DICKERT RIFLE R.I. Auction

[Dennis Glazener]

One of my favorite Lancaster rifles, by Peter Resor, also for sale. https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/82/126/peter-resor-flintlock-american-long-rifle-hunting-pouch-horns

Rich,
Maybe you just like that large priming horn
Dennis

[rich pierce]

Go big or go home on that priming horn! I don’t know what to do with the pairing of the rifle and accoutrements. Remarkably intact stuff. But, the rifle was found in superb condition, so who knows.

[Eric Kettenburg]

They make no claim about the bag/horns being genuinely old, simply that they're "included." 

[rich pierce]

Caveat emptor.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Not to besmirch Birch, but come on - next to that rifle, who the h__l is actually looking at the bag/horns and thinking, "Gee, I'd buy that rifle but I really don't know about the accouterments?"

 

[JTR]

The bag is the work of Gary Birch. Gary has confirmed this.

Not to be obstinate, but since everything is questioned around here nowadays, does Mr. Birch have proof that he made the bag?
Any pictures of him making it?

Seems no one believes anything written about a gun here, so why believe anything about a bag?

By the way, it is a gorgeous bag!!!
John

[Mike Brooks]

I'm buying the Running Deer rifle. So, EVERYBODY BACK OFF OR ELSE!

[Stoner creek]

I'm buying the Running Deer rifle. So, EVERYBODY BACK OFF OR ELSE!

Too late pal! I’ve already got a bid in on it  .

[LuVerne Schumann]

Indirectly King's Mountain related. The initial settlers of Middle Tennessee are mentioned in several accounts as having purchased "Deckard" rifles prior to travelling there in the late 1770s. Some of which were at King's Mountain.

So Dickert rifles were known in Tennessee from the beginning of settlement there.

Can you point us to the sources for this? Were these primary sources penned by the settlers themselves in the 1770s, who called their rifles "Deckard"s, or are these much later sources that describe the rifles of these early settlers?

I don't mean to sound badgering by asking these questions--but I've written about Dickert and will write more about him so I am eager to learn about how and when his reputation spread. When I was writing my article, I wasn't able to find much earlier than a merchant in Lexington, Kentucky who advertised in 1788 that he had “four dickert rifle guns” for sale. As I mentioned above, it is a nineteenth-century source, G. M. Ramsey’s Annals of Tennessee (1853), that first claimed that all the patriots were “well mounted, and nearly all carried a Deckhard rifle."

But I would be very happy to learn about earlier sources!

Me too. Almost all accounts are later accounts, and "Deckard" could quite possibly have been a word that is "Kleenexed" if you get my drift. Mostly I've seen the same account re-repeated in histories of James Robertson, like this one: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42623571?seq=1

[JTR]

Just a short story. Back 15 or so years ago when I worked on ships, I worked with a Captain for many years named James Deckard. His family had lived in Louisiana for as long as he knew.
He knew of my interest in kentucky rifles, and told me that he and his family were related to a Rev War gun maker in Penn by the name of Deckard. I told him that I didn't know of a guy named Deckard, but there was a guy named Dickert. Without hesitation he said yeah that was the guy. He went on the say that names had a way of changing down there, and that he know for 100% certainty that he was related to the Pa. gun maker. After knowing him and listening to that southern accent of his for many years, I had no doubt that he knew what he was talking about. 

[oldtravler61]

  Now Stoner an Mike. Doesn't matter if ya got a bid in.
It's the one with the last bid that counts..!   LOL  Oldtravler

[mr. no gold]

Surprised that this rifle has resurfaced here in the discussion. I did not comment earlier as it was up for auction, but now that has been sold, guess that I can tell you what I know about it.
Am pretty certain that this gun was in a large Santa Barbara collection which I had the privilege to see and handle most of the pieces many times. So, am still pretty certain that this rifle was in the group. It is an early piece made by Jacob Dickert and is signed as such. The butt stock is quite thick and all of the wood is sound. Not sure how it came to be associated with King's Mountain, as I never heard Richard say that specifically. He may have felt that it was of an age and type that was used there. Another feature of the rifle is that it had only one lock plate bolt. The front was a screw to hold the side plate firm. My first impression was that this was wrong. It should have had the obligatory two bolt configuration. To me it was rather a late made gun built to look old; to resemble a 1770s gun. Much later I learned that some makers in England in the mid 1700s were playing around with the 'one bolt does it all' concept, and factoring that into the situation, the gun is in reality a 1770s product. Now I see that it has grown a second bolt and I had in fact heard that had taken place. A recent owner had the same reaction that I did initially and had it changed. I later had the satisfaction of pointing it out to the individual at a KRA meeting and got a shrug for my revelation.
The rifle was nominated for an NRA silver medal award at the Phoenix annual meeting and I was in attendance when it was presented. My overall impressions are that it is a great early Dickert rifle and when I finally win the lottery, I am going to buy it, and I'm going to have that darned front lock bolt reversed to what it should be!
If you look a the earlier B & W photos you can see the way it appeared originally and when the gun was in hand it was very obvious.
Dick

[Mike Brooks]

The auction doesn't take place for another 3 weeks...

[Jim Kibler]

This rifle has always looked a little "off" as compared to other Dickert work in my view.  The carving looks weak as compared to other Dickert work of the period.  I would wonder if this couldn't possibly be a restock.

Jim

[Mike Brooks]

This rifle has always looked a little "off" as compared to other Dickert work in my view.  The carving looks weak as compared to other Dickert work of the period.  I would wonder if this couldn't possibly be a restock.

Jim

I have always assumed it was apprentice work.

[WESTbury]

I have always assumed it was apprentice work.
[/quote]

I like this observation by Mike.

Recently, I had an exchange of views with a very respected and accomplished member of this forum which was centered on my opinion that the shops of the "Masters" also produced rifles that were of a more mundane nature based on the needs and wallet of a potential customer. A rifle produced by an apprentice as Mike asserts is a perfect example.

Pat Hornberger and John Kolar present, in my opinion, a very insightful and cogent argument about the level of embellishment of rifles and fowlers on Page "XX" under the heading "THE EXHIBIT" in their fine book, The Lancaster Longrifle at the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum published in 2015.