Value & Quality of Dixie Kit ?

[dave61965]

I had an older gent offer me a un-assembled, complete Dixie poor boy .32 rifle kit, he bought it and a cva Kentucky pistol kit years ago, 15-20 yrs maybe, he said and never got around to working on them, he says just make him an offer and I know nothing about the Dixie rifles, I want to be fair with my offer and any info is welcome.

 

[azmntman]

$225.00 would be fair IMHO....likely more than he paid that long ago and a great deal for you!

 

[mooman76]

I was going to say $200 but $225 still would not be a bad price.

 

[dave61965]

Any ideas on where they come from? Are they Italian, Japanese, Belgian ? Decent quality ? Seen a few online not much info though.

 

[Tom Compton]

My factory finished flint .50 DPB was made by Mirouku in Japan. They made jap Brownings. Heard tell the early ones had Douglas barrels and cherry stock.

This one shoots just fine. Lock and triggers work well but some parts are not real well finished - kinda look cheap. I defarbed the made in japan stripped all finish and browned steel and did stock w Tung Oil. May upgrade lock n triggers one day.

Can't go wrong at $200.
TC

 

[necchi]

Flint-Percussion?
Ya know in the years I've been here there's never been a lot of talk good or bad about the Dixie kits. A few discussions have been in the Gun Builders section from folks building them but mostly common questions about the build never really mentioning quality issues or specific problems of the kit.
General knowledge;
I believe most of the Dixie kit's since the late 80's have been Spanish/Italian with parts from those years and forward still being readily available. With look at the barrel proof marks you can tell the country of origin,, there's a topic in the Members Resources-Reference section with photo's about proofs.
Very early Dixie gun's and kit's (70's) had some issues but only specific models. I once found a Dixie Trade gun at a local gun show with a reasonable price,(it was a poorly done kit) came home to research and found bad reviews about the Belgian made parts, I passed.
I've seen and handled a few Dixie long guns that where pretty nice with the owners having no complaints.
The CVA Kentucky pistol has always been Spanish and is still currently available in the form of the Traditons kit at $185.

I get the part about a reasonable offer, you don't really wanna insult the guy with a low-ball, but at the same time sometimes a guy just want's to see something done with it instead of the kit's just sitting there.
$300 for both?

 

[dave61965]

It is a percussion he said, untouched kit not sure if it's still in the box not that it matters I would like to finish it out if it's decent quality and would make a shooter, the cva is in the box, I was thinking 300 for both maybe also just trying to be fair on both ends, also said he has a tc hawken he built he hasn't looked at in 20yrs.

 

[mooman76]

I have a Dixie .32 mountain rifle. I bought used about 6 years ago. No idea how old it is I don't know if it was a kit or not but seems fairly well made(for a kit gun) and shoots good. Barrel says made in Japan.

 

[ZUG]

I was never impressed with the Dixie stuff. They were OK for your first rifle and they went "bang" most of the time. The parts are "middle of the road" to low end stuff. I would not go over $200 for the rifle and $25 to no more than $50 for the pistol. My 2 cents - your money. :v

 

[Billnpatti]

Bottom offer that would be fair to both of you might be $250 for both the rifle and the pistol. I am sure that if he bought them that long ago, he doesn't any more than that in them. $300 if you really want to be generous but no more than that.

 

[44-henry]

You guys drive a hard bargain. If the kit was flintlock and untouched it would sail past 400 on gunbroker in a heartbeat, on a good day it might even go past 500. The pistol kit would likely bring 150-200 there alone.

As far as quality the mountain rifles were some of the better reproductions that Dixie sold. Though the locks need some tuning the rest of the components are rather nice and the barrels have been tack drivers in the 3 that I have owned. I purchased one that had been built from a kit several years ago that has better architecture than many custom rifles I have seen, so there is plenty to work with on that kit and somebody with skill can make a very nice rifle with one.

 

[bpd303]

I built one of the mountain kits back in the 70's, wish I still had it. I was thinking the dollar amounts were light too thinking 450-500 wouldn't be out of line for both kits.

 

[Zonie]

My 2001 Dixie Gunworks catalog shows a "TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN RIFLE & KIT" which came in .50 and .32 caliber.

The text says,
"First introduced by Dixie in 1978, this rifle is recognized as one of the finest reproduction muzzleloaders ever made. It is an authentic example of Southern Mountain styling with its browned steel furniture, distinctive square bow triggerguard and the grease hole in the buttstock. These rifles were originally built of native woods and whatever metals were available in the 18th century over-mountain communities of Southern Appalachia; in other words, very plain."

The .32 has a 13/16" X 41 1/4" long octagon barrel.

The stock is Japanese Cherry and the rifles were made by Miroku in Japan.

At the time (2001) the asking price for the kit was $495.00. The finished rifle was sold for $575.00

The .32 cal rifle weighs 8 1/2 pounds and although the .50 cal rifle was offered in both right and left hand, the .32 was only available in right hand.

Dixie also offered "CONVERSION UNITS" to convert the gun from percussion to flintlock. The conversion unit consisted of a 1/4-28 vent liner for the .32 cal that replaced the percussion side drum and a flintlock (of unknown quality).
The Conversion unit sold for $145.00

Generally speaking, these Dixie Tennessee rifles have a very good reputation and are sought by a large number of people.

 

[bubba.50]

it wasn't a kit gun but, I had one of the Dixie 32's a few years back. gave considerably more than 200 for it & got more than that when I sold it. excellent well-made gun & surprisingly well-balanced with that 42in barrel.

 

[jlynn]

Sir If it is the Mt Rifle withJapanese cherry stock and grease hole in but,Youwill be stealing it at less than 300+. have had one since 1980 and have turned down offers above that. Miroku did good work. Heavy noe in my old age but still not for sale. Mean squirrel killer-have both .310and 315 balls-just vary patch thickness. Iput a small oval capbox over grease hole and took their finish off and redid stock in dark walnut. The J cherry as stained was a funky looking wood. I would not have guesses cherry. Good find and good luck sir as this was by far the best Dixie brand they offered-Ive had 3 going back to the Belgian made one I got in 1964 .40 cal and 7/8 barrel. Not many choices back then! sorry to ramble

 

[dave61965]

Well I went to visit the gent this afternoon to see what the rifle looked like, pretty decent looking parts I think so I ask him what he needed for the rifle and pistol kit, he says he would like to get 300 for it, and he boxed all his ml stuff up and I could have that too, I figure at that price for a pretty decent full stock 42" barrel .32 cal id kick my own rear all the way home for not buying it, rite ! So money changes hands, a handshake and we carry the kits to the truck, he says come help me get the other boxes of stuff that goes with it, two boxes of patches,lube, boxes and boxes of hornady balls .32 .45 .50 cal maxi balls, buffalo bullets, at least a dozen tins of caps, musket caps, two tackle boxes full of parts, jags, prob a hundred flints and just about else you can think of, so im happy so far with the deal, and he says,"You need another rifle?" Sure why not huh! An old TC hawken .50 he built from a kit, you can have it for 150 I aint never gonna use it, so all in all a pretty decent visit I think, pic below is the Dixie and the hawken, a small sample of the "stuff" he gave me and the pistol kit.

 

[bpd303]

You made out like a bandit.

 

[bubba.50]

even in texas i'm sure they have laws against stealin' so, i'd lay low awhile if I was you :haha: .

 

[44-henry]

That was a darn good steal, er, I mean deal :thumbsup:

 

[44-henry]

Here is a picture of the one that I currently have, bought it on Gunbroker many years ago (I might add for considerably more than you paid for the whole works). I think it is one of the early ones with the 7/8 inch 50 caliber barrel and I am pretty sure that it was a kit gun. It has a rather nice patina that is difficult to photograph in room light. The only thing I don't like about it is that someone decided to plug the grease hole at some point. Removing that obstruction is on my bucket list of things to do, but I never seem to get around to it.

I will say that the flintlocks take some tuning to get right. I have had to do considerable work on this one to get it to function reliably, I also have the percussion lock but have never mounted it to the gun. If I had it to do all over again I would probably just buy an L&R replacement lock.