Tom White is from northern Ohio and is still around - I don't know if he does any horns or guns anymore, but is a fantastic engraver and I believe sells engraving equipment and supplies as well. I really don't know if he made this but the carving and engraving on this rifle look like his work to me - but I have no idea for sure.
Back in the early 1970s he was pretty much "the" guy with regard to custom horns - his horn engraving is really fine quality. In that era many guys sought after a Tom White horn and a Gary Birch bag to go with your rifle. He made some nice rifles too and I remember seeing a few over the years. A few passed through E Christopher Firearms in Miamitown, OH, and if I am not mistaken Tom probably had some influence from Jack Haugh via that connection and Friendship in the 60s and early 70s. I think he might have made a few that sold through Golden Age Arms as well as I am sure he spent some time at Jim Johnson's shop up in Delaware as well. I know he did the nice line drawings for Jim's book "Building the Kentucky Rifle" (still about the best $10 you can spend if you are building your first rifle).
I was wondering if perhaps the gun is marked Russ Hamm somewhere other than a barrel signature - i.e. perhaps this was even a personal gun of Mr. Hamm's made for him by Tom White or someone else. In any case it is beautiful work from that era. I really like this rifle - brings to mind the time when I was first getting interested in this stuff.
Guy
