Don was a native of Pineville Kentucky and later lived in Flyods Knob, Indiana. He was a Master Smith with the ABS and earned B.S. degrees in both Chemistry and Mathematics from Eastern Kentucky Univ.
The MS is the Master Smith stamp with Don's stamp on the opposite side of the blade.
13' overall with 8" oct. rifled barrel signed "HACKER MARTIN". Tiger maple stock with engraved brass and silver mounts. Engraved lock signed "H. Martin". Original hickory rod. Hacker was known as the last of the first generation of traditional smiths. Chapter XII of Ned Roberts' "Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifles" is devoted to Martin.
When Robert Weil started collecting images for the Contemporary Makers book in 1973 the challenge to record contemporary gun work was daunting. Gathering material was difficult and time consuming. Few makers thought that there was any value in published documentation of their work. Electronic publishing has changed all that. Having a website or having one's work available to view on the internet is becoming a necessity. In spite of all the potential to finally have a true overview of what's being produced by the artists of today, a great deal of work still remains covered up and basically unknown. Our role is to make an effort to document some portion of what’s going on today. To comment on the established makers and to uncover the unknown. We welcome your comments and suggestions and look to you our readers to make us aware of the talented makers out there. Art and Jan Riser Robert Weil and The Makers