fishcreekrim
Member
I helped my neighbor bury an old rolled up carpet out in the woods. She said her boyfriend would have helped her but he was out of town.
Anyone Else Buy Something That Had A Surprise Gun Inside?
- Thread starter dockmurgw
- Start date
I helped my neighbor bury an old rolled up carpet out in the woods. She said her boyfriend would have helped her but he was out of town.
My grandmothers 3rd husband ( the first 2 died of natural causes...really they did) & her lived in a house in Ulysses, Kansas. I was about 18 when my family & I visited. While there he took me to a closet in a bedroom & opened a panel in the back of it. Between the studs running the length of the wall were all kinds of shotguns & rifles. After he died (yes him too from natural causes, she outlived three husbands & died at 101) she moved out. I've always wondered if those guns are still behind that wall or what happened to them.
usmc2427765
US Veteran
An LEO in the last department I worked for checked on an elderly resident and one day she asked him to haul 2 boxes of junk to the curb for garbage to pick up. The boxes contained old gun magazines and he asked if he could take them and she said yes. He got home and went through them and at the bottom of one was a WW 2 1911 with GI holster and Kbar. He returned it to her the next day and she told him to keep it, that it belonged to her 2nd husband that she really didn't like. She further stated that he was a Marine in Iwo Jima.
shamrocker
Member
colt Bisley
When I was in High school my best friend and I were asked to clean out the basement of the ranch house where we hunted antelope in season every year and coyotes all year round. The yotes were worth something then.
The old rancher had died and his wife was going to be moving to the "home" in town.
We spent several weekends lugging and hauling junk to the dump and usable stuff to the goodwill.
My buddy found and oilskin bag shoved up in the top of the basement wall, pulled it down and in it was a well oiled old Colt Bisley. We took it upstairs all excited and showed it to the Lady of the house.
She said her husband had more than likely stashed it there and forgot it. She said she had no use for it and asked my buddy if he would like it.
He has it to this day.
When I was in High school my best friend and I were asked to clean out the basement of the ranch house where we hunted antelope in season every year and coyotes all year round. The yotes were worth something then.
The old rancher had died and his wife was going to be moving to the "home" in town.
We spent several weekends lugging and hauling junk to the dump and usable stuff to the goodwill.
My buddy found and oilskin bag shoved up in the top of the basement wall, pulled it down and in it was a well oiled old Colt Bisley. We took it upstairs all excited and showed it to the Lady of the house.
She said her husband had more than likely stashed it there and forgot it. She said she had no use for it and asked my buddy if he would like it.
He has it to this day.
Working night shift one night we got a burglary call on a business. Several of us showed up and found the rear door open. As we got ready to enter the building, I looked down and found a Ruger Super Blackhawk, fully loaded, laying in a container by the door. It was a 3 screw.
We got the guy and found out he had taken the gun from his Father's house. We returned the gun to his Father.
Another time on night shift we got a call about a dry cleaning shop's front door unlocked. I went inside to check and looking around for a number to call the owner, I opened a desk drawer and there were 3 or 4 Ruger revolvers in it. All were Blackhawks.
Another time we had a house alarm go off on a local business man's residence. When I was checking out the residence, I saw an original M1 Carbine hanging on the wall in the den. It had the early band and flip sight. He had brought it home after the War.
Years later, I contacted the owner's son to see if I could purchase the Carbine, as his Father had passed away. He took my name and phone number but I never got a call from him. He ended up committing suicide.
After living in his house for more than 30 years, a good friend of mine thought it was time to improve the attic insulation in an effort to cut heating costs. While doing so, he found a Model 1911, .45 ACP, buried in the existing insulation. and left there by a previous owner. He eventually moved to Wyoming, taking the gun with him.
After Hurricane Katrina, I was gutting flooded houses in New Orleans and found an old 12 Gauge single-shot shotgun in an attic. Riverside Arms Company. I had never heard of them, so I did a little digging and found out they were the "house brand" for J. Stevens Arms Company from about 1915-1945. It's a neat looking piece of history, but in no shape to be shot. It's currently hanging on my wall in all it's old, rusty glory!
Folks in the Burb of the Burgh I grew up in (prior to 68) use to bring "Ganddad's" old guns they didn't want into the police station and left them.
Dad had a number of Steven Favorites ( one became my first rifle and today hangs on my home office wall) and a half dozen Colt Pocket .25s... one still in the box.
Dad had a number of Steven Favorites ( one became my first rifle and today hangs on my home office wall) and a half dozen Colt Pocket .25s... one still in the box.
GypsmJim
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When I was a kid, we lived in the city in an old house built in the 1800's. Attached to the house out back was a woodshed with a raised wood floor. The house had no basement. There were passageways starting in some of the first floor closets, leading outside. The Rumor was that the house was either owned by bootleggers or the underground railway.
One day Grandpa put his foot thru one of the rotted boards in the woodshed. When he removed it to replace it there was a revolver underneath. He left it there.
A few years later the house was taken by eminent domain for an interstate highway. After we moved THEN Grandpa told the story. After whining for days I finally convinced my Dad to go back and dig it up. (I was 7 at the time). When we did, the house had already been torn down and everything was long gone.
One day Grandpa put his foot thru one of the rotted boards in the woodshed. When he removed it to replace it there was a revolver underneath. He left it there.
A few years later the house was taken by eminent domain for an interstate highway. After we moved THEN Grandpa told the story. After whining for days I finally convinced my Dad to go back and dig it up. (I was 7 at the time). When we did, the house had already been torn down and everything was long gone.
ajgunner
Member
25-30 years ago a friend and I were returning from a day of pheasant hunting when my buddy says pull over I gotta go right now. This is on I-84 in Eastern Oregon. For those not familiar with the area, this was somewhere between Pendleton and The Dalles. Look on a map and you will see there is not much there for about 100 miles except open pavement. He gets all wide eyed and says NOW. Nothing but sage brush in every direction, but I hit the brakes and pull to a stop on the side of the highway. He grabs the TP from the glove box and jumps over the guardrail in a big hurry. After finishing up with a terrible case of "gotta go right now" he comes back over the guard rail with a Remington 870 in his hands. It had been leaned up along the back side of the guardrail right where he had done his business. Because it was not trashed like it had been thrown out the window, we figured someone had just propped it up there and walked away. He called a couple of county LEO agencies with the description and serial number, but never got a return call. He still has it today. What are the odds of having a "gotta go now" moment and me just pulling over in the exact right spot???
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I remodeled a lot of houses in the past. All I ever found were hidden stashes of pornography.
When I was going thru police academy, the agency put me up
in a motel, same room for 14 weeks. Being sensitive to the idea
of anything illegal that might be stashed in a motel room, I
checked everything that was moveable.
Lifting the mattress revealed a stash of HUNDREDS of porn
mags. Somebody had a "large melon" fascination, based on
most of the titles.
I invited all the other cadets, housed in the motel, over to grab
whatever they wanted.
AFA finding weapons, I arrested a homeless guy who had
seventeen knives on his person...including a machete!
A 681!
Remember how I've written that I've never seen a 681? Hee-re's another one!
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Remember how I've written that I've never seen a 681? Hee-re's another one!
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Inusuit
Member
My Dad went to a lot of farm auctions. He purchased a stack of used fence posts. When we loaded them on the truck to take home, there was a single shot shotgun in the pile. Stock weathered white, metal rusty. It went away with a lot of other stuff when the ranch sold.
M E Morrison
Member
OP
I'm sure glad this one came AFTER lunch!
When I was going thru police academy, the agency put me up
in a motel, same room for 14 weeks. Being sensitive to the idea
of anything illegal that might be stashed in a motel room, I
checked everything that was moveable.
Lifting the mattress revealed a stash of HUNDREDS of porn
mags. Somebody had a "large melon" fascination, based on
most of the titles.
I invited all the other cadets, housed in the motel, over to grab
whatever they wanted.
AFA finding weapons, I arrested a homeless guy who had
seventeen knives on his person...including a machete!
Let's just say he had a well equipped tool kit.
Pisgah
Member
Never got a surprise gun, but I bought a $3 shirt at a Goodwill one day and found two $20 bills folded up in the pocket when I got home.
A friend bought a house down the block from Remington in Ilion. He found a cigar box in the attic filled with Model 51 parts and enough nickel plated ones to assemble a complete gun. I was tasked with putting it together for him and I got to keep the spare parts. All the holes had to be reamed to install the pins, but she came out beautiful and functioned flawlessly. A very stunning pistol, the rollmarks just popped in nickel. I can't recall if the magazine was nickel. This was 25 years ago. He submitted it to the local sheriff and when the serial came back clear, my friend put it on his NY permit.
I'm sure it was an employee "lunchbox special".
I'm sure it was an employee "lunchbox special".
hdfinder47
Member
My Patrol Capt. was watching a crew replacing utility poles after a major hurricane. The foreman came up to him with the remnants of a cardboard box that had come up when digging the new hole. In the wad of cardboard was a minty nickel Colt Detective Special with some surface rust (which cleaned off nicely. Even grips were minty. Sold it to me for $200.
ACORN
Member
A friend of mine liberated a Luger before fleeing the Nazis in Europe and stashed it in the rafters in the basement of his house. Years after the war he went back to his home figuring on reclaiming the pistol. He said where house once stood was now an apartment building.
Ranger514
Member
My wife grew up on a farm in northern VA that her grandfather bought at the end of WWII. They original farm house dated back to Revolutionary War times. My FIL did some remodeling in an upstairs bedroom, removing an old wall and found old letters stashed in the walls. He showed them to me years ago, and they were still legible. The letters were of a religious nature, from one sister to another. The farm was located within 15 miles of Manassass, and both Yankee and Rebel troops passed through the area. The farm has now been split up and parceled out for residential development.
roguegamma
Member
Remember how I've written that I've never seen a 681? Hee-re's another one!
Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
Yep, I've not seen one, but a 681 is on my want list. For a fleeting moment I thought about making a lowball offer, but then I thought better of it. I'd keep a revolver like that forever just on the story
No gun involved and no purchase either.
Years ago I chased chukar with a vengeance. One of our favorite areas was Owyhee reservoir in eastern Oregon. We would go in near the top end of the reservoir and unload the ATV's then ride up to a place the locals called the Tongue.
I had a young lab that was a very promising dog that I took that day. When we got to the area to hunt, we let our dogs out to run and clean out. After about 10 minutes I whistled my dog in and he came back with a pair of Steiner binoculars in his mouth. There is some big game hunting that goes on there and I assumed the owner was close by but we never saw another soul all day long. Took them home and found out they were not the upper end Steiner. I already had a set of very nice binoculars so I sold them to my sister for bird watching.
Years ago I chased chukar with a vengeance. One of our favorite areas was Owyhee reservoir in eastern Oregon. We would go in near the top end of the reservoir and unload the ATV's then ride up to a place the locals called the Tongue.
I had a young lab that was a very promising dog that I took that day. When we got to the area to hunt, we let our dogs out to run and clean out. After about 10 minutes I whistled my dog in and he came back with a pair of Steiner binoculars in his mouth. There is some big game hunting that goes on there and I assumed the owner was close by but we never saw another soul all day long. Took them home and found out they were not the upper end Steiner. I already had a set of very nice binoculars so I sold them to my sister for bird watching.
No, but several times people I knew found guns in their homes that they didn't remember owning and they gave them to me. I sold most of them but they included am old Forehand & Wadsworth pocket pistol, a Galesi .25 ACP mouse gun, an Enfield tanker model that somebody seriously and altered to make it a belly gun, a single shot Stevens 12 gauge, a Ruby .38 that the NRA told me to never fire, and maybe a few others I have forgotten. But never a surprise in a closet like that!
ACORN
Member
A buddy of mine was given an old wooden school desk to use as a loading bench and found an old top-break revolver in very nice condition. It wasn't a Smith & Wesson though.
We went to our gun club shooting one evening and he shot some handloads from inside of an old coat pocket and caught the coat on fire.
We went to our gun club shooting one evening and he shot some handloads from inside of an old coat pocket and caught the coat on fire.
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One of my sisters bought a piece of property at a sheriff's sale which had an old shack on it. Tearing down the shack they found a nice model 94 Win. She gave it to me after showing it to a gun store owner and LPDept. ran the numbers which came up clean. Nice rifle, but I don't hunt anymore and it's kind of tough to shoot a rifle in Pittsburgh! Going to the range when this virus thing gets under control. Oh, also two .410 shotguns; a double barrel and a pump. Cleaned them up, and they seem to function pretty good now, too.
I was in an old music store that had a public main level, but since I helped the owner appraise a few things he let me wander around the basement, upstairs, and attic that was simply full of old music gear.
Upstairs there was a weird little gate with a narrow staircase behind it.. I crept up and found myself in a small room lined with dozens and dozens of rifles and shotguns... probably several hundred at least. I wasn't into long guns so I didn't really look close, but I bet there was some great stuff there!
Upstairs there was a weird little gate with a narrow staircase behind it.. I crept up and found myself in a small room lined with dozens and dozens of rifles and shotguns... probably several hundred at least. I wasn't into long guns so I didn't really look close, but I bet there was some great stuff there!
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