Found an Old Old Colt Pistol!

tommyboy72 · Dec 21, 2009

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!!!!

I was metal detecting a couple of days ago at an old house that is about half a block of so from the old Historic County Jail here in my Hometown. I found this old Colt Pistol about 8 inches or so down buried in the yard. any ideas on it's age and which model colt it is?
The Neat thing about where I found it is, there are two houses that look like twin houses one being a little larger than the other, both are owned by the same man (A good friend of mine) anyway he tells me one day that the houses are actually a log cabin that have been sided over with aluminum siding and that they were very old!! and also that the two houses used to be one two story log cabin and that the second floor of the larger house was removed and setup as a second home. so there is some history in the ground around them!!!! the yard has the absolute blackest soil I have ever seen!!!! well, I just wanted to post this and hopefully someone can telll what model and possible years this pistol was made. thanks everyone.

tymcmurray · Dec 21, 2009

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations!

tommyboy72 · Dec 21, 2009

Hi, also was wondering if this would be considered a really good find? I am extremely happy that I found it and I was more excited about finding it than I am when I manage to find some silver. I also forgot to mention the old Jail up the street from this house is the site of the last public execution iin the State of Illinois(the 1900's-1920's era Gangster Charlie Birger was Hanged there) anyway I am pretty excited about it and now I need to figure out how to setup an electrolysis(spelling?) thing to clean it.

vayank54 · Dec 21, 2009

that's a neat find. It may not be worth much but is still very cool. Guessing I would date it early 1900's. There are people on here who will know more about it than me though. I'm not sure what electrolysis might do to the grip so I would wait until someone who really knows answers.

allan · Dec 21, 2009

I think it may be a lightning

stefen · Dec 21, 2009

I wouldn't bother looking for finger prints

The dark soil may have been composted waste from an old outhouse

WhiteHunter · Dec 21, 2009

Thats a pretty cool find, well done :icon_thumright:

Brian(upstateNY-Central Fla.) · Dec 21, 2009

thats a great find there,very cool :thumbsup:

DigginThePast · Dec 22, 2009

Came in a little late here so I'll just say, Yup, its a Lightning. A very cool find. :thumbsup:

Congrats.

Des from down under · Dec 22, 2009

I think any old gun you find is priceless for its historical significance..click on the man showing the colt at the bottom of this posting ..neat story by duane caldwell..I rekon youll like it if you havent already read it..well done

EdleBrock · Dec 22, 2009

tommyboy72 said:
the last public execution iin the State of Illinois(the 1900's-1920's era Gangster Charlie Birger was Hanged there)

Hey tommy, great find. I recognizxed the name Birger when you mentioned it. There was a thread a while back concerning him. Thought you'd find it interesting.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,125216.msg914961.html#msg914961

archer48 · Dec 22, 2009

I think Illinois needs to get that rope back out....I hear there are still many criminals there and a few who escaped!

history hunter · Dec 23, 2009

WTG!! That would be nice.

chirper97 · Dec 23, 2009

Excellent find!

I would consider mounting it in a shadow box for display. :icon_thumright:

What did you think the signal was, before you dug?

:coffee2:

garthbfan169 · Dec 23, 2009

Very kool find Tommy I bet there is more history about that property!! Congrats!! :thumbsup:

DCMatt · Dec 23, 2009

tommyboy72 said:
Hi, also was wondering if this would be considered a really good find? I am extremely happy that I found it and I was more excited about finding it than I am when I manage to find some silver. I also forgot to mention the old Jail up the street from this house is the site of the last public execution iin the State of Illinois(the 1900's-1920's era Gangster Charlie Birger was Hanged there) anyway I am pretty excited about it and now I need to figure out how to setup an electrolysis(spelling?) thing to clean it.

My mother lived in Benton when she was a kid in the '40's. She says there was a story that their house was used by the Birger gang and there was a secret tunnel that went from the house to the garage. I'll have to ask her about that again...

I have a tee shirt with the photo of Birger's hanging on it. It is from my cousin's brew pub somewhere in the area 10 or 15 years ago. One of his "specialty brews" was Charlie Birger Ale.

Great find!

DCMatt

TXPIRATE · Dec 23, 2009

That is a way cool find. Will make a nice wall hanger congrats.

tommyboy72 · Dec 23, 2009

Hi, thank you all for the info on the pistol!! When I get home every evening one of the first thing I do is to log onto these forums and read about all the neat stuff found. I am glad I finally found something to post that was interesting, I have found a few other neat things and I have posted them on here over the last year or so. anyway, Merry Christmas to all and thanks for these great forums.

jimyates1959 · Feb 25, 2014

That's a model 1877 colt double action revolver. They were made in 41 caliber (thunderer's) and 38 caliber (lightinings). It appears that yours never had an ejector housing on it so it was called a "store keeper's model". They were made from 1877 until 1909 but the only way to know when yours was made would be to look up the serial number but from the condition of it I would say you won't be able to make out the serial number at all.

dsamuel · Mar 1, 2014

Someone once told me to always re-check my holes. Good advice as you just might find the rest of the revolver. At any rate I would hesitate to electrolosis (spelling?) this piece of history. My reasoning is that the rust may be the only thing holding it together. Perhaps just trying to find the serial number may be all you should do. It is a great find. Congrats.