ALR Museum Gunmaker: Peter White.......Bedford Co, PA ( A recognized Master)

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

Peter White, Bedford Co, PA   (1777-1834)  Bedford Co,PA  . Considered by many to be amongst the finest makers in the Bedford Co "school" of Pennsylvania gunsmithing in the Golden Age.
Here is the url:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=8196.0

Please post your comments here as a "reply."

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The Library and Museum Committee

[Tom Currie]

I've never been a big fan of Bedford County rifles but that rifle really catches my eye.

One of the expert comments was " This difference in two volutes carved reasonably close together, with the front elongated volute flowing smoothly from the line that defines the front of the comb and wrist, while the rounded one to the rear fails to flow smoothly off the carving just above it, seems a little odd to me for a White rifle."

Another similiarly  inconsistent detail to me is that  the sideplate engraving details at each end of the center portion both point to the center but are of different execution. One being crosshatched ( from the rear ) and the other being made of fine parallel lines ( from the front ). 

Maybe White was less concerned with symmetry that our 20th century eyes expect.

[scooter]

There are three distinct periods in White's life (1) prior to 1803 in Emmitsburg MD, perhaps apprenticed around York PA (2) Bedford Co, 1803-18, made Bedford style rifles (3) 1818 till his death, Uniontown PA, reverted to earlier style. While the lare Cal Hetrick claimed White as the inventor of the Bedford style there is no proof. He fowling pieces made in Bedford bear no resemblance whatsoever to Bedford style rifles. He probably made far more MD or YORK style rifles than Bedfords. I suspect he barely made a living in Bedford. Of course he went bankrupt in Uniontown, but the famous pistols as well as rifles were made there. Thus, many who dislike Bedfored school find many White rifles attractive.