Glass High School - Crest Yearbook (Lynchburg, VA)

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told jokes as we talked. VValking around in the shop, we saw guns in various states of repair and some that he was making. One of the most attractive pistols was a flintlock stocked with birdseye maple. For stocks he prefers to use curly maple but will sometimes use cherry or wal- nut. Mr. lN1artin uses nitric acid to darken his stocks and adds water to the acid to achieve a lighter effect. He carves the stocks to a proper size then fits the barrels into them. The barrels are run through a borer, called a rifling rig, which cuts the necessary grooves in the barrel to provide the propelling force for the load. For many of his guns he makes hand engraved inserts. The designs on the inserts are tiny and exquisite. Each gun takes about a month to complete and may sell for hundreds of dollars. Mr. Martin makes guns to suit the customer, ranging from reproduc- tions of old muskets to custom-made hunting guns. He is so well known that in North Carolina, Tennessee, . . . his shop THE 'CRITIC Photos by J. Bullington, '64, . . . his work and Pennsylvania he is called by his first name. Mr. Martin showed us a .69 cali- ber pistol which had an extremely wide bore. He said, It sure would air-condition a fellow. And if it didn't 'kill him, he added with a twinkle in his eye, it sure would scare him to death, so he's gone either way. Today, he does not advertise in magazines or in newspapers of the gun world. About fifteen years ago he did but found t-hat he was getting too much work. His fame has been spread by word of mouth mainly and through several articles in various publications. ln February, Robert Holland of the Richmond Times- Dispatch did a feature on Mr. Mar- tin. But Mr. lVIartin likes to say that he was mentioned in an article in the Saturday Evening Post several years back. Mr. lvlartin is assisted in his shop by his nephew. There are few young men to pass this heritage onto, Mr. Martin -has made this ancient pro- fession a modern art. 11

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A VISIT WITH A GUN SMITH CAROLYN GILLS, '64 0 NE of the leading gunsmiths in the country today, Nlr. Hacker Martin, lives on VVreck Island Creek, outside of Concord, Virginia. He is one of the few people still making old timeyn guns and is known throughout the United States for the quality of his work. He was born and raised on a farm near Jonesboro, Tennessee, and it was in the blacksmith shops of his grandfathers that he first became in- terested in metal working and gun- smithing. Today he is an expert in his field and his guns are prized possessions of collectors. lN1r. Nlartin has been a farmer and a miller, and it has only been in re- .10 cent years that he has devoted all his attention to working on guns. In 1951 he and his wife bought Wreck Island lVlill and came to Virginia from Tennessee. About 1956 he closed the mill and since, has been a full time gunsmith. His shop, com- posed of two cluttered rooms, is on the second floor of the mill. Here he turns out the beautiful guns which have made him famous. Mr. Martin said it was only na- tural that he should become interest- ed in guns because in the area where he was raised, Everybody most had a gun. lNIr. lVIartin is tall, has white hair, and a moustache. He laughed and THE CRITIC

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