Tom,
I’ve only made a bit of headway so far, and mostly just small things.
Most of the time has been spent studying the rifle and Dickerts work, and trying to figure out just what to do with to it restoration wise. This is actually quite a grand old gun, and originally would have to have ranked up there with some of Dickerts turn of the century bests, so I’m proceeding with all due respect.
Since I bought the rifle last year, I’ve since found another one, owned by another KRA guy, that if not a twin to this one, is at least a close cousin. It has similar raised carving, the silver star and two moons, but with the small daisy patchbox. He’s been most gracious with pictures of his rifle to help me with details of mine.
And recently, another similar Dickert was sold at auction. It had incised carving similar to the raised carving on my gun, the same large daisy box, the star and two moons on the cheekrest, and other similarities to mine. Although in not very good condition, I bid on it, but someone else had more $$$$.
As for my gun, it’s obvious that it was used for a very long time, but actually had pretty good care during use. Just a lot of use, but not much abuse. Most here will remember that the barrel has been cut back, and the stock cut to a half stock. The lock switched to percussion, and a ramp installed for a peep-sight. It also has a buckhorn sight in place of the original rear sight. For all intents and purposes, it looks like all these modifications might have been done at the same time, and makes you wonder if the gun wasn’t modified as such to take out west on a buffalo hunt or some such thing.
After purchase, I talked to the owner, through an intermediary, to find if she knew of any history regarding the gun. Unfortunately, she hadn’t even known that the gun had been there, and that it was only found when her daughter had been cleaning out the house. The daughter found the gun in a chest, in a closet, in the attic of their house in New Jersey. The owner surmised that it must have belonged to her deceased husband, although she didn’t know when, where, or from whom he might have purchased it, and that it could have been up there for about 50 years. Or possibly, even there when they bought the house.
I remember when the gun was found and posted on this board, there was some discussion as to what, or should, be done with it. Some were for a complete restoration, some for leaving it as is, some arguing that it was too far gone and not worth time or money. I looked at it as a heck of a gun that just needed some help.
So after a lot of talking to a bunch of knowledgeable guys, considering all aspects, considering that the gun has no known time of use history, and considering what would give it the best possibly hope of continuing to be a collectable rifle for the foreseeable future, decided that a sympathetic, but fairly complete restoration is in order. I realize that not everyone will agree with this and I understand that position. But I also believe that leaving it in its current condition will hinder its desirability to future collectors, and its ability to remain a viable piece of Dickerts work down the road for others to enjoy.
I say sympathetic because the idea is to put the gun back as Dickert made it, but still maintaining the current wood/metal conditions, so none of the nicks and bangs will be removed, the old finish won’t be touched other than to just rub it, which so far has had a surprisingly nice effect, the barrel put back to original length using a piece of old barrel, and the lock converted back to flint using old parts, most of which I’ve scrounged up.
So far, the few existing cracks in the wood have been repaired, the missing or broken inlays replaced or repaired, and about 1 inch of barrel that had been cut off the breech end replaced, the tang repaired and refitted to the barrel using the tangs original threads, and the broken ramrod entry pipe repaired.
The barrel is an odd one with 8 grooves and left hand twist, but the bore is in good enough condition to use as a template when rifling the 6 inch long piece of barrel that needs to be added the front end. These barrel pieces won’t be welded on because I want to preserve as much of the original finish as possible. The barrel pieces will be threaded with tight fitting threads, referencing on the bore diameter to have the old and new pieces in alignment, then the new piece screwed onto the old piece. Peening the new piece close to the joint removes any line or sign of the join. I used my little clunker milling machine to mill the flats onto the new piece, then filed them to finish size.
I have a few pictures with me here on the boat and will try to post them in the next few days, internet connection willing.
John
