132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.

[Rube Burrows]

http://wtvr.com/2015/01/15/132-year-old ... onal-park/

How cool. If only it could talk.

[superchicken]

Spent part of my honeymoon there years ago, but I don't recall leaving a rifle.

That's beautiful country for sure.

[gamekeeper]

WOW! How cool is that.....

[bdhold]

amazing - thanks for posting

[Old Ironsights]

http://wtvr.com/2015/01/15/132-year-old ... onal-park/

How cool. If only it could talk.

It would probably say - "I'm bored, lonely and cranky after being abandoned for nigh on 100 years... how would YOU feel...?"

[Alphawolf45]

The arid climate kept it in good condition.. Many receivers offered on Gunbroker are pocked with rust pits and yet did not stand outside for a hundred years- probably a humid barn in Ohio or some place...Had I found that rifle I'd rebuild it and shoot it.

[FWiedner]

I'm thinkin' that it's a more recent loss.

If it had been there for that long, I wonder why the tree hadn't grown around it?

[oregon73]

I'm thinkin' that it's a more recent loss.

If it had been there for that long, I wonder why the tree hadn't grown around it?

It was leaned against a juniper tree. Those trees don't grow very fast.

But no one will ever know how long that gun has been there. Really neat find!

[Rube Burrows]

No telling how long it's actually been thee but I have always been fascinated by stories like this. One time I found a revolver out in the woods while hunting. Not a real old one but it had prob been there at least a few years. Always wondered how it got there.

[2571]

Glad the Park Service found it instead of some low life who woulda kept it.

[rock-steady]

Great story. I remember reading years ago about a hunter in Florida. he climbed a tree to escape some wild hogs and found a rusty Luger pistol with a tree branch growing through the trigger guard.....

[Bill in Oregon]

You know this had to have happened more than we might think. Very cool.

[MrMurphy]

Friend of mine owns about 100 acres. About a year after he moved in and built a house, he was out working the property and found a very slightly rusted BL-22 leaning against a tree.

Since no one had lived on the land (ever) and the last guy who owned it had run cattle there for 30-40 years and occasionally hunted it, no way of knowing whose it was, presumably, a trespasser's.

Curious to find out how long it'd been there (somewhere in the last 10-15 years, probably less). The finish was pretty well shot, but the gun fired and functioned fine.....he kept it as a plinker/gun behind the door piece after checking it hadn't been used in a crime.

It's collected three coyotes, a bobcat and a few turtles since.

[Griff]

http://wtvr.com/2015/01/15/132-year-old ... onal-park/

How cool. If only it could talk.

It would probably say - "I'm bored, lonely and cranky after being abandoned for nigh on 100 years... how would YOU feel...?"

Or it might say, "What an idiot, walked off to pee and ALREADY forgot he had a rifle!"

[Rube Burrows]

Maybe they can date it or get close by checking the ammo in the gun for an estimation on when it was left.

[AmBraCol]

It was unloaded. Here's an interesting write up on the subject.

http://weaponsman.com/?p=20281

Did some guy shoot up his ammo and leave the rifle as dead weight? The rifling is gone, at least from the muzzle area, which would be expected from a rifle that was shot with black powder loads then left to corrode for a century or so. At this point, it's all speculation. I wonder if they plan to do an archaeological dig around the tree to see if they find more info.

[Gobblerforge]

Glad the Park Service found it instead of some low life who woulda kept it.

If someone was woods tramping and found it, why would you consider them a low life for keeping it?
Gobbler

[GonnePhishin]

Glad the Park Service found it instead of some low life who woulda kept it.

I thought I saw somewhere that it has ended up at that TV pawn shop in Las Vegas???

[Shasta]

Did anyone notice that this rifle is missing its brass cartridge lifter? With the lever closed, the brass lifter should be seen at the bottom of the receiver. In the video, at the 4:42 time mark, you can see from the camera angle that the lifter is missing. It is probable that the missing lifter had reduced the rifle to single shot use and it would have been incapable of being used as a repeater. It would have been considered as being broken. Perhaps that is why it was left there at that long ago time?

SHASTA

[Griff]

Did anyone notice that this rifle is missing its brass cartridge lifter? With the lever closed, the brass lifter should be seen at the bottom of the receiver. In the video, at the 4:42 time mark, you can see from the camera angle that the lifter is missing. It is probable that the missing lifter had reduced the rifle to single shot use and it would have been incapable of being used as a repeater. It would have been considered as being broken. Perhaps that is why it was left there at that long ago time?

SHASTA

It might not be missing... but might be sitting off flush by an 1/8" or so... it still wouldn't be protruding out the top, as when the lever is completely open... but... could be representative of a broken carrier spring... and hence its abandonment... Be interesting if they publish their findings as they "preserve" it in its "as found" condition. Although, I think it should be restored...

[Shasta]

Here is a screen shot of the rifle's receiver from the video:




You can clearly see right through the receiver, especially noticeable at the lower left corner. The cartridge lifter is missing.

SHASTA

[AmBraCol]

Yes, saw that too. Makes one wonder. It's not like the lifter can just fall out for the heck of it. It's been a while since I had a '73 apart, but the lifter simply dropping out for no reason is not a feature of the design.

[Mike Armstrong]

I found a Winchester Single Shot .38-40WCF in Nevada on public land back in the mid-'50s. It was packed in burlap and covered with dried axle grease. Once I got the grease (which had hardened into something like amber-colored plastic, but melted away in heated kerosene) off, it was in near new condition, and still is. I still have it and occasionally shoot it. It's one of those odd Hiwalls with a 26" #1 Lowall barrel, a kind of lightweight version of the Hiwall. Made in 1896, and DO I wish it could talk!

Most found guns are in truly terrible condition, unfortunately. But occasionally somebody carefully puts one away for safe keeping, and never comes back for it. Sad.