Here Are The Pics

[hunthog]

Here is the drop horn and rifle I found in Oregon.

hunthog

 

[COHunter]

That is too cool. I'd love to find an old rifle like that

Congrats

 

[Rick]

That's great! The rifle is not as damaged as I thought it would be from your first description of it. They will definitely make a terrific wall decoration.

 

[hunthog]

The side plates were blown loose, the sides of the receiver were warped outward on both sides, there was evidence that the case in the chamber had partially blown out (pieces of brass protruding from around the bolt head and both side plates missing from the bolt top) and the magazine was split open near the barrel. I can see the bottom of a primerless cartridge case pushed back from the magazine and there was exactly 347 grains of molten lead, in 2 pieces rattling around in the magazine. The original bullet was 350 grains.

More than one shot may have been fired before the failure since it looks like there was only one cartridge left in the mag when the failure occured. Except for the one stuck in the back of the mag the mag tube is empty.

hunthog

 

[Lankyman]

That is awesome. If that gun could talk, who knows what you could learn. You never know if that gun was being used to defend someone from an animal attack or if someone was just tryin' to drop a big bull with it. Thanks for postin' it. Also, that is a great shed.

 

[FTTPOW]

Hunthog, that is so neat! I'll give you $5 for it! LOL. If it's possible I'd try to find the SN and contact Winchester to gain some history of it. If only it could talk for it's selve. I'd be leary of cleaning it up too much. It may be of more value as is. That is unless you take me up on my offer.LOL!

 

[JohnJohn]

Seeing that rifle brings back memories of a story I read in Sports Afield(I think) several years ago about a Antelope hunter in Wyoming. A snow storm blew up caught him in the open on the plains, and he made for a group of rocks in the distance. As he hunkered down in them he saw a rifle barrel protruding from between the rocks and pulled it out. It was a 1873 Winchester with the wood rotted off, the breech open and a shell jammed in it. With the rifle was a hunting knife with a broken tip from prying on the jammed shell and a handful of spent brass. As with your rifle, if a body only knew"the rest of the story"!

 

[PowDuck]

Originally posted by hunthog@Sep 29 2003, 01:25 PM
The side plates were blown loose, the sides of the receiver were warped outward on both sides, there was evidence that the case in the chamber had partially blown out (pieces of brass protruding from around the bolt head and both side plates missing from the bolt top) and the magazine was split open near the barrel.  I can see the bottom of a primerless cartridge case pushed back from the magazine and there was exactly 347 grains of molten lead, in 2 pieces rattling around in the magazine.  The original bullet was 350 grains.
...  Except for the one stuck in the back of the mag the mag tube is empty.

Sounds like the rifle has been through a fire. That's probably why the cases have "exploded." And it explains the MOLTEN lead in the mag.

Excellent find, and I second the advice not to clean it up too much.

Congrats.

 

[h2obobh2o]

WoW!!!!!!!!!!

What an awesome find! Two of my favorite things, history, and antler's. That is completely amazing that you found that rifle. I would surely have that on display. I read a story a few years ago in Western and Eastern treasure's magazine about a guy down south that stumbled upon a cave on top of a little knoll, and once inside, he discovered it was a confederate pickett camp from the civil war, and found 10+ civil war muskets leaning up against the wall, and various personal items on the cave floor, there was no explanation why the soldiers would have left the cave without their rifles, just another mystery that will go unanswered. Very Cool find!! Nice shed too by the way!!

 

[arlow]

That is pretty cool!!!! They will look real nice diplayed together!

 

[medic]

Cool find! Didnt find any people bones did ya?

 

[hunthog]

You know PowDuck, you're not the first person that mentioned a fire and that's a clear possibility. 100+ years is a long time even though I saw no evidence of fire in the area. Most of the trees were very mature and appeared untouched. I still wonder why the rifle was there and why it was left. Fighting indians? Man, it was a long ways up that very steep mountain. I can't think of any other reason than hunting why anyone would be way up there in the first place. I still marvel at the long odds of finding that rifle in the exact spot where the first blood of my arrowed Elk was. After hearing my Elk fall I probably could have walked straight up the hill to her but, it's my SOP to always find and follow the blood trail to my animal. Had I not done that the rifle would still be up there. I literally set my pack down on the rifle barrel because once I retreaved my marking tape from the pack I picked it up and there was 2' of the barrel sticking out of the dirt.

medic, nope didn't find any bones but, I didn't look very carefully. Heck, I had an Elk to track so I made a sling for the rifle with my handy para cord and continued my track to the Elk. I plan on going back there next year. I marked the spot on my GPS. I realized that I didn't dig around for the butt plate (duh!) or any other artifacts when I got home so, I plan on doing that next year. Maybe with a metal detector I have access to. No telling what I might find, huh?

huthog

 

[medic]

Make sure you let us know if you find anything else there. Be neat to find out if there are any more goodies!

 

[sambarr]

what a fantastic find! reminds me of the movie "JERAMIAH JOHNSON" where he found "HATCHET JACK" DEAD FROZEN IN THE SNOW WITH HIS (I THINK) SHARPS BUFFLA RIFLE IN HIS FROZEN HANDS.
i REMEMBER A STORY WHERE A HUNTER HERE PUT HIS 270 DOWN 20 YRS AGO AND STILL IT HASNT BEEN FOUND .

 

[hunthog]

Bet that 270 is in someone else's gun safe by now. Or worse yet, a deer has it and is out there somewhere just waiting for the right moment to strike.

hunthog

 

[hunthog]

By the way, nice rub sambarr. I have a couple pictures of rubs I found this year in Oregon that might inpress. I'll post them at home.

hunthog

 

[YH88]

Cool find