Tag Archives: found gun

Not your average catch of the day

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The archaeology department at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland has been working since 2011 to save a crate of 20 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled muskets that were delivered to Canada via fishing trawler after an extended period on the bottom of the Atlantic.

The rifles, still in the crate they have been in since around the 1850s-60s, are housed in a large container filled with a chemical solution that includes a bulking agent and corrosion inhibitor designed to stabilize the relics.

“This soaking process will take many years and is done to prevent the wood from collapsing, cracking, or warping once dry and also to prevent any remaining iron from staining the wood surface,” Memorial’s Archaeological Conservator, Donna Teasdale, told me.

And they are now starting to find inspector’s marks on very well preserved brass and walnut.

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More in my column at Guns.com

This Smith held up pretty good

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Castaic Lake in LA County (Golden State) is at near-record lows. In fact , that bad boy has dropped 150 feet in recent months. As the lake pulls away from the banks its showing off parts of the mud that are rarely seen. This left a local Castaic fisherman spotting a muddy old backpack in the flats. When he opened it, he got a shock:

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Yup, a Federal T-badge, a pager, calendar from 1992 (what a way to perfectly date it!) and one hell of a corroded Smith and Wesson. You gotta hand it to that Smith though. It looks like a 5904 wondernine (with the safety still on) to me but if not, its definitely in that series. Id like to see what it looks like field stripped. As you may have guessed, all of the above came from a ATF agent who lost them when his fishing boat was swamped 22-years ago and is still with the agency.

More if you are interested here in my column at Guns.com