Left or right-handed ?

[Gadget]

It's most likely right handed but my writing is very similar and I'm very left handed. I learnt to write like that by putting the paper sloping slightly to the right.

Add - I hate to see lefties (and some righties) holding a pen in a type of fist position.  I hold a pen in exactly the same way as the normal right hand position.

[BumbleB]

It's most likely right handed but my writing is very similar and I'm very left handed. I learnt to write like that by putting the paper sloping slightly to the right.

Ditto for me. 

[oldfashionedgirl]

Surely in 1820 no one would have been ‘allowed’ to be left handed ?

My OH wasn’t allowed in the 1950s, he writes with his right as he was made to do so but he never really develop a good hand and his writing is terrible. He does everything else with his left.

[Gone]

I'm left handed but my writing slopes forward.
From my experience, a lot of left handed people's writing is exactly the same as a right handed person.
From an early age, I learned to write "correctly" or get a wack across the back of my hand with a ruler by the teacher.
One even tried to make all left handed pupils write with the right hand.
There are exceptions of course   

Wow...  That's interesting !

Being left handed was very much frowned upon so we had to adapt to be able to use things. With writing, because a leftie pushes the pen across the page, the pens we used dug in and were almost impossible to use, so you'll find a lot of older lefties curl their hand round over the top of the line being written so we can pull the pen  instead of push, and it prevents smudging.

[Iain...]

Lol…  ‘Oh my goodness.’ 
Very interesting and more complicated than I thought. (please note that I just corrected my firing position post.  Seems like he could have been on the left side of the hole)

Anyway, it’s not a correct science as gadget said.  The ‘aim’ is simply to maintain some logic. 

…, Iain. 

[Iain...]

Surely in 1820 no one would have been ‘allowed’ to be left handed ?

My OH wasn’t allowed in the 1950s, he writes with his right as he was made to do so but he never really develop a good hand and his writing is terrible. He does everything else with his left.

Lol...   I was a Piper in the Regiment and I have a collection of old photos of pipers taken following the invention of the camera.  You cannot imagine the number of pipers who have the drones over the right shoulder instead of the left.
Please note that I have a photo of Clay.   

[Gone]

Lol…  ‘Oh my goodness.’ 
Very interesting and more complicated than I thought. (please note that I just corrected my firing position post.  Seems like he could have been on the left side of the hole)

Anyway, it’s not a correct science as gadget said.  The ‘aim’ is simply to maintain some logic. 

…, Iain. 

In the deepest, darkest past, being a leftie was associated with witchcraft, so a few of us would have in in serious trouble 🙃

[Iain...]

I would like thank everyone…, very interesting.

Proof of my appreciation is this page from my book. (bottom two lines)

Kind ReGuards…, Iain. 

[Rena]

I've just discarded my original response - as rootschat informed me somebody else had just  posted.   Ref the handwriting, I agree with the majority.

In the era of Waterloo, the majority of people couldn't write, and I doubt the sergeant major would have allowed anyone to be different on the parade ground. The men would have been drilled and nobody would have been allowed to jerk the wrong elbow when following routine, otherwise they'd be peeling spuds or some such punishment.  I'm left handed, my handwriting leans forward - at school I was handed a right-handed hockey stick and our teacher had us fall into a line practising "dribble, dribble, dribble, hit"; "dribble, dribble, dribble, hit".   "You girl, not like that, do as you're told"

My lefthanded dad was forced to use his right hand and had beautiful ambidextrous handwriting. The beauty of being ambidestrous (through necessity) is that you can use tools with either hand.  both of us can mirror write and don't think we can't read something because it's upside down lol.   So I think your chap could use his rifle EXPERTLY with either hand.