132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.
Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.
Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
- Rube Burrows
- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 2090
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:27 pm
- Location: Louisiana
-
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:32 pm
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
Spent part of my honeymoon there years ago, but I don't recall leaving a rifle.
That's beautiful country for sure.
That's beautiful country for sure.
- gamekeeper
- Spambot Zapper
- Posts: 17458
- Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:32 pm
- Location: Over the pond unfortunately.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
WOW! How cool is that.....
Whatever you do always give 100%........... unless you are donating blood.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
amazing - thanks for posting
- Old Ironsights
- Posting leader...
- Posts: 15084
- Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:27 am
- Location: Waiting for the Collapse
- Contact:
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
It would probably say - "I'm bored, lonely and cranky after being abandoned for nigh on 100 years... how would YOU feel...?"Rube Burrows wrote:http://wtvr.com/2015/01/15/132-year-old ... onal-park/
How cool. If only it could talk.
C2N14... because life is not energetic enough.
מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין Daniel 5:25-28... Got 7.62?
Not Depressed enough yet? Go read National Geographic, July 1976
Gott und Gewehr mit uns!
מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין Daniel 5:25-28... Got 7.62?
Not Depressed enough yet? Go read National Geographic, July 1976
Gott und Gewehr mit uns!
-
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:09 pm
- Location: Bismarck ,Arkansas
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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?
If it had been there for that long, I wonder why the tree hadn't grown around it?
Government office attracts the power-mad, yet it's people who just want to be left alone to live life on their own terms who are considered dangerous.
History teaches that it's a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back.
History teaches that it's a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
It was leaned against a juniper tree. Those trees don't grow very fast.FWiedner wrote: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?
But no one will ever know how long that gun has been there. Really neat find!
NRA
- Rube Burrows
- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 2090
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:27 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
Glad the Park Service found it instead of some low life who woulda kept it.
- rock-steady
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 425
- Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:35 am
- Location: Deplorable Red State
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.....
"People who need long explanations at moments when everything depends on instinct have always irritated me." ~ Guy Sajer
-
- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 9047
- Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:05 am
- Location: Sweetwater, TX
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
You know this had to have happened more than we might think. Very cool.
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
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
- Posting leader...
- Posts: 20864
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:56 pm
- Location: OH MY GAWD they installed a STOP light!!!
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
Or it might say, "What an idiot, walked off to pee and ALREADY forgot he had a rifle!"Old Ironsights wrote:It would probably say - "I'm bored, lonely and cranky after being abandoned for nigh on 100 years... how would YOU feel...?"Rube Burrows wrote:http://wtvr.com/2015/01/15/132-year-old ... onal-park/
How cool. If only it could talk.
Griff,
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession!
AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession!
AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
- Rube Burrows
- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 2090
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:27 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
Maybe they can date it or get close by checking the ammo in the gun for an estimation on when it was left.
- AmBraCol
- Webservant
- Posts: 3659
- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:12 am
- Location: The Center of God's Grace
- Contact:
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
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.
Paul - in Pereira
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon
http://www.paulmoreland.com
http://www.pistolpackingpreachers.us
http://www.precisionandina.com
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon
http://www.paulmoreland.com
http://www.pistolpackingpreachers.us
http://www.precisionandina.com
-
- Senior Levergunner
- Posts: 1504
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:02 pm
- Location: Eastern Ohio, Foothills of Appalachia
- Contact:
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
If someone was woods tramping and found it, why would you consider them a low life for keeping it?2571 wrote:Glad the Park Service found it instead of some low life who woulda kept it.
Gobbler
Click Click Boom
- GonnePhishin
- Senior Levergunner
- Posts: 1952
- Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:23 pm
- Location: Bodecker's BBQ Bar & Grill
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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???
"The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." - Thomas Jefferson
"I know not what course other men may take, but as for me, Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" - Patrick Henry
"I know not what course other men may take, but as for me, Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" - Patrick Henry
- Shasta
- Senior Levergunner
- Posts: 1558
- Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:50 pm
- Location: Shasta County, the far right stronghold in California
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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
SHASTA
California Rifle & Pistol Association LIFE Member
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member
http://www.hcrpclub.org/schedule.html
avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member
http://www.hcrpclub.org/schedule.html
avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
- Griff
- Posting leader...
- Posts: 20864
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:56 pm
- Location: OH MY GAWD they installed a STOP light!!!
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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 wrote: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,
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession!
AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession!
AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
- Shasta
- Senior Levergunner
- Posts: 1558
- Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:50 pm
- Location: Shasta County, the far right stronghold in California
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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
You can clearly see right through the receiver, especially noticeable at the lower left corner. The cartridge lifter is missing.
SHASTA
California Rifle & Pistol Association LIFE Member
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member
http://www.hcrpclub.org/schedule.html
avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member
http://www.hcrpclub.org/schedule.html
avatar pic is Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, & Mt. Shasta
- AmBraCol
- Webservant
- Posts: 3659
- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:12 am
- Location: The Center of God's Grace
- Contact:
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
Paul - in Pereira
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon
http://www.paulmoreland.com
http://www.pistolpackingpreachers.us
http://www.precisionandina.com
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon
http://www.paulmoreland.com
http://www.pistolpackingpreachers.us
http://www.precisionandina.com
-
- Levergunner 3.0
- Posts: 509
- Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2013 12:21 pm
Re: 132 year old Winchester 1873 found leaning against tree.
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.
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.