Dillon’s ole “Killdeer” is for sale again. This rare photo seen in my recent Haga monograph is of Capt. John Dillon holding what appears to be old “Killdeer”. The rifle is clearly a Reading style rifle of the kind we would attribute to Wolfgang Haga today.
Curiously, Dillon never mentions Haga in his book, "The Kentucky Rifle", although he shows a number of Haga-like rifles. The caption on the back of the photo is: "A famous shooter with a famous rifle. Captain John G. Dillon, of Media, Pa. brought his famous old Kentucky rifle to a rifle shoot at Camp Perry, Ohio. The rifle was made in 1754". Apparently, the photo not in his book was a press photo.
In his book, Dillon starts his caption for “Old Killdeer” on plate 78 with: "Apparently the work of Adam Smith, about 1760". In the back of his book in the gunsmiths' listings, he lists Adam Smith of Cincinnati, O. "who made handsome rifles but never marked his name". So how did Dillon determine Smith made Old killdeer? Have you seen any Reading gun attributed to any Adam Smith?
By the way, if you have Shumway’s reprint of the original 1924 Dillon book, put it aside and buy the original 1924 book if you want to see clear photos of the guns. Plus you get the list of gunsmiths and a nice section on Kentucky pistols at the back which Shumway did not include in his badly printed editions. Even with the many outdated thoughts in Dillon, it is still a worthwhile primer.
Patrick Hornberger
