Dixie gun works southern rifle

[alaskaboy92]

I had a flintlock Dixie Tennesee Mountain Rifle that I built from a kit back in the 90s. Nice quality gun but was very muzzle heavy.

About 14 years ago I happened upon this rifle at Dixon's and it came home with me:

View attachment 179709

It is a Dixie TMR that was restocked in curly maple as a Pennsylvania rifle by George Dech. He retained the barrel, lock, triggers, and ramrod (which I replaced because it was some Japanese mystery wood). If you look closely, you can see that the barrel was turned to be 1/3 octagon x 2/3 round. This shaved at least a pound off the rifle and while it's still muzzle heavy it's much better balanced than the full octagon barrel.

In my experience the barrels are good and the locks spark well.

Note that they use a 9mm diameter ramrod, not a 3/8" rod. Track of the Wolf carries spares.

The Dixie TMR was discontinued several years ago but if you like it and the price is right, go for it.

That’s a beautiful rifle! Definitely a treasure

 

[PathfinderNC]

This is a Pecatonica Tennessee Classic rifle I built. (There were a few challenges building this kit)
It was a beauty to see and shoot.

 

[alaskaboy92]

This is a Pecatonica Tennessee Classic rifle I built. (There were a few challenges building this kit)
It was a beauty to see and shoot.

What were the challenges?

 

[PathfinderNC]

What were the challenges?

The barrel channel was cut too far back, so I made a filler. Also the trigger guard they provided was hard to make fit and I broke two. I used another Southern Mountain style one which worked perfectly.

 

[1:66 twisted]

My very first muzzleloader! I wish I still had it! That was back in the early 80’s.

 

[Mulemauler]

They are pretty heavy but my biggest complaint was the quality of the locks and triggers. Since factory parts are no longer available repairs can be tough. Good news is a number of current locks and triggers can be modified to fit and all are better than the originals.

 

[VAN]

In the early eighties I visited Dixie Gun Works with the idea of getting a Tennessee Rifle but bought only the lock, barrel and a different stock. The other parts came from different places. The barrel and lock were both made in Italy but have been great shooters ever since. The barrel is accurate, button rifled and loads smoother than any rifle I have owned. It may not be the same barrel as on the factory gun. I made my own version of a Tennessee style Mountain Rifle as I did not really like their finished gun too much with the grease hole in the stock. I shortened the .45cal barrel to 40" for better balance. I also have the Tennessee flintlock by L&R and a stainless vent liner to replace the drum so I can convert to flint when I want to.

 

[Y2GREY]

I've a couple of these over the years. There are significant differences between first run and later build models... Walnut stock, lighter barrel, slender stock with more drop. These are really great guns from a large manufacturer. The biggest challenge most have is being muzzle heavy. My early build .50cal with the 13/16 barrel (#133) weighs in at 7.6 while later build (#6969 gotta love that number) with the 15/16th barrel tips the scale at 9.4 which is pretty heavy. Of my entire collection only my Browning Mountain Rifle in .50 is heavier at 9.6 pounds.

 

[alcessapiens]

I have a dgw Tennessee mountain rifle in left hand .50 . It’s a very nice rifle that had 1:56 rifling. It shot well although it is muzzle heavy but I got a good deal on a gm barrel 1:66 and swapped it out. I like it a lot and it’s still far lighter than my 40 inch j Goodoin barrel on a renegade. That’s heavy.