Beginner, awesome find!!

[Jdett411]

Very new at hunting water. Just picked up an Excal right before Xmas, only hunted dry sand up until Saturday. Had an exciting find too! First hour or so I was finding pennies, dimes, quarter. Then I hit a 1950 dime and 1949 quarter, first silver ever too. There were 2 other guys hunting too that seemed to be making quite a few finds. So after they left I moved over to there spot. With in seconds I got a good signal.....what do I find?!?!? This.....

 

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[ClovisOak]

Maybe it is OJ's!

 

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[ClovisOak]

Meant to also write nice find, and pretty brave detecting in our weather of late. What was it like 10 degrees or so this morning?

 

[Gunrunner61]

Cool find......Clean it up ,Dry it off, And display it! 'nuff said!.............Hh

 

[zaxfire69]

Soak it in Apple Cider Vinegar for about a week. That rust and corrosion will fall right off of it. Depending on condition of metal under the rust you might could take a wire brush to it lightly. It doesn't look like it has been in there very long.

 

[Iron Patch]

Wow, just mention gun and people really go nuts. Why would it be a problem? It's an inanimate object that probably couldn't be made to work. Even if it could it wouldn't be any good, a lawyer would shred a ballistic test on a re-built firearm. Lets say it was used in a murder, and then thrown into the lake. What are you going to learn from the gun now. No finger prints, no ballistic tests. If the gun was stolen, and the owner reported it, along with the serial number, and the cops bothered to keep the report, the gun might be returned to it's owner, but what sort of help would it be catching the thief. If the gun isn't wanted, do the buy back and don't look back. That's what I hear happens at those buy backs anyhow. Lots of unworkable guns sold for more than they are worth. If I found it, I'd keep it and never look back.

I've seen cases where just recovering it made the difference. Of course there was twists and turns which is why the story made it on tv, but there's any number of reasons a recovered gun/murder weapon could play a role even if you couldn't test it. Just ask any homicide detective how important it is to have the murder weapon, even if there is much more that needs to be tied together. Now what do I think the chances are this particular gun would be useful, maybe 1 in a 1000, 1 in 5,000 or who knows, maybe 1 in 1. Things can happen in some pretty strange ways.

 

[pistol-pete]

Just can't get over the difference between Chicago and here in Colorado. Guns are an every day thing, people carry them in town and everywhere in the open. Have at least 2 in reach right now.
just like tools, always one around. Any way I'd just keep it as part of my collection. In that condition, who cares?

 

[DocBeav]

Agree with everyone else, get that thing to a detective somewhere! Do you know the name of the cop you spoke with? The detective may want that info to corroborate where you found it but it will certainly make the uniformed guy look like a dip-**** but maybe that is what he needs....a swift kick in the butt for being so lazy! The finding of that gun could solve a crime and maybe bring closure to a grieving family!

 

[smugglersbluez]

My two cents: safeguard yourself and make a report. I would do this especially if you are going to turn it in for money.great find!

 

[BosnMate]

Um... ballistics testing would still be possible if he could clean up the inside of the barrel. Most bullet ballistics lies on the rifling pattern (after caliber is determined), so as long as SOME of the rifling is intact after cleaning, there's no reason why CPD couldn't determine whether or not it was used in a crime where it would have been fired. And, as he already said, Chicago has a no-questions-asked turn-in program, so not only would he not be asked, but there would be nothing to tie him to the piece anyway.

A rising tide floats all boats. If it's rusty outside, then it's rusty inside. Forensics testing looks for tool marks or imperfections in the rifling's that match that particular gun. They also look at the empty brass for identifying tool marks individual to that gun, caused by the firing pin or an imperfection in the chamber. By it's very nature the rust will pit the metal, both adding different patterns, or erasing the ones that are there. All that said, if the gun is stainless steel, then all bets are off on rifling rust, because I'm not familiar with stainless and rust. In fact if the gun is stainless, for all I know it might be repairable. I'm a country kid, I've never lived in a city, so I really don't know about the Chicago gun laws or the police department, so I'd be way off base advising someone living there what to do. Out here in the country I know what I'd do. But there is nothing dangerous about the gun even if it's loaded. If it works well enough to be fired, then it works well enough to be unloaded. If there are bullets in the cylinder, but everything is froze up, it's no more dangerous than a box of cartridges sitting on a shelf. If it's rusted and froze up in relic condition, then it's just as much of a relic as a civil war gun, which brings up another point. If a gun hasn't been in the water long enough and it's still workable, and the place it was found has a bunch of hen house gun laws, and a bunch of corrupt cops and politicians, then perhaps a person should be worried about it a bit.

 

[Phanntom]

Absolutely agreed! Maybe you could help solve a major crime! I can't believe the cop's response. I bet his superiors would love to know but then again do you really want to make an enemy? Tough call.

I can....that's why 10yrs from now, this guy is going to be wondering why he hasn't made detective and is just wearing out the seat of his pants in a patrol car.