Old Homesite Find...Black Powder Double Barrel Shot Gun Barrel

southernbandit · Mar 9, 2005

This past Saturday I went out to an old homesite with a buddy of mine from work and did some detecting and came across this

. Looks to me like a double barrel black powder shot gun barrel.

I can't find any marks or anything on it. It was about 19 inches long and looks to be about a 12 gauge (in looking at the size of the barrel).It had been driven straight into the ground for some reason with the nipple holes facing up. The other piece of metal was found close by. I think it is some kind of harness piece or part of a collar for a horse harness. This was a very old place, there is no wood or tin anywhere just some rocks so you can tell there was something there. Keep on diggen!!
southernbandit

Darod · Mar 10, 2005

Just an idea,..

Where abouts is this area? Could this be a site of a Civil War battle/altercation? The relics sound as if they could be from this sort of thing.

Have you done any research on the land itself? In terms of ownership and history?

I personally would love to see what you find out in these areas!

You should be able to research the "property appraisers" office for records of ownership. Of course, this depends on where the site is.

Anyhow, keep us posted on what you find out.

Super cool finds by the way

Rod

PS: Is that the hole where you found the barrel in that last photo of the rock walls?

ALSO, if you have more pics of higher detail/resolution and you need a place to store them to link to for viewing,...you can email them to me and I will upload them to my Web server and then send you a link to their location. You can use the links in your posts here. Or, I can build a reply with the images linked in it for you if your not sure how to do it.

Let me know

sweve54 · Mar 10, 2005

The barrell being driven in was probably just used as an anchor for something or just some kind of post. Farmers use whatever they have laying around. The other part looks like part of a harness for a plowing or cultivating.
Just my guess anyways.

jglunt · Mar 10, 2005

I would definately keep digging under the barrel. If it was meant to be a marker, it would have probably been left with a portion of it above ground so the seeker could precisely locate the stash.....sound logical? worth the extra effort for sure. Jim

hikermike · Mar 10, 2005

I love finding relecs......havent found any type of gun yet other than a few pieces of cap guns. You did good!! Good luck on finding the rest!!H.H.
MIKE

scavenger · Mar 10, 2005

well if you want my opinion, the gun was probly buried using post holediggers. Why was it buried? most likely he was a criminal. There could possibly be a cache around from a bank he robbed or other such crimes. just put two and two together, why would the gun be driven straight down in the ground?

MDnoob · Mar 10, 2005

I suppose I would check out any piles of rocks hanging around but...

I think that getting excited about finding some kind of cache would be a bit premature. I aggree with whoever said that it was probably driven into the ground to be some sort of peg or support. Graves usually were not right next to buildings. Or...maybe it was leaning against the wall for many years and eventually drove itself into the ground by its own weight...what was the soil like there?

Or perhaps it is the begining marker in a series which leads to the Hall of Records which was deposited there by Antlanteans.

Keith IL · Mar 10, 2005

Now that's a different type of find congrats

treasure_lady · Mar 10, 2005

Interesting relics! Looks like a great place to explore and detect!

stoney56 · Mar 10, 2005

I'm still inclined to believe it may be a marker of some sort. Judging from the back end of the barrel, it looks like it was hammered into the ground. It wouldn't just drive itself into the ground w/o help. Also the barrel itself looks intact, not ruptured by an overcharge that I can see. The rocks were definitely part of something based on what I see is eother part of a foundation or part of a retaining wall. HH and keep us posted.

Monty · Mar 10, 2005

This is what really fascinates me about metal detecting. So any different takes on what you find. It's interesting how dilfferent people interpret things. I was visualizing the rocks as being a mound like you see in the movies where the westerners piled up rocks to keep the critters out. Photos were not at all what I saw in my mind's eye. Would definately rule out a grave now that I have seen the area.

stoney56 · Mar 10, 2005

Jimmi, I 1st had the same thought. With little else to go on and lack of trash, I run all-metal with as much sens. as ground will allow or try a 2-box unit. Otherwise my thoughts are that it may be one of several points of navigation towards a cache/stash. In any event, HH and keep us posted.

southernbandit · Mar 11, 2005

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts, this has been Great!

I think it might have been used as a stake or tie down also because it was below the ground.

But I can?t figure out why they would have used a shot gun barrel to do it with. Money was hard to come by back then and you would have thought this would have been to expensive of an item to just drive into the ground as a stake. NOMATTER we?re still going back in the morning and look some more and have fun

just to see what we can turn up. I?ll keep you all posted if I find anything else or any more of the shot gun.
Bandit

jglunt · Mar 11, 2005

Does the stone foundation or wall in the photo extend beneath the surface to go with the theory of the barrel as a support peg or post of some kind?

Could be a makeshift construction or perimeter stake.

It doesn't appear to have been used as a stake out for a horse or other animal...nowhere to attach a rope that wouldn't slip off.

Being "driven in" may have been a perpetrators way of disposing of a weapon used in a crime. At the very least, the remainder of the gun may be nearby.

Just more random thoughts...for whatever they're worth.

Monty · Mar 11, 2005

I think it's like what someone else said, they used whatever thay had on hand. That long ago you couldn't just run in to the local hardware store and pick up some rebars for stakes. I have seen everything imaginable used for fencing, sucker rods for posts as an example. The early Ok oil boom made thousands of feet of used sucker rods available and they make good fence posts and cheap at the time.