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Time period for rifle?

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mglampson

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Ok, I know I've seen this question before but can't search well enough to get the answer.

A friend is looking at a Dixie mountain rifle in flintlock. What time period would this rifle fit into? No ramrod thimble or nose cap and just a grease hole. I think it could past for Rev war era give or take a decade or so, what do you think?
 
If this gun is the one shown in Dixie's 2002 catalogue and I think it is,you would really be pushing the envelope to have it pass for the War of 1812 although it is closer to the 1820's and later.
Tom Patton
 
According to dixie '05 catalog, tenn mt. rifle was made 18th century as a poorboy rifle in southern appalacia. the penn rifle was late 18th to early 19th century, just what i read..
 
Good examples {both} of creative descriptions very reminiscent of Ebay
Tom Patton
 
gees sorry, I quoted dixie,, thought you did too...besides a good ebayer would have had bridger carrying it...anyways what rifle would be PC for 1750 -1800 (that's why i love this forum,i learn everyday!) RC :redface: :redface:
 
Yeah...regardless of Dixie's hype, it is really tough to document any riflemakers (OK... MAYBE the Beans... maybe not...), let alone whole new styles/schools of makers, in the NC/TN mtns prior to 1800... which kinda knocks out a "Southern Mountain Style" rifle for the American Revolution, at least until we find some previously overlooked, very convincing evidence.

M
 
I asked David Wright the same question back in the early 1980s. David is quite a student of historical firearms, and has studied many originals. He dated it to the late 19th c.
 
Not that Dixies rifle is even close, but it does make one wonder what "them ole' boys" were using at Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War, doesn't it?
Whatever it was, it seemed to do the job.
 
Not claiming to be an authority on Tennessee/Southern Mountain rifles, but.... I've seen photos of a number of different examples. In books that I've got here at the house, there's a Bean gun in "Foxfire 5", an Alfred Duncan rifle from c.1820 that I scanned out of "Kentucky Rifles and Pistols, 1750-1850", and a gun that's attributed to West Virginia, in Whisker's book on guns of that region, that has the same triggerguard, buttplate, patchbox, and overall lines as the Tennessees. The Dixie rifle shares the overall lines and style of furniture as the three I mention, and, while it's visibly different from them, all three original rifles are just as visibly different from one another. I suppose I shouldn't even point this out, since I'm not claiming you're wrong, trying to start an argument, or asserting any authority with which to speak, on my part -- but I can look at the four guns and see what I've just described. Is the Dixie Tennessee as far from the real thing as, say, a CVA Kentucky is from a genuine original Pennsylvania, and it's just that my untrained eye can't see it?
 
It is highly doubtful that there were any Tennessee gunsmiths working before Oct.7, 1780 the date of the Kings Mountain battle. The earliest known Bean gunsmith was George Bean who advertised in a Knoxville paper in 1792 that he built guns and made silver. Unfortunately no signed products of his are known. The most famous Bean gunsmith,Baxter, was probably born in 1799 and probably started working about 1820. He was killed in a tavern fight in Nashville,Tennessee about 1858.To date I don't believe there are any rifles extant that can be safely connected to the King's Mountain battle.
Tom Patton
 
The Dixie mountain rifle has the traditional styling of Tennessee rifles from about 1825-35 to about 1850.These guns look a lot alike which is the reason I quit collecting them.I have owned several including two Beans and looked at and handled several hundred more.By itself the gun looks pretty good but lay it alongside some really nice Tennessee guns of the pre 1860 period and you will see what I mean.For instance very few of these guns had no butt piece, rear pipe or had a grease hole.The wood selection was good and they were always equipped with English locks. I have never seen one with a Germanic {Siler} lock.The architecture is generally very good and the forge work on the iron parts is generally verygood also.Banana boxes are fairly common and every once in a while you will see one that is either wholly or partially mounted in[url] brass.In[/url] short they are just not just like the Dixie gun.
Tom Patton
 
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From what I have read, you may want to consider a Germanic Jaeger type of rifle. This would probably be period correct for the French and Indian War period on up through to the American Revolution. Dixie Gunworks offers one in .54 that I am saving up for, myself. Pedersoli makes it and there is a good review of it in the Spring '05 edition of "Guns of the Old West" magazine.
 
Oh I wish I could remember which book, it was one of the old standards, Dillon or Kaufman maybe. But there is a photo of Simon Kenton's rifle and another believed to have been used at King's Mt.
Both rifles, though different, have a very "Southern" look about them. Kenton's rifle had a very large lock rather like a Queen Ann style, with single trigger. The other had a smaller lock with double set triggers, Southern style guard and a "grease hole" in the stock. :hmm:
 
" Pedersoli makes it and there is a good review of it in the Spring '05 edition of "Guns of the Old West" magazine'

If a historicaly authentic gun is what you are looking for you may want to study some Jaegar sources a bit nore before making your choice.
 
tg, I agree and here's why. The Dixie Early American Jaeger is not a serious attempt at recreating a germanic short rifle. It has a short barrel and a sliding wooden patch box lid and sling attatchments but the similarities stop right there. They use John Bivens hardware, it does not have a swamped barrel and the stock shape is wrong. It does have a very fast lock and in spite of the 1-24 twist it is pretty accurate with about 70 gr of ffg. Save up an extra hundred bucks or two and get a jaeger kit from one of the major kit/component suppliers. I have gone down this road and if you're at all interested in authenticity the Pedersoli offering will disappoint you.
 
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