Anyone's Greatgrandpappy missing his 1873 Winchester?

[ELB]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33093460&nid=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I can't imagine just leaning it against a tree and leaving it. I'd be looking for greatgrandpappy's skeletal remains nearby.

[threoh8]

I'd have expected it to grow into the tree ... and to see very little of the crescent buttplate.
But, hey, stranger things have happened!

[Steamboat]

I saw this earlier today. Seems bizarre that it hasn't been found before now.

[puma guy]

A very cool find. I'm not old enough to claim it, nor was I born in this country, but maybe TAM could get away with making a claim....

That's funny even though I probably have a few years on TAM. Maybe his grandpa laid it aside to skin that bear that wasn't quite DRT.

[jimlongley]

A very long time ago my great grandpappy and some friends went deer hunting in Oklahoma (actually "Indian Territory" at the time) and returned from the trip missing one of their party. They said he had wandered off and disappeared. Later his remains were discovered, and the skull apparently had a bullet hole in it. Great grandpappy was charged, and acquitted, in his hunting partner's death. There was also a rifle that was never recovered.

It's a long way from OK to NV.

[wheelgun1958]

Would not the tree have engulfed the barrel?

[jimlongley]

Would not the tree have engulfed the barrel?

Sitting at an angle like that, the rifle would have moved with the growth of the tree.

[puma guy]

Oh, I thought you were younger ;)

You are too kind.

[Texsquatch]

Would not the tree have engulfed the barrel?

Sitting at an angle like that, the rifle would have moved with the growth of the tree.

It makes for a great story, but I guess I'm getting cynical in my old age. You make a great point, and my first thought was the tree didn't look very old. Just because it's an 1873 model, it doesn't mean it was left in 1873. 30-40 years could have had that affect. But that doesn't sound as cool.

[The Annoyed Man]

A very cool find. I'm not old enough to claim it, nor was I born in this country, but maybe TAM could get away with making a claim....

That's funny even though I probably have a few years on TAM. Maybe his grandpa laid it aside to skin that bear that wasn't quite DRT.

Both of you go sit in a corner. What county did Rip Van Winkle live in? He just might be snoozin' nearby, and he's not gonna be happy when he wakes up and finds his rifle missing.......

People should mind their own business. I'm sure the rightful owner will be along directly.

[threoh8]

Just when the patina was pert' near but not quite where I wanted it ...