A circus kind of day

[WHADIFIND]

Update: Cleaning is not doing much. A couple more lines showed up on one side near the trigger. Part of design I suppose. Shows a bit more of the structure. The front view seems to indicate a flint/black powder type. (Just a guess). The number on the butt does appear it could be a model number. Here's some new pics, but I'm guessing this one will just remain a bit of a mystery.

What else would one call a three ring day?

Here's the overall:



Dunno what the link looking thingy is but it's made in England.



A '47 wheatie.



Anyway, the first ring: rung up as 42.





Turns out to be a "Best Friends Forever" charm of some sort. Strike one.

Next one rang out at 85.









Turned out to be 18k HGE. Stone, pretty trashed. Strike two.

This third one was interesting. You see, this place is known and has been hit over the years many times. So, I kind of start wondering how can targets like this get missed. I searched right around the hole and sure enough, got another signal just inches away. It only rang in at about 60 for some reason. I figured, AHA! Another one depending too much on discrimination! They hit this pull tab/ can slaw and skipped right over the ring.

I dug anyway. Where the pointer's tip is on the ground is exactly where the 2nd ring came from, but, a bit of a shock when I dug.









So much for my theories. LOL

However, this was also just 18 HGE. It has a couple diamond looking stones in the side but the thing I liked is the big yellow stone. It is hardly marked and is very, very pretty!



AND!

There was this find that I find VERY interesting! It was down about 9 inches in this field that dates back to the early 1800's. It appears to be a gun BUT, it is not magnetic! I don't know much about guns but I thought they were all made from iron/steel. If the pictures don't show it, there appears to be a bit of green patina. Copper? Brass? experiment of an alloy?

You gun experts will know better than I.





Now, the kicker! This "gun" has what appears to be a date on the butt.





Sorry, that's the best I could do.

For the size of this thing it truly is fairly substantial. It weighs in at almost half a pound.

So, whatcha think? A child's toy from back then? A prototype? Maybe they tried making a new alloy and it blew up! LOL

Thanks for taking a peek.

Interesting day!

HH!

 

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[WHADIFIND]

The first number is a 4, definitely a serial number and not a date.

That was my thought also. What I'm trying to pin down is the time frame of the piece.

Thanks!

HH!

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

That was my thought also. What I'm trying to pin down is the time frame of the piece.

Thanks!

HH!

Without knowing who made it, I would hazard a guess of 1870's maybe 1880's. Colt started making that pattern in 1871 and stopped in 1877. I'm sure there were copies though. If it is a Colt, the serial number would make it 1873.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Ok, after looking at your photos very closely there are a couple reasons I think it's not a Colt Model 71. First the Colt has a groove on the right hand side to load and unload. Second looking at the top of the frame where the hammer would have passed through, it looks like it had a top strap that is broken off.

I looked around a bit for a better match and found a few similar guns but nothing exact yet. This pic is of a Marlin Pocket 22 from 1873. It's a bit different, but there are some similarities like the lack of a loading groove, and the topstrap. I think we can safely date your gun to the 1870's or 1880's.

 

[got2dig]

Nice. What a day that was.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I looked around a bit for a better match and found a few similar guns but nothing exact yet. This pic is of a Marlin Pocket 22 from 1873. It's a bit different, but there are some similarities like the lack of a loading groove, and the topstrap. I think we can safely date your gun to the 1870's or 1880's.

Thanks for all the help! I did some looking around too but one thing confuses me. (Mostly because I don't know guns at all!) But, on the bottom part of the butt, where the handles would be attached, there appears to be remnants of a screw right at the bottom. I assume, to hold the handles. But, all the pictures I see appear to have a screw somewhere in the middle of the handle.

In any case, 1870's does seem correct to me as well. Thanks again for your help.

HH!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

what it probably was, is a pin that would fit into a hole in the grips to keep them from being able to twist.