" or .875" on our picture.  Now we multiply .875 X 14.54 and find that we have a 12.7225 or approximately 12 3/4 LOP.  Hope this answers some questions if you have any questions about this method of measuring let me know.

[Razor]

Thanks for the replies fellas....

Now I'm confused a bit....
I 'googled' this subject, 3 refrences stated the avg Euro male, in 1710 AD, was ~5'-7.5"
In 1970 we avg'd  5'-10".....
Yet, I remember visiting a few museums years ago, that had displays of ORIGINAL colonial clothing..
and they looked like they fit a Jr. Highschooler....( ~5'-2")

A couple of these refrences based their data on forensic measurements..
So...
do we get taller after we die 

[Doug]

Not having achieved that illustrious level I can't answer that.

[Ironwood]

The Houston Museum of Fine Arts had a display of Medieval Armor.  I was shocked at how small the armor was.  Looked like it was made for kids. 

[Oldnamvet]

Take a tour of the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor.  The bunks in that sucker are tiny.  I am about average and I don't think I could squeeze into one much less get any sleep.