Anyone Else Buy Something That Had A Surprise Gun Inside?

[windypoint]

I found an old hunting license that was my Father's. It was hidden under the butt plate of an old Stevens single shot 20 gauge. I am guessing he always wanted it with him while hunting, I passed the gun on to my Nephew but still have the old license. Nice to have an old momento.

 

[bmcgilvray]

Back in the 1980s my old gun club friend gave me a 1887 vintage Winchester Model 1886 .45-90. Seems he was sitting in the office of his ice plant down by the freight yards one hot summer afternoon in 1937 when a carpenter came by with the rifle.

The carpenter had done a job for a widow woman down on south Anglin street and had discovered this rifle hidden in the attic. The woman didn't want the rifle so offered it to the carpenter as payment for the job. The carpenter didn't want the rifle and needed the money so brought it to my friend was was known as the local gun nut in town. My friend gave $13.00 to the carpenter for the Winchester which was in nice condition except for a split forearm.

My gun club bud was a slightly built man so promptly took the rifle to the Knight Bros. gun shop in Fort Worth and had them lop off four inches of the barrel and magazine tube and add a more visible Sheard front bead. He had the notions of making up a brush rifle. He also wrote Winchester to order a new forearm. Winchester sent out a forearm of exhibition grade walnut, apologizing that it was all they had left on hand to supply his order.

When he gave it to me he ruefully observed that he'd have never cut it down if he'd have known what it could have been worth later, but at the time it was just an old gun.

I promptly ordered out some Bertram brass, developed black powder .45-90 loads for it using 300 grain cast bullets and used it to take a deer that season. He cued me in on shooting .45-70 ammunition out of it, something it handles adeptly, like shooting .38 Special ammunition in a .357 Magnum. The rifle's particularly accurate with the smokeless .45-70 loads and very useful and fun too. It was only reasonably accurate with the black powder fueled .45-90 loads.

This Model 1886 is second from the top of this lever-action tribe. The forearm doesn't look impressive as the figure doesn't show up due to the light, but it's pretty spectacular and really doesn't match the butt stock at all.

 

[bulletslap]

Anglin in the South Ft Worth, Forest Hill area ?

 

[ajgunner]

Anglin in the South Ft Worth, Forest Hill area ?

???????????

 

[bulletslap]

That question was for bmcgilray, I should have used
The quote feature.

 

[jmart172]

Back in the early 70s, my father was in real estate and flipped houses.
In one vacant house he found a 1943 Saginaw M1 carbine
I still have it

 

[bmcgilvray]

Anglin in the South Ft Worth, Forest Hill area ?

Cleburne, Texas.

 

[storyman]

Deer hunting in the Missouri breaks country of North Dakota when I was 18, I found an old cabin. Just about fallen down on itself. I went inside, not much left of any thing. One window facing the Missouri river. I went over to the window for a look and put my hand up on the window sill and found this. The Missouri river breaks is some very rough country and was home to some very rough people in the early 1900's. It was rusted up so much that it was froze. I took it home, dropped it in a can of solvent, and started working on it with a wire brush. A little elbow grease and I got it broke loose. It had 2 rounds in the magazine and yes they both fired even after being in the solvent. The bore is still pretty nice, not that it is a target gun. Here is my first Colt and first handgun!

 

[kaaskop49]

Deer hunting in the Missouri breaks country of North Dakota when I was 18, I found an old cabin. Just about fallen down on itself. I went inside, not much left of any thing. One window facing the Missouri river. I went over to the window for a look and put my hand up on the window sill and found this. The Missouri river breaks is some very rough country and was home to some very rough people in the early 1900's. It was rusted up so much that it was froze. I took it home, dropped it in a can of solvent, and started working on it with a wire brush. A little elbow grease and I got it broke loose. It had 2 rounds in the magazine and yes they both fired even after being in the solvent. The bore is still pretty nice, not that it is a target gun. Here is my first Colt and first handgun!

You did an awfully nice job on that .25, storyman, cleaning it up and getting it to function! Over a century old, and the design is still classic, IMHO. Wish there was a reason to re-introduce the design. I'd be in the market for a couple.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[max503]

I bought an endoscope. It's a camera on a 20 foot cable that plugs into your phone or computer. I've stuffed it into every reachable nook and cranny of my current residence, a 1964 ranch house but have found nothing. It's my dream to find an old war relic hidden in the rafters of a house.

Endoscopes are handy and cheap. About $20. Many uses. I stick mine down holes in the bluffs, looking for snakes, etc.

Here's a pic of my Taurus 9mm bore. Think its leaded?

 

[bulletslap]

Cleburne, Texas.

Thanks, I used to live not far from Anglin in South Tarrant County.

I also have fond memories of the old Knight's Gunshop.

 

[27 Man]

Years ago, my grandfather went to an estate auction and bought a box of miscellaneous items because he wanted the overalls that were in it. When he got home he found a nice Keen-cutter pocket knife in one of the pockets.

 

[ACORN]

I knew a guy that was helping a friend clean out his Dad's garage after the father died. The father was a Harley and gun guy. In the back of the shop there were 2 open top barrels of old oil and metal hooks hanging into them. When they pulled the hooks out my friend told me there was a M2 carbine barreled action on each. IDK what the son did with them.

 

[pawngal]

I found one in my own house, and no, it wasn't there when we bought the house When I cleaned out late hubby's "shop" behind the old wood desk I found a Stevens Model 35. Not in too bad of condition considering it had been there since the basement flood in 1993 and it was over 20 years later that I found it. Sold it to the owner of the HD dealership.

 

[LCC]

back in the early 70's a notice was posted out front of an old house in our neighborhood that'd sat vacant for decades it was going to be torn down the following week by the new owner, an area spec house builder.
Evening before demo let mysef in to take a gander, always liked old houses. Up in the attic noticed what looked like a plastered over door opening on one wall, gave it a kick and it buckled inward, revealing a small room.
In it were old clothes, a tool box with Proto wrenches in it, a couple of boxes of books with leather covers, some from the late 1800's, a whole lot of assorted junk, and a small leather box.
Inside the box were old Navajo silver and turquoise pieces, gold and silver rings, opal and amber stickpins, a half dozen gold and silver coins from the 1800's, and a dozen other goodies. The books, tools and leather box went home with me, ended up giving away all the contents of the leather box over the following decades to family and friends for birthdays, Xmas, anniversaries, etc.
By the end of the next day, what had been the house was now just a pile of rubble being scooped into 10 yard boxes.

 

[kfields]

About 8 years ago, I bought a .22 conversion kit off ebay for my Beretta M9. When I received it in the mail, the conversion unit came assembled on the frame of Beretta 90two!!
I emailed the seller and "thanked" him for the gift - haha! He was mortified. I said I would send the frame back to him but I would have to send to an ffl and not through the US mail (as he did when sending to me). He didn't want to do that so we negotiated a deal for the frame and I paid him.

 

[03hemi]

Deer hunting in the Missouri breaks country of North Dakota when I was 18, I found an old cabin. Just about fallen down on itself. I went inside, not much left of any thing. One window facing the Missouri river. I went over to the window for a look and put my hand up on the window sill and found this. The Missouri river breaks is some very rough country and was home to some very rough people in the early 1900's. It was rusted up so much that it was froze. I took it home, dropped it in a can of solvent, and started working on it with a wire brush. A little elbow grease and I got it broke loose. It had 2 rounds in the magazine and yes they both fired even after being in the solvent. The bore is still pretty nice, not that it is a target gun. Here is my first Colt and first handgun!

A lot nicer than the bandaide I found!

 

[browningcollector]

CASH

My mom bought a 1981 Pontiac in the mid 80's, it had been in a wreck and a local body shop fixed it up and sold it to mom. We were installing a radio in it a couple years later and we found 10 twenty dollar bills rolled up with a rubber band up under the dash. Mom was a happy camper!!

 

[Drm50]

I have found several guns in houses. I worked for a company that bought a lot of farm properties. I was in engineering dept and was always the first on the scene when people vacated. Many times found more than guns. One old farm mansion that occupants had been living in a few rooms on first floor was full of antiques. The were heirs of original owners and someone in that family had always lived there. They bought a new Buick and left with their tooth brushes and $100K, very large money in 1970s. Told me I could have anything there. Got guns and antiques of all kinds. Hauled for 2 days.

That one was one to remember but others I would find a gun. Usually 22 or a shotgun. Old farmers would pick up Arrow heads and such and lot of times they would be laying on top of foundation stones right inside basement door. Handy place to get them out of your pockets.

 

[Farmer17]

I was riding four wheelers with a friend on some riding trails at Lake Draper near Oklahoma City and found a small back pack. When we got to the truck I looked inside and there was a wallet, an I-phone, and a baby Glock and I immediately took the pack to the guy working the front gate. A bit later an OCPD officer drove by just checking on everyone and I told him about the pack and me giving it to the guy working the front gate. I said he might stop by and make sure the guy at the front gate doesn't keep it for himself.