6/8/2022 – Frontier Firearms from the Lifetime Collection of Larry Ness

.42 caliber. 34″ double-key octagonal barrel with under rib. SN: NSN. Browned finish, iron, German silver and pewter mountings, walnut half-stock. Plain, single screw, externally unmarked commercial percussion lock is maker marked “T GIBBONS” on the interior. Top flat of barrel marked “H.E. DIMICK & CO/ST. LOUIS”. Heavy barrel measures 1.08″ across the flats at the muzzle with extended double screw iron tang. Double set triggers, dovetailed fixed leaf rear sight, dovetailed German silver Rocky Mountain front sight blade with steel base. Extended double finger spur triggerguard, steel buttplate, oval German silver escutcheons at barrel keys, pewter forend cap. Wooden ramrod secured by a plain steel pipe. 

Horace E. Dimick (1809-1874) was probably the most prolific of the fames St. Louis makers of Plains Rifles. A direct competitor with the famous Hawken shop, Dimick produced his variation of their famous plains rifle, as well as smaller caliber sporting and hunting rifles, target rifles and even delivered a lot of roughly 1,000 rifles that were used to arm Birge’s Western Sharpshooters (14th Missouri Volunteer Infantry) which was later redesignated as the 66th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Those Dimick rifles did yeoman’s service during the first 12-18 months of the Civil War in the Western Theater, in particular at battles like Fort Donelson and Shiloh. Dimick also imported large numbers of guns from England and Belgium and offered these guns with his retailer mark on them along with American produced guns like Metropolitan Navy percussion revolvers. Next to the Hawkens, Dimick is probably the most famous of the St. Louis Gun makers.