Found my First Gun this Morning!

[Terry Soloman]

Thought I would kill an hour this morning detecting the hill behind my better half's doctor's office, while she had her yearly physical. This is a very historical part of 'Battle Hill,' where the Contenintal Army (under Gen. Washington), kept the British Army - commanded by Gen. Howe, from finishing them off during their long retreat from Long Island. I have found musket balls at this location in the past, and now that the cool weather has knocked down some of the vegitation, I thought I would give it a shot.

Found a lot of old iron, a nice old GEM razor, and my first pistol! Talked to my buddy, who is also a police detective here in town, and I will be showing him the weapon and where I found it tomorrow. I'm not sure there is any real investigatory value in it, but it was a weird find!

 

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[baywalker]

Looks like a 25 auto with no clip can you see a mfg. Must of had A wood grip?
cool find

Jonnie

 

[worldtalker]

Terry, Think somebody lost that gun on purpose?

 

[metal mania]

cool find is that the clip that rusty square thing

 

[Swartzie]

That's neat and creepy at the same time. Sure to be a story behind that one. Gets the imagination going. Nice find!
Sounds like a site with some potential historical finds.

-Swartzie

 

[liftloop]

are you sure that was in general Washington arsenal.looks to new.

 

[nsdq]

that is how we beat red coats hahaha

 

[Terry Soloman]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It is a .22, but unable to determine a serial number, just too far gone. My buddy is a detective here in town, and I had him take a look at it and told him where I found it. He is going to look back into the early 1980s (we estimate its been in the ground 25-30 years), to see if there was anything he can link it to. In the meantime, it resides in my "relic" trunk.

There was no clip in it, and no that piece of rectangular iron is just a piece of iron. Oh, and Ding Dong, remind me to stay outta the woods with you!

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I wonder what the story was behind that one? Nice job calling the authorities.

 

[heat45]

What you have is called a Sterling .25acp (6.35x16mm), or the identical sister chambered in .22LR. They have been copied by two companies, Guardian and Gisepi. It has been a throw away "Saturday Night Special" for decades. Whoever buried it probably didn't play nice with it. You may have yourself a murder weapon, but rust has probably made that impossible to find out.

 

[TerryC]

Terry, The serial WILL show. If yor friend will have the rust ground away to shiny metal, the serial will still show because the heavy stamping required to imprint it goes further into the metal than just the surface. That is the principal used to regain serials on guns that have had them ground off. TTC

 

[heat45]

Terry, The serial WILL show. If yor friend will have the rust ground away to shiny metal, the serial will still show because the heavy stamping required to imprint it goes further into the metal than just the surface. That is the principal used to regain serials on guns that have had them ground off. TTC

I saw a crime-lab show where they actually put acid on a filed serial number and used vibration to see the stamped numbers deeper in the steel. I'm probably wrong about this, but I think magnets may have also been applied into the mix somehow.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Have you heard any thing new on this Terry?

 

[ivan salis]

shooters in murder cases often pull the clip to have a spare clip for another gun --guns found buried without a clip in place are often "lost on purpose" -- throw away 22's are often used in crimes

 

[woodstock]

I really think this find doesn't connect anyone to be charged with carrying a weapon by any means in any state. I'd say maybe if the gun was lost and still dangerous. The only way thing this could do harm is if you tossed it at someone and they got an infection from the bump and scrap it caused...very cool find even though. I found two in thirty years in Rockford Illinois in a centry old low life park. I even showed them to the park officals and the local patrol cop and although they are interesting finding one like this is not a crime. HH, Woodstock

Finding a gun is like finding a wallet the person who turns it in is SUSPECT if a crime is involved in NYC Things are different here its not Mayberry...............Beware

 

[Clay Slayer]

What you have is called a Sterling .25acp (6.35x16mm), or the identical sister chambered in .22LR. They have been copied by two companies, Guardian and Gisepi. It has been a throw away "Saturday Night Special" for decades. Whoever buried it probably didn't play nice with it. You may have yourself a murder weapon, but rust has probably made that impossible to find out.

Sterling grip panels use a screw at top and bottom. I'm leaning more towards a Colt 1908 or variation. Notice the frame grip cutout matches perfectly, along with the grip panel screw towards the rear center of the grip, which is still in place in his gun. Also, slide serration count and angle seem to match. Barrel length doesn't really match up, but I haven't had the time to search all the variations of this model, getting late.

Edited to add -

Well, now that I look at it closer, the frame cutout doesn't match perfectly and the slim barrel is making me lean towards something Italian.

 

[heat45]

There's no way it's a .32 (7.65mm) Colt at all. I just recalled there being another company that made copies of them, Valor. This is a very old design that has been copied by many more companies and they slightly altered the layout to avoid patent laws (like Taurus copying the Beretta 92FS). Some of them field strip differently and have the grip screw holes tapped in different places. It could also be one the many copies of the Model 8 by Carl Walther. Either way, it's one cool find and quite the conversation PIECE.