Dimick Rifle

[Sun City]

.58 Caliber Dimick PRB rifle shoots like a dream!

IMG_2283 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

 

[Notchy Bob]

Wow, what a nice rifle! I believe Don Stith is still selling parts sets, but that one looks "scratch built" to me. It's a beauty!

You don't see many Dimick-style builds. The originals were very highly regarded. I sure would like to have one.

Notchy Bob

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Beautiful rifle !

 

[Cowboy]

WOW!

That one is a beauty. Please give us more information about it?

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Notchy Bob]

WOW!

That one is a beauty. Please give us more information about it?

Respectfully, Cowboy

Agreed! I think a lot of us would like to know more details... And see more pictures.

Thanks,

Notchy Bob

 

[Sun City]

Dimick Caplock Rifle by Sharps Man, on Flickr

35" Sharon barrel Davis set triggers 58 caliber and loads easy without wiping! Very accurate with a good shooter!

 

[hanshi]

Nice rifle! I like that style.

 

[Cowboy]

Have a Sharon Hawken in .58 and also a Sharon Trade Rifle in .50 cal.

Excellent barrel’s. They’re not to picky what you feed them.

I really love yours. Beautiful rifle my friend.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[JeffG]

That's a beauty!!

 

[Sun City]

I liked it the first time I pulled it out of box that Tom sent in and put it together! A unique design and easy to keep clean! It's a shooter for certain!

 

[MountainSmoke]

Great looking rifle!

 

[Rich Wormington]

Very nice rifle! I do like those Sharon barrels, wish they were still made.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Some Dimicks was used a sniper’s rifle during the Civil War.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Some Dimicks was used a sniper’s rifle during the Civil War.

This is true... Dimick was known to have provided rifles to Birge's Western Sharpshooters, which was a unit affiliated with the 66th Illinois Volunteer Infantry under Col. J. W. Birge. However, he evidently supplied some arms to Confederate sympathizers, also, and was actually taken into custody and fined for this. He was later released, as the sale was reportedly conducted by a clerk who had not been informed of the need for a permit for arms sales, but he still had to pay the fine and agree to follow all of the military rules and regulations regarding arms sales. Missouri was a slave state, and there were plenty of people on both sides trying to arm themselves and prevent arming their opposition.

There is a really good two-page monograph about Mr. Dimick in the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin #87, pp.16-17, right here: Horace E. Dimick, Master St. Louis Gunsmith

Here is a picture of an original rifle, from that article:

...and a couple of shots of another original from the Rock Island Auction website:

Sun City's Dimick, by Tom Watson, looks like a very good reproduction. I'm sure Horace would have been proud of it!

Notchy Bob

 

[plmeek]

The Dimick rifle had a spurt of popularity back in the late 1970's and early 80's. A few folks were tired of all the Hawken rifles wanted something different.

At least as early as 1979, Track of the Wolf Catalog #7 (that's the earliest catalog I have) listed a Dimick rifle kit.

TOTW Catalog #7 - 1979

The kit was offered in Catalog #8 and Catalog #9, but doesn't appear after that.

TOTW Catalog #9 - 1982

There was also a short lived company out of Las Vegas, New Mexico (a place where Doc Holiday hung out before going on to Tombstone) called Red River Arms that produced a Dimick replica. A former GRRW employee named Lloyd Helms worked there for a while. It was written up in the Feb 1979 issue of Muzzle Blasts.

Does anybody out there happen to have one of these vintage 70's-80's Dimick rifles that they could share some pictures of?

 

[Cowboy]

The Dimick rifle had a spurt of popularity back in the late 1970's and early 80's. A few folks were tired of all the Hawken rifles wanted something different.

At least as early as 1979, Track of the Wolf Catalog #7 (that's the earliest catalog I have) listed a Dimick rifle kit.

TOTW Catalog #7 - 1979
View attachment 40637

The kit was offered in Catalog #8 and Catalog #9, but doesn't appear after that.

TOTW Catalog #9 - 1982
View attachment 40638

There was also a short lived company out of Las Vegas, New Mexico (a place where Doc Holiday hung out before going on to Tombstone) called Red River Arms that produced a Dimick replica. A former GRRW employee named Lloyd Helms worked there for a while. It was written up in the Feb 1979 issue of Muzzle Blasts.

View attachment 40639
View attachment 40640
View attachment 40641


Does anybody out there happen to have one of these vintage 70's-80's Dimick rifles that they could share some pictures of?

Great read and very educational as always.

Thanks for sharing.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Notchy Bob]

Great read and very educational as always.

Thanks for sharing.

Respectfully, Cowboy

Agreed. Thanks, Phil !

I remember reading about the Red River Arms Dimick rifles, and seeing the ads. I have never seen any of the actual rifles, though, nor do I know of anybody who has one. I don't think the company lasted very long.

Notchy Bob

 

[Doc Ivory]

WOW!!!
Not many Dimick rifle repros look that good!!
Did you scratch build it?

 

[Sun City]

Tom Watson built it! Great builder he is; old fart like me with lots of patience! It shoots as good as it looks! The light in the photo makes the back of the stock appear to be scalloped out but such is not the case! Easy to clean and excellent triggers!! Loads easily with either a vegetable oil patch or spit using a .570" Hornady swaged ball with a .018" pillow ticking!

IMG_2283 by Sharps Man, on Flickr