Anyone ever find an old gun while out metal detecting?

Mizzou

If so, was it in working condition or pretty much rusted away?

1630Boston

Rusted away..................................and it was a toy gun.

pcgs69

only a few toy guns here too. Nothing exciting and all junk.

johnny9434

found a few hubley toy guns all in pieces but just the same. nothing real

Bayard1908

Guys who detect in rivers seem to find the most guns. Guns fall out of boats and are waiting to be found.

Leroy

I've noticed that when a gun is found in a creek, it's usually pretty close to an bridge. Probably not a coincidence.

ricko

Not yet, but I hunt old home sites.... would love to find an old musket pistol....Cheers, RickO

HiBucky

I have found two guns .. ONe is from 1820 and the other is from 1840 .. I think it time to try to post a picture with the new format. I also found some newer ones that I have included.

HiBucky

Better picture..War of 1812 belt plate. Two French and Indian War escutcheons. Rosette of Benjamin Harrison (Very Rare) a cane head of Benjamin Harrison and dated 1888 with his VP and Republican . $5.00 gold ..1655 cob, 1540 hammered penny found in WNY

ricko

@HiBucky...very nice display and some marvelous finds there..... Cheers, RickO

Bayard1908

Those revolvers are not from 1820 and 1840. I presume you mean the two percussion barrels and tangs in the top right.

I'll bet with a new mainspring, I could get that S&W to function again.

AUandAG

I found a rusted out old Colt from the 1800's in the sand dunes next to the Carson River, years ago. Not much left but the rusted frame. I relocated it to the bottom of the river with a good toss.
Only one.

Mizzou

HiBucky, That's what I'm talking about. I knew there had to be some old guns laying around just waiting to be dug up. Those are really cool, if I ever find one like that I'll put it in one of those deep picture frames and hang it on the wall.

windwhispersintrees

Found a small cal boot pistol years ago....I'll find the pic and post.

ricko

@windwhispersintrees... look forward to your picture.... Cheers, RickO

windwhispersintrees

Wow. Hard to believe this was back in 2003. This is a spur trigger boot pistol...something like .22 cal. I believe it's late 19th or early 20th C. Was found while searching the banks along a dried up old swimming hole. You can see one side of the cylinder has entirely rusted away. The first pics are obviously as found...the rest are after electrolysis and a coating of wax. It looks a little wonky in the after photos because of the thick wax and the lower quality of the old camera photo.
I never made the connection until now, but I recall reading in local history about a bank robbery, where the escape was made through the general area where this was found. Wonder if there was any connection, or just some local lost it while swimming. Man, that old area brings back great memories...found lots of Indian Head cents, teens Lincolns, some Seated and Barber dimes, a few rings...that site was really good to me.

Bayard1908

A non-S&W spur trigger revolver could be from as early as 1870, which is when the Rollin White patent expired.

lordmarcovan

I too have found toys (Hubley cap pistols and the like), but never a real gun. Just hardware from them (an escutcheon plate and ramrod guides off Brown Bess muskets, a hammer off another flintlock, etc.)

Finding one in a creek near a bridge would give me the creeps, due to the implications of what it might have been used for and how it got there. If such a find wasn't obviously a century old, I'd probably report it to law enforcement.

Mizzou

Someday I'd like to find an old gun like that. I've dug up just about anything that you can imagine other than a gun.

lordmarcovan

I've never dug a whistle, either, for some reason. A silver Washington quarter from the 1930s also is on the list of "stuff I should've dug by now but haven't". (On many occasions, friends right next to me have found them. I of course have the later silver ones.)