sweet gun

[judu]

nice find riverdiver, did you find that underwater?...if so, makes you wonder what kind of shady past that gun has ....

 

[riverdiver]

Hi judu,

I did find it underwater, it was down stream of a bridge in the center of a major city.
Since this is a cool subject we are on, I will add one more photo of another gun.
I was contacted by a local police department and asked if I could train some of their 'diving' officers in search and recovery techniques with an u/w metal detector. We chose a blackwater river in their district and proceeded to 'mow the lawn' with a 10'sq grid. About halfway though the tank the officer pictured, wrote on his slate that he thought he was detecting a length of pipe. I instructed him to recover it so we could verify it and this is what surfaced.

It has been identified as an 1850's cap and ball rifle and was a very common hunting rifle, it is completely intact and since the officer was on duty, his Chief would not let him keep it so it is in my collection now.
Sometimes it pays to be the teacher and not the student.

 

[Rockhounder55]

That's an incredible find riverdiver. The rifle, I mean. It's in remarkably good shape for being underwater, compared to your pistol above. ~Mike

 

[riverdiver]

Hi Rockhounder55,

You are correct about the preservation differences. The pistol was lying in a on top of the sand in a swift water river environment, whereas the rifle was embedded in a peat type of bottom with a high tannic acid content (low oxygen level) and was thus preserved to include intact brass trigger guard and butt plate, the rifle was about 12" deep into the 'peat' at about 10' deep. This river winds through farm land and only has a current during the spring snow melt and after heavy rains. Another cool note is that the barrel is octogon shaped.

 

[RedGinger]

That is a really neat story, Matt. It's a very nice looking gun, too. Thanks for sharing the story. What if you had just blown it off as being a pipe?

 

[glass man]

BET THAT OFFICER WAS TICKED OFF HE COULDN'T KEEP IT!!! BET SOME ONE LONG AGO WAS TICKED OFF THEY LOST THEY HUNTING RIFLE!!!

 

[Staunton Dan]

Here's my gun find, the barel of a 6" octagon boot pistol. I found it while digging bottles in an 1850s era privy last April.

 

[riverdiver]

Hey glassman,

The officer was and still is upset, he is also still one of my dive partners. We have done several law enforcement recoveries since that find and he is an excellent diver with a detector and not a bad bottle digger either. He bought his own detector after that dive and has since made some great recoveries. The rifle is hidden away and when we both retire in 10 years (He is an Officer in the same town I am a FT FF-EMT) he gets the gun.

 

[Rockhounder55]

Good for you, riverdiver. You're an honorable man. I would have also found a way to get that officer that gun. ~Mike

 

[surfaceone]

The rifle is hidden away and when we both retire in 10 years (He is an Officer in the same town I am a FT FF-EMT) he gets the gun.

Well done, sir.

Did'ya pack it in Cosmoline? Amazing that the stock is intact! Was the wood saturated? Are you ontemplating any conservation? Or, is it all good?