Beretta M-1934

[Stringtyer]

While not a true Today’s Find, I think it is interesting enough to post.

This story starts 55 years ago when my cousin and I buried an ammo can in his back yard. The can contained, among other things, a stuffed monkey named Zippy, a model airplane and a 45 rpm record. All our relatives living in our home town have passed away and we are working toward selling our respective home places.

We got together over Christmas and started talking about childhood memories and, naturally, the topic of Zippy came up. We decided that I should take my metal detector and try to find the can containing Zippy. The search was on. Alas, no Zippy. I figure that the ammo can has probably rusted away and Jeff (cousin) thinks we buried it pretty deep (2 feet or so). If that is the case, my old Bounty Hunter Tracker II will never see it.

Here’s the interesting part. While sweeping the yard I got a strong signal. Since I did not have a pinpointer at the time, I used my probe to gently poke around the area and soon got a solid hit. I dug down about 2 inches and was surprised to find a Beretta pistol. The hammer was back an the safety was on. It was extremely rusted.

For safety reasons and because of the possibility of the gun having been used in a crime, I called the police. They came and, after much discussion, took the pistol for investigation.

Jeff and I started talking about the gun and, with his sister’s input, we believe the pistol was a war souvenir brought home from Italy by my uncle Rocky. We are waiting for the police to conclude their investigation and return the pistol to the family.

 

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[treblehunter]

That's very interesting that the hammer was back. I'd love to hear what the police think? Cool find, that looks like a nice pistol, I hope the police give it back to you.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I hope you got a receipt for it, or you will never see it again.

 

[Stringtyer]

I hope you got a receipt for it, or you will never see it again.

Got a receipt and have been tracking it through the system. I’ve already talked with a friend who is a judge about writing a petition for return of property following the investigation.

 

[Worm-Slicer]

Hey I had that stuffed monkey named Zippy as a kid! He has really big ears and says "Zippy" on his shirt. lol I wasn't around that time though 55 yrs ago, mine was from the late 70's. I guess Zippy has been around a while. Interesting find with the Beretta though!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

thread moved to Metal Detecting, please remember "Today's Finds" are for today's finds or very, very recent finds.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

In NC you must have a permit to purchase but not own a handgun.

It will be interesting to see if this ever comes back to you.

Good luck!

 

[cudamark]

Looks like you'll need a better detector to find Zippy...

 

[Stringtyer]

Looks like you'll need a better detector to find Zippy...

Savin’ up for a new one next month. Still fighting with myself between AT Pro and Equinox 600.

 

[Stringtyer]

The original target.

 

[cudamark]

Savin’ up for a new one next month. Still fighting with myself between AT Pro and Equinox 600.

What do you think is the advantage of an AT Pro over the Equinox? I can't think of one.

 

[Stringtyer]

The only advantage I can see is longevity on the market. I’m also reading about frequency affect on target acquisition and ID and am questioning the benefit of the lower frequencies offered by the Eq. My wife insists that I research too much and should pick a machine and get busy finding her some jewelry.

 

[cudamark]

Lower frequencies are better for depth and high conductors (copper, silver) The Garrett GTI 2500, White's Coinmaster, and Fisher F75 (and others) have been around even longer, but, that doesn't make them a better machine. Nothing "wrong" with them, they're just a bit dated and are being out-performed by the competition. If you do any ocean hunting at all, forget the AT Pro.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

AT Pro is a bit less expensive than the NOX600 and the AT Pro has been around and proven for 20+years or so. It is a solid machine.
The NOX 600 is more versatile and is good w salt water. And multifrequency is better than VLF for target detection, depth and noise reduction.

 

[BuffaloHunter]

Lawrence, the At Pro has only been around since 2011ish.

 

[Stringtyer]

News on the pistol ... I just heard from the police department that has the gun in custody. They say it has been declared unsafe so, in order to get it back, I have to petition the court for its return. I suppose it was the right thing to turn it in for examination but it has turned into a lot of work to get it back.

 

[bologna321]

More likely someone at the PD wanted it for their collection.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

More likely someone at the PD wanted it for their collection.

This type discussion has come up when/if trying to fulfill Lost & Found laws. Would you really get stuff back ? Or they say "someone claimed it" , or "It's evidence", or some other sort of stone-walling ?

And here's another quirk to possibly "not getting it back": I've talked to both WWII veterans and Vietnam veterans. And *technically* : Soldiers were not supposed to be collecting souvenirs. ESPECIALLY to be bringing live firearms back to the states. So even if you could trace a direct lineage to it being a "war souvenir, and even if it were perfectly functional, I wonder if someone in govt. still couldn't say "you can't have that " ?

 

[junkhunt]

While not a true Today’s Find, I think it is interesting enough to post.

This story starts 55 years ago when my cousin and I buried an ammo can in his back yard. The can contained, among other things, a stuffed monkey named Zippy, a model airplane and a 45 rpm record. All our relatives living in our home town have passed away and we are working toward selling our respective home places.

We got together over Christmas and started talking about childhood memories and, naturally, the topic of Zippy came up. We decided that I should take my metal detector and try to find the can containing Zippy. The search was on. Alas, no Zippy. I figure that the ammo can has probably rusted away and Jeff (cousin) thinks we buried it pretty deep (2 feet or so). If that is the case, my old Bounty Hunter Tracker II will never see it.

Here’s the interesting part. While sweeping the yard I got a strong signal. Since I did not have a pinpointer at the time, I used my probe to gently poke around the area and soon got a solid hit. I dug down about 2 inches and was surprised to find a Beretta pistol. The hammer was back an the safety was on. It was extremely rusted.

For safety reasons and because of the possibility of the gun having been used in a crime, I called the police. They came and, after much discussion, took the pistol for investigation.

Jeff and I started talking about the gun and, with his sister’s input, we believe the pistol was a war souvenir brought home from Italy by my uncle Rocky. We are waiting for the police to conclude their investigation and return the pistol to the family.

View attachment 1575804

Good luck on getting it back from the police.

 

[against the wind]

I used the AT PRO for 2 years and it paid for itself in 17 months. Of course that was while I was still living in NYC, and it was not unusual to come home with 100 clad coins on many hunts. The VLF can not compare to FSB technology that Minelab uses. I was stuck on brand loyalty for many years but after I bought my Etrac, there was no going back.