H.E. Dimick Rifle

[Jim Comer]

does anyone have a H.E. Dimick replica rifle sure would like to see it and what do you think of them? Thanks

 

[Notchy Bob]

We had a terrific thread about Dimick rifles here on the forum a few months ago. Check it out here: Dimick Rifle

One of the forum members, @Sun City , has a gorgeous replica. Maybe he will post pictures again. Meanwhile, here is one that was built by John Bergmann. Sadly, for me, I don't own it:

Here are a couple of originals for comparison. This first one is an image lifted from Horace E. Dimick, Master St. Louis Gunsmith, from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, 87:16-17:

This next one was from the Rock Island Auctions website. I don't think forum rules allow me to post a direct link, but I'm sure you can find it with a simple search:

It's good to see someone interested in Dimick rifles. I love Hawkens as much as anybody, but some of the other St. Louis rifles deserve attention as well. The Dimick rifles were a little late for the mountain men who have captured our imaginations, but I'm sure these rifles accounted for a lot of game in the hands of the plainsmen who came along just a little later. Good, solid rifles. I've always been intrigued by the fact that the originals were typically made without cheekpieces. We wonder how much difference that made in the way these rifles handled.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Grenadier1758]

Don Stith was making a Dimick kit. One of the members of my gun club has made one of those rifles. Excellent rifle.

 

[user 36911]

I see where TC got the ideal for their trigger guard.

 

[Grenadier1758]

How many rifles would they have sold if it was called the T/C Dimick?

Actually the T/C " Hawken" looks more like the small caliber 45 and 50 caliber rifles sold by the Hawken brothers for the local Missouri and Illinois hunters and target shooters. These often had brass hardware and one wedge. The trigger guard was similar to the Dimick and other local rifles.

 

[Notchy Bob]

That "hook and scroll" triggerguard was used by many gunmakers in the mid-19th century. There was a famous ad by Hawken & Campbell in the Missouri Republican in 1856 that offered "Mountain and California Rifles" for sale. Many folks have wondered exactly what those "California rifles" looked like. A few years ago, this S. Hawken rifle turned up on an auction site:

We wonder if this might be an example of the St. Louis-made "California rifles."

This next rifle was made by Wurfflein in Philadelphia for an Army officer headed to California:

This one was actually built in California by a maker named Bigelow:

This next rifle was made by J.J. Freitas, of Springfield, Illinois, the only Portuguese-American riflemaker I know of from that period. I think it is in Curtis Johnson's collection. Mr. Johnson said it "came from an auction in California." He has generously posted a series of photos on Flickr, right HERE:



Thompson/Center probably found plenty of original rifles that had triggerguards similar to these, but I'm sure few to none of them were actual Hawkens. However, there was a "Hawken Craze" in progress when T/C developed that rifle, and they probably wanted to capitalize on the name. Maybe they should have called it the "California Rifle." In any event, I think Dimick was probably following a trend rather than setting one when he selected that style of triggerguard.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Jim Wag]

What Notchy Bob says


Jim in La Luz

 

[Sun City]

does anyone have a H.E. Dimick replica rifle sure would like to see it and what do you think of them? Thanks

I got one....in 58 and I wouldn't trade it for a Blue Nosed Mule!! Sharon barrel and it's a shooter!

IMG_2283 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

 

[smoothshooter]

I got one....in 58 and I wouldn't trade it for a Blue Nosed Mule!! Sharon barrel and it's a shooter!

IMG_2283 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

I would like to have one thst was scaled down to about a 7 1/2 pound .40 caliber.