The musket is on the left side to allow the lock to not ride against the body.
Last weekend in Virginia at 104 degrees I must admit we changed arms on the march quite a bit from the "shoulder" to the "support" and to the "advance" (in the right hand) to help the troops survive.
David M

dave, i know the feeling got the callouses, I always seemed to get teh er..."honor"(too heavy for teh buddies) of carrying the team machine gun .Then when i eventually knew what i was doing, and understood everything else that was going on, a few thousand foot mile patrol ops and 2 years later, i got the (look up that western australian oxford english dictionary i mentioned above )back breaking korean war reject "mike fox" frequency dial radio set.chuckel .

Hi Hank:
Once with a Cdn Forces 25 set (Korean War vintage)straped to my back, I went through the ice on snowshoes. It is hard to swim with one of those on your back. I can fully understand your feelings about carrying kit.
David M

hah thats funny..you are a "Polar Bear Club" member then.I did very simialr on a survival course.That put me off ice cube in my drinks for life.

Having shared that experience training in Arctic Norway, I have to say it didn't put me off ice cubes in drinks. It just put me off falling into freezing water while carrying my own weight in military kit.

Ian another polar bear club member, Funny i thought you guys like your beer warm.

Hank,
That's our southern neighbours, the English, you're thinking about. Scots prefer their lager cold. And plentiful.