Dimick Target Rifles- information/pictures needed

[Misplaced Rebel]

Hello all,

Chris here. I was just wondering if you fine people might help me find (or if you know of some, direct me to) some information regarding the Dimick Target rifles of the 66th IL 'Western Sharpshooters.' I am considering a project to make an approximation of one of these as a teaching tool in my presentations in the ACWSA for Civilian target rifles as used by the Northern sharpshooters during the WBTS, using a commonly available 'kit' gun as a base. I know the 66th IL (a mainstream unit, IIRC) includes them in their impression, but they use altered Lyman GPRs and the image they provide is of one of their 'reproductions,' I think, whose accuracy I cannot verify. Unfortunately, I cannot find pictures of the original guns anywhere, nor any images of the 'unique' ammunition (I saw a referrence to a 'Swiss Chausseur Bullet' on another forum, but no image) it used. Also, any reccomendations about other such target rifles (except for the Sharps- there are enough of those on the skirmish line, so I don't have to bother... ), how to reproduce them or other such information is welcome, but I would like to put a 'priority'- if you will- on information about the Dimicks.

Thanks in advance!

Guten Nacht und Aufwiedersehen!

-Chris Thulien

[tenfed1861]

Sir,after a quick internet search,I was able to find an article on Dimick himself.It is a two page bio is mostly about Dimick and his rifle making prior to the war,and a few paragraphs about his wartime experiences.If you look at the bibliography,that might be able to help you with getting more info.
Hope this helps.
http://asoac.org/bulletins/87_rapp_dimick.pdf

[tenfed1861]

Also found a few photos and info on the rifle at the Springfield Armory Museum.
http://ww2.rediscov.com/spring/VFPCG...TABASE=objects,

Hope this can help.

[Misplaced Rebel]

Thanks, Cullen! (I hope you don't mind if I call you by your given...) I really appreciate the links!

The picture of the rifle is very interesting, if only for the fact that the rifles that Dimick delivered were only bought up, and that this was but one example of a variety he supplied. I think I might be able to utilize a Lyman GPR as a base quite successfully- the stock shape is perfect (assuming one removes the cheek piece- easily done with a rasp), and so is the buttplate. The trigger guard could easily be fabricated, or left as is, as they share many of the same features and are seen on many period sporting guns. The nose cap could easily be changed out. The original example also has a long tang- the Lyman GPR also shares a similar feature. The lock itself is different than the example gun, but it was a common sporting lock style which is perfect- besides, I can't rebolster a gun, I'm no professional like Todd W. This gets curiouser and curiouser by the minute...

Thoughts?

Thanks again,

-Chris

[Curt Schmidt]

Hallo!

Complicated...

IIRC, Dimick ended up delivering 472 various rifles out of the 1,000 to Birge. .40 seemed to be the NUG calibre.

As with his competitor, Samuel HAwken, Dimick ran a shop with about two dozen gunmakers/gunsmiths. And like Hawken "plains rifles," aside from a few salient features like the distinctive Dimick trigger guard, walnut cheek piece-less stock, and poured pewter nose cap... they varied a bit- especially between the target rifles and the hunting rifles.

Let's see if this works... an original Dimick:



And a Lyman GPR:



And here is a link to a Birge-attributed Dimick target rifle:

http://www.civilwarmo.org/gallery#item/CWMO-13

At a certain skill level, one can rework Lyman "Great Plains Rifle" by removing the classic S. Hawken beaver-tail cheek rest, changing the forestock key escutcheons, cutting back/elongating the wrist into the comb, taking off teh forestock "perch belly" profile, swapping out sights, adding a poured pewter nose cap, and adding a distinctive Dimick trigger guard such as from Track of the Wolf. The Lyman hammer is actually so far from a true Hawken hammer, it can work as is.



The one factor that cannot easily be changed, is having a .50 bore. The lock plate profile could be reduced, but it would require cosmetic wood working "repairs" to fill in the gaps in the lock mortise. Teh percussion bhoster on the Lyman is not much like the Hawken shops, but it would be a task to
repalce teh barrel in .40 AND try to find a more "Dimick" looking bolster/breech section.

But, if one could find a used Lyman GPR, this could be a doable cost and time effective project, and not be as "farby" as it initially sounds.
IMHO, it would be making a nicer sow's ear out of a worser sow's ear. But far "better" than using a classic 1850's Samuel Hawken plains rifle for CW military.

I have a left-handed Lyman GPR kit still in the box. And this may just give me an idea to make something "different" for plinking.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is really not too many Sharps Target Rifles in reenacting, as there are no repro's.

Curt

[Misplaced Rebel]

Hey Curt! I was wondering when you would chime in on this...

Well, IMHO, when you think about it, between the image of the rifle that Cullen provided, the one you have, and the GPR, the modifications you suggested could produce a pretty accurate repro. If you stopped short of redoing the barrel, this could be a really quick project. The article Cullen provided does mention that Dimick used the same style of locks as provided to the Hawken Bros. by T. Gibbons on some of his guns. I've been looking around for a .40 barrel, but nothing has an appropriate bolster/breech, or fits the hooked breech of the GPR, for that matter. Creating such a thing would be, I think, very expensive for some. On regards to caliber, however, the article also notes that guns taking a ball between 1/2 and 1 full ounce were accepted and used. The rifle at Springfield is, after all, a .55 caliber gun, so maybe .50 caliber is a reasonable proposition. One could have the .50 barrel re-lined to .40 caliber, methinks? As there were a variety of calibers issued, maybe the .50 caliber bore isn't as much a problem as one might think?

Well, in reenacting, there may not be too many Sharps (of any stripe), but there are quite a few in the ACWSA (similar to the NSSA). And I'm tired of tree frogs, anyway...

Cheers,

-Chris

[David Fox]

Might be worth checking with Oklahoma's www.therifleshoppe.com . They manufacture an amazing array of replica firearm oddments. I've had great luck with Pennsylvanian Bobby Hoyt, owner-operator of the Freischutz shop lining barrels. He can also fabricate them. This project could be done in stages, as finances alow....

[Curt Schmidt]

Hallo!

Different historians have different opinions...

I think what might be going on is that some of them (incorrectly) look at the particular "model" (to use that term loosely as Dimick had 26 makers under his "Western Emporium" shop) for just his "American Deer Rifle" which was .40, and want to make that "standard" for all of the 583 (?) targert and plains rifles delivered by Dimick made by him and competitors.

In brief and to over generalize...

Fremont was a remarkable "scrounger." What the initial deal was was for 1,000 rifles specified to be between half an ounce and an ounce. Without getting out my balls-per-pound charts, IIRC that would be roughly about .32ish to .69 calibre.

And what Dimick did was, to empty his racks trying to scrounge inventory and make new guns to fill the demand starting with 150 and ending up around 583 the difference being a few they produced but the balance being other maker's guns Dimick scrounged himself. (I would have to check the lists in "Arming the Suckers" for example as the 66th went down to IIRC just 15 when they went to Springfields and the few Henry's in 1864.

"Target" rifles and "Hunting" were NUG in the mid to upper .30's to low to mid .40's by the middle of the 19th century as dangerous large game animals and hostile Indians were gone east of the Mississippi (exceptions so noted). And a nominal .40 bore was ideal for paper targets or deer.

Sooo, still being overly brief, a .50 is fine enough and IMHO not worth replacing the barrel just to have a .40 "Deer Rifle."

Here is a Dimick target rifle where the customer non NUG went with a .50:









Curt

[Misplaced Rebel]

Hey Curt,

Thanks for all of the info! Everyone else who has replied, thanks so much for all of your help! One day, in the near future, hopefully I can get this project rolling.

Curt et. al, do you guys think Hoyt could do a simple re-breach of the original Lyman barrels that would fit in the hooked tang system they use? It looks to me, at least from the pics, that these guns used a 'hooked breech' much like the GPR and other guns of the period. Maybe he could just make a new breach with the appropriate shape that would fit the stock inlet, and then one could reshape the lockplate around it? The GPRs have exceptionally well-made barrels that are very accurate, and I would like to maintain that. Maybe rebreaching the existing barrel is the right way to go? What do you think Mr. Hoyt would charge for such a project?

Thanks,

-Chris

[Misplaced Rebel]

Also, where are you getting these pictures? A member of another forum I am with is asking for pictures of various Dimicks. I think he'd be ecstatic to see these. Could I possibly get copies emailed or PM'ed to me?

Thanks,

-Chris