My Garrett got a gun!

[HMS Beagle]

So far this is my best find. I immediately called the sheriff and had it taken away. They asked if i wanted it if no one claimed it, I declined the offer.
G

 

[FlatCat]

I would've kept it. Looks like a small caliber bolt action. Guns are nothing to be scared of, unless someone is pointing a loaded one at you. Nice find (if you can call something you surrendered a find).

FC

 

[possumheaded]

Man, That is sweet!!!!!!! I may or may not have called the Sheriff but regardless, I would have definetly accepted their offer to give it back if no one claimed it. All that they are going to do is run the numbers on it and if it doesn't come back stolen they'll keep it in a safe and then melt it down after a period of time.
Either way it's still a great find.
Thanks for sharing,
Ed

 

[kntutt]

I would get the gun back in a heartbeat. If you don't like guns, get it cleaned up and sell it. It will pay for part of your detector.

 

[I_Dig_NYC]

Cool find.. Gotta wonder why it was dropped there?

You did the right thing..
Not sure if I would have accepted the offer, but then the police here probably would not have given me the option. They don't want us all carrying gun's, crazy place that this is, you know what I mean??

 

[Detectingfreak]

Haha that must of been a shocker when you got that out of the ground!

 

[GL]

Nice rifle.
I'd a kept it.

 

[goldgrubber]

People around here just don't throw guns away unless there's a reason to. Beagle did the right thing.

 

[davest]

did it ring up like a "quarter"? I'm with possumhead, I'd let em run the numbers and then I'd put it on a piece of wood in my living room. that is unless it came up stolen or used in commission of a crime.

 

[GL]

Thats what I meant.
I wouldn't have just given it away forever. If given the option I would definitely have kept it for display.

 

[Ron B]

Wow Beagle; that's quite a find!

Personally, I also would have taken it back had no one claimed it.
Think of the stories you could tell with the rifle hanging on the wall!

GRB

 

[seger98]

Nice find, can ya give a reason as to why you wouldn't want it back? Can't do any harm if it's unloaded!

 

[HMS Beagle]

Thanks for looking everyone. This was on private property , in an area that is not near any trails. Obviously, it was "dumped" here. It was sitting in an inch of water, mostly covered with leaves. Someone , was obviously hoping to "hide" it(more than likely because it was used nefariously). In this area I run my ace up around max. sensitivity, my coil got within a foot of this weapon, and went nuts, that what got me to look closer.
That being said, I am not going to jeapordize my leagally owned weapons by just bringing it home without calling the authorities. And I will never leave a weapon out on display(its the unloaded weapon that kills), so claiming it had no appeal. It was a cheap .22lr semi., for what it would cost to re-blue and refinish it, I can get a really nice used one. I do appreciate the sentiments, but honestly, it never entered my mind to keep it.
And I do have a picture I can print and frame for posterity ..
Thanks again everyone.
Beagle

 

[Bridge End Farm]

wow nice find

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

That is a Remmington Model 550, 22 cal Long Rifle. They are older which they don't even have a serial number one them. I am not sure of the year, but my ex-girlfriend's grandfather gave her one which was in bad shape and I re-finished and restored it. A few years later I found one at a gun shop with a almost broken in half stock. Got the gun for $50 and I repaired the stock, (you can't even tell where it was broken), took it completely apart and refinished it and it looks brand new and shoots really good. Value of one in really good shape is worth about $150-$200. If you know guns and how to take them apart and clean them, refinishing can be really cheap. It would cost less than $25 if you know how to prep and reblue gun parts. There are do-it-yourself re-bluing kits available with good instructions on how to do it yourself.

 

[Ron B]

I don't think anyone suggested you keep it without contacting the authorities. You certainly did the right thing contacting them. And Beagle, it's your find; you can do with it what you wish. But, being a gun lover and, a legal one I just couldn't help wondering why anyone would do such a thing. You have no idea how the gun got there. There probably is a legit reason; not a sinister one. People lose things all the time. I remember a story of a man shooting a mountain goat, he left his rifle by a large boulder running to check out his kill. He lost the rifle, forgetting where he left it. Someone found it years later and it was returned to the rightful owner. Somehow, Leopold found out; eventually buying the rifle because their scope was on it and they wanted to use the story of the lost rifle for advertisement. The scope still worked just fine.

GRB

 

[HMS Beagle]

Of course not knowing where this was located, you can devise many possible reasons for it being there. But it was in an area that shooting is not allowed and would be noticed right away This is in the middle of a populated neighborhood. Its not somewhere it would've been lost.. It was definitely tossed here, and I cannot fathom a reason why anyone would dump a legal weapon. It just didn't feel right to me.
Beagle

 

[lonewolfe]

Cool find,

you did the rgt thing

That reminds me - I once found a broken metal detector while detecting! The guy must have got PO'ed and threw it on the ground for dead

HH

 

[pattiewhack]

You definitely did the right thing by contacting the authorities. I personally would have let the police check up on it and if it was unclaimed have it returned to me. Your reasons are your own and Im sure everyone here respects that. Neat Find!

 

[Patrick Earl Houston]

Man, I'd have put dat piece skraight back in da ground. Hope it ain't got no bodies on it. Police might try to put a charge on ya. These Memphis police always trippin'!