Gun Found During Home Renovation

[ParadiseRoad]

I once had a mailman tell me about the strange things found in free-standing street corner mail boxes. Wallets, jewelry, keys, purses, articles of clothing, fruit, garbage, drugs, about anything you can think of that would fit. I imagine cell phones being found there today might not be too unusual.

...back when my age was in the single digits...my cousins and I would try to fill those mail boxes up with grasshoppers...

...a woman in Denver threw some used clothing in a donation box...along with her car keys...

...she used her cell phone from inside the box to call the police...and they and the fire department showed up to get her out...

 

[ParadiseRoad]

Similiar situation:
We had a dumpster behind our business facility and I went out one morning to dump our trash and saw there was a wallet laying on the bottom. I managed to retrieve the wallet and found a females ID along with some cash and all her personal ID's. I called her on the phone and told her where to come to retrieve it. When she showed up I handed her the wallet and she turned and left without so much as a thank you!
Jim

...I found a young lady's wallet on the side of an Interstate service road...

...I called and offered to meet her to return it...she was scared...so I mailed it to her...

...she sent a nice thank you note saying she thought she'd never see any of it again...let alone all of it...

 

[Salty RI]

One time metal detecting on the beach, I found a class ring from a school in NJ, I called the school and gave them the year and the initials in the ring, they looked it up and found the girl but wouldnt give me her contact info, I gave them mine, her mother called me, she said her daughter lost the ring about five years ago while here on vacation, its a wonder it took five years for someone to find it.

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[Franklin]

One day a while ago I took the boat out with a very large magnet and long rope and I was able to pull up many off the bottom that had fallen victim to the "Boating Accident" reported many times on this sight.....

 

[Model 19 6"]

While deer hunting with his brothers my dad riding in back of PU saw a gun in the ditch and he brought it home. The Remington mod 11 12ga had two slugs in it. This was what I carried bird, and duck hunting for several years. Still have it.

 

[Kinman]

A local business man that was one of the early "good guy" types left a good story behind. He owned a mortgage company that specialized in refinancing mortgages so people could keep their land with a lower interest loan and lower monthly payment. His plan was to buy up an entire city block as the older businesses sold out. He would buy them, tear out the walls and expand his business. I knew his old time office manager and she could go on for hours about some of the good things this gentleman did, he was considered an excellent judge of character, had owned the local Studebaker/Packard dealership, my grandfather bought Packards from him. To get to the story, he had bought an old tavern adjacent to his mortgage business and as was his habit, hired a demolition guy to tear out the walls, the demo guy hired day workers to do the grunt labor. One of the "kids" he hired was banging on a brick wall on the first floor with a sledge hammer and punched through, opening a hole, he knocked a large enough hole to look through and noticed there was about a three foot space with another brick wall beyond, this was the "firewall" needed between two buildings per old building code. He got a flashlight and shone a light down into the hole to see how far it went down, it went do to the basement below which was still bricked off, off into the far corner he sees a dust covered bag...hmmmm
He opens up the hole enough to get a ladder down and climbs down, goes over to the bag and opens it up, its full of twenty dollar gold pieces, he starts screaming "I'm rich, I'm never going to have to work again for the rest of my life....etc."
News travels fast and he climbs out of the hole to find the owner of the demolition company who says "You ain't rich kid, I'm rich, I hired you to do demolition not go treasure hunting." The kid says "Finders Keepers" a fight breaks out.
Along comes Mr. Sandifor who has heard all about the ruckus. Mr. Sandifor says "Now whats going on boys?" and he listens to both sides of the very heated argument. He pauses for a moment and about this time a cop shows up who knows Mr. Sandifor very well. Mr. Sandifor says "Here is what were going to do with these coins, were going to split them three ways, they were found on my property by a young man that was hired by my old friend, does that seem fair to you boys?" Pretty tough to argue with that kind of logic...

 

[Salty RI]

That kid is kicking his butt to this day for not keeping his big mouth shut.[emoji46]

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[islandguy]

Found an H&R single-shot 12 gauge barrelled action, no butt stock or fore-end, in an old farmhouse I rented back in the 80's. My brother found the barrel of a Ferguson breech-loading flintlock in the barn of a very old farm he once lived in. Don't know what my ex did with the H&R, but the Ferguson barrel is now in a museum.

 

[italiansport]

A local business man that was one of the early "good guy" types left a good story behind. He owned a mortgage company that specialized in refinancing mortgages so people could keep their land with a lower interest loan and lower monthly payment. His plan was to buy up an entire city block as the older businesses sold out. He would buy them, tear out the walls and expand his business. I knew his old time office manager and she could go on for hours about some of the good things this gentleman did, he was considered an excellent judge of character, had owned the local Studebaker/Packard dealership, my grandfather bought Packards from him. To get to the story, he had bought an old tavern adjacent to his mortgage business and as was his habit, hired a demolition guy to tear out the walls, the demo guy hired day workers to do the grunt labor. One of the "kids" he hired was banging on a brick wall on the first floor with a sledge hammer and punched through, opening a hole, he knocked a large enough hole to look through and noticed there was about a three foot space with another brick wall beyond, this was the "firewall" needed between two buildings per old building code. He got a flashlight and shone a light down into the hole to see how far it went down, it went do to the basement below which was still bricked off, off into the far corner he sees a dust covered bag...hmmmm
He opens up the hole enough to get a ladder down and climbs down, goes over to the bag and opens it up, its full of twenty dollar gold pieces, he starts screaming "I'm rich, I'm never going to have to work again for the rest of my life....etc."
News travels fast and he climbs out of the hole to find the owner of the demolition company who says "You ain't rich kid, I'm rich, I hired you to do demolition not go treasure hunting." The kid says "Finders Keepers" a fight breaks out.
Along comes Mr. Sandifor who has heard all about the ruckus. Mr. Sandifor says "Now whats going on boys?" and he listens to both sides of the very heated argument. He pauses for a moment and about this time a cop shows up who knows Mr. Sandifor very well. Mr. Sandifor says "Here is what were going to do with these coins, were going to split them three ways, they were found on my property by a young man that was hired by my old friend, does that seem fair to you boys?" Pretty tough to argue with that kind of logic...

Your story reminded me of this hoard found a few years ago!
Jim

California couple auctions off $11 million worth of rare gold coins they found buried in yard

 

[NovaJoe]

If anyone watches "Good Bones," they were doing a whole house rip out to the studs when a worker found a rusted top-break revolver wrapped in a bandana hankie, tucked inside the attic. It appeared to have gooda-percha grips and was either an S&W or an H&R. They called a police officer and after a serial number check, determined that the gun had not been reported stolen.

It reminds me of a good friend of mine who purchased a home built in the 1930s and who possessed a local handgun license. More than 20 years after moving in, he is re-insulating his attic when he found a Model 1911 buried in the insulation. Of course, he kept the gun and took it with him when he moved to another state.

Some people are plain lucky. I have yet to find a gun under any conditions.

My in laws were hoarders, and their house was full of all sorts of stuff, piled to the ceiling. About 6 years ago we were emptying it after they moved to assisted living. He had been a liberal gun banner as long as I'd known him. In the bottom of a closet we found a Colt Commander.45 from 1951 and a Baby Browning .25. Both loaded.


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[Protected One]

My in laws were hoarders, and their house was full of all sorts of stuff, piled to the ceiling. About 6 years ago we were emptying it after they moved to assisted living. He had been a liberal gun banner as long as I'd known him. In the bottom of a closet we found a Colt Commander.45 from 1951 and a Baby Browning .25. Both loaded.


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When they speak of "banning"....they don't mean THEIRS TOO.

 

[500SNW]

I'm jealous. I never find anything interesting or valuable...except the occasional coin on the sidewalk, or in the parking lot.

 

[Protected One]

I was living in an apartment building with a first floor parking garage that was open to the street in post Katrina New Orleans.

It was not unusual to find all sorts of interesting things stashed there. I think most of it was probably concealed to pick up later when the police were not watching.

One morning I went out to my car only to find a camera bag chocked full of expensive commercial photography equipment. I went through the baq to find a stack of business cards of a local photographer.

I called the guy to tell him what I had found and requested a meeting so I could return his stuff. This guy kicks into a third degree, rapid fire questioning of me. After he accused me of stealing his stuff he insinuated that I was holding it for ransom!

I let him know how disappointed I was in his family ancestry and the horse he rode in on. I told him that his stuff might still be behind the bush at an intersection a block from my residence and after he picked it up.....he could.....Well, in all of this excitement I overlooked the fact that I called him on my cellphone and that he had my phone number now, dang it.

I covered the location until his car pulled up and he jumped out with a pistol in hand. He went directly to the bush and retrieved his camera bag.
He never even called to thank me.

No good deed goes unpunished.[/QUOTE]

Going out for lunch one day, I found the drivers license and BLACK credit card of a well-know local real estate broker, between cars in the parking lot. This guy has offices in the same commercial building as my company, and he sell hundreds of home each year!
I went to his office and asked to see him. With a suspicious look, they tell me - "He's in a meeting, can I help you?" Well, I don't want to put these things in anyone's hands except HIS, so I gave them my name and the company I work for, and told them to have him come ask for me. I have something that belongs to him. Near the end of the day I haven't head from him, so I go BACK to his office and this time he's free. Holding the license and credit card up I asked - "do these look familiar?" He takes them and says "Oh my God...I've got to slow down. Moving too fast and to much going on".
No, "Thank you". No shaking my hand. Nothing. Some people just don't get it.
But other DO.

 

[desi2358]

I have a Winchester 1906 pump 22 that was found on top of the heating ducts in an old house that the new owner was remodeling. It was in a take down case covered in years of dust. Since the pump handle was broken he traded it to me for some ammo and we were both happy. After repairing the handle and a good cleaning it turned out to be a great shooter.

I have bought a number of attic finds over the years as well, seems to be the most common place for people to stash a gun either to keep away from the kids or hide from thieves. Most were hunting guns, 22's, shotguns etc. Got a nice Mossberg target model with a brick and a half of 1950's Remington target ammo that way. Stashed away and usually found when cleaning out after a death in the family or later by new owners getting rid of old junk and finding something that they hope will be worth some money. Some are, some not so much depending on the conditions they were exposed to and what they were to start with.

 

[keith44spl]

A friend told me of a long gun being found in the attic of their church.

While doing some wiring, they found a purty nice old Thompson....


** Best I recall, he said they took advantage of the amnesty back in '68.


.

 

[brucev]

Back in 1984 my wife's g.mother died at home early one Sunday afternoon. The funeral was conducted the following Wednesday. Afterward we were cleaning the house preparing it for rent. In a bedroom closet we found the buttstock and receiver of a old hardware store double barrelled 12 ga. shotgun. Later we found the barrels and a paper bag containing parts of the action. It as given to me. I took it home and after some fiddling, got it put back together in working order. It was a bit loose. A whack on the barrel tang tightened things a little bit, but lockup was still casual. Used it w/ low brass shells but finally traded it at a gunshop for a nice Safariland belt and holster for my little 17-3. I figured it was a good trade. If I'd kept it, one day it'd probably have let go. As it was, the shop owner put it up as a wall hanger. Oh well. Guess everyone was happy. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[DWalt]

I've heard stories about things that car junkyard operators have found stashed in wrecked cars. And things found in donations at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.

 

[Drm50]

I worked for a mining company that was buying up rural properties to build 3 new mines. I made it my business to be
there when owners departed. I found several guns and all kind
of antiques. Lots of arrow heads the farmers picked up over
the years while plowing. They had a habit of stashing them on
timbers in out buildings. When people living on hard scrabble
hill farms got $100K cash, a lot of them didn't take a lot with
them, that was in 70s and was a lot of money back then.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

"Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead." Ben Franklin
I found a woman's purse once. I called her, I didn't like the tone of her voice. I told her to meet me at the desk of the local police station
, I told the duty officer why I was there.

 

[brucev]

Once upon a time I was driving down the road making visits to church members. Down the road I saw what looked like a box. Upon getting closer, it was a nice ladies handbag. Inside was a lot of cash, wallet, etc. I looked at the drivers license and saw an address. I took it to the location and gave it to the lady. Nice woman. Thanked me profusely. She had left it on the roof of the car when she was at the bank. Glad she got her purse and its contents back. Don't think she could have afforded to have lost the money, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[500SNW]

A friend told me of a long gun being found in the attic of their church.

While doing some wiring, they found a purty nice old Thompson....


** Best I recall, he said they took advantage of the amnesty back in '68.


.

If I find a Tommy Gun...that suckers mine and I'm not handing it in.

 

[Citiboy289]

Great Thread LOVE IT !!!!

 

[Ingramite]

One afternoon I'm riding my motorcycle on a busy 4 lane highway.
The rear doors of the Medical Transport I had been following swung open and a Styrofoam cooler tumbled out and into my path.

It was all I could do to get stopped without getting rear-ended by the car behind me. I walked over to the cooler and opened the lid. Inside the cooler was a heavy zip lock plastic bag containing all 5 toes of an adult right foot.

My theory is that they probably came out of a boot that was involved in some sort of an industrial accident. I'm thinking that these toes are being rushed to an emergency surgery for re-attachment to the foot of some tragic victim.

Knowing speed was of the essence in a situation such as this, coupled with the fact that I had a lane of the interstate highway tied up, I called 911. The 911 operator put me on hold and came back after a few moments to tell me that this didn't constitute an emergency so they wouldn't respond.

I googled the closest three hospitals and two of them hung up on me and the third one said that they didn't have any missing toes.

The guy behind me is now in a big hurry so he starts laying on his horn.
He rolls down his window and I apprise him of the situation. Calmly, he tells me that he is from Mississippi and this happens all the time where he is from. I ask him what they do about it?

"Just call a toe truck".

 

[Golddollar]

The guy behind me is now in a big hurry so he starts laying on his horn.
He rolls down his window and I apprise him of the situation. Calmly, he tells me that he is from Mississippi and this happens all the time where he is from. I ask him what they do about it?

"Just call a toe truck".

<Rimshot>.