the old Dixie "Tower" pistol

[weirdjack]

I toted my old Dixie .67 caliber "Tower" pistol out to the club last Friday. I built it up from one of their cheapie kits back in the 70's. I think they were like $30 or so then. It's got a rough looking flat faced lock, flat cock, a bore that measures out to .675, and it's not very pretty. I shortened the barrel to 9", added a 7/16" rammer with a shotgun tip, and a belt hook. It's quite functional, if not very elegant. It sorta looks like Middlesex's "Light Dragoon" pistol...but a bit more crude.
I haven't shot this pistol in years and years. I loaded it up with a ball, primed and took a shot from about 10 yards.....no hole in the target. Reloaded, moved up a couple yards, no hole in the target. Reloaded, aimed a little left, a hole in the target but way off. Sooooooooooo......I loaded it up with some #5 shot. After all, that is what I built it to use...and it's pretty much all I had ever shot from it before. I walked up to around 7 yards, aimed dead center of a 25 yard rifle target, and promptly blew away a large central chunk the black! Cool!!! Ahhhhhh....now that is what it is supposed to do!
I guess I'll have to work on a big roundball load for it now.
btw- For a cheap piece of doo-doo, it's a very reliable firing gun. Keep the flint sharp and it always goes BOOM!
Jack

 

[mec]

We had one of those back in the mid 60s and got a couple of shots from it. As it came, the frizzen wasn't hardened and no sparks. The owner sent it to somebody to harden the frizzen and we got a couple of shots from it before the embrittled screw hole let go and the frizz went flipping end over end down range. As I remember it, that was a huge pistol and every bit as crude as you describe. Real authentic as I saw equally crude ones in the Armory at the Tower of London.

 

[LRB]

I bought one from Dixie in 1970. Still got it. Still it use a little. Had to solder a thin plate on the bottom of the frizzen to close a 1/8" gap between it and the barrel to keep the prime in it. Mine came with a hard frizzen and cost$35.oo. I usually load with #1 buckshot. Very impressive at close range. Also had to make a new sear for mine and replace the mainspring. It was my first muzzleloader and I still like it.

 

[thomas]

Thanks guys, I've been looking for one of those, but didn't know anything about them or even if they worked, still looking for one! :winking:

Thomas

 

[[email protected]]

Lookin fer one?....there is always 1 or 2 on[url] Gunbroker.com[/url]

keep an eye out!

*** WV SCROUNGER **

 

[MikeChapin]

I've got one of those I traded for back in the early eighties. I used to use #5 shot in it to shoot rattlesnakes. It would spark alright if the flint was sharp. The springs were a little weak for anything but a very sharp flint. I even managed to hit a Blue Rock with a round ball in it during a dueling match once.

It's pretty much a wall hanger now. I did get a giggle out of Dixie putting a french double throated hammer on a tower pistol.