1873 Winchester found against tree

BlackBart · Jan 15, 2015

I don't care if I did find it on company time................ somebitch is MINE!

fidelity · Jan 15, 2015

Clifjr said:
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33093460&nid=1070&fm=home_page&s_cid=toppick1
What a find!

According to the above article ...

The rifles sold for around $50 when they were first produced, then sold for $25 in 1882 when they became more popular.

According to the inflation calculator below $25-50 in that era, translates to $630-$1260 today ...

http://www.in2013dollars.com/1892-dollars-in-2014?amount=25

Seems a bit low to me insofar as currency depreciation, but if accepted as accurate, the other surprise is that lever gun pricing hasn't changed much.

engineerbrian · Jan 15, 2015

I looked at the pictures again and the juniper tree that it was leaning against doesnt look that big. That makes me wonder how old the tree is and what the life span is of a juniper tree. It seems like aging the tree is the first piece of the puzzle.

Mdeng · Jan 15, 2015

engineerbrian said:
I looked at the pictures again and the juniper tree that it was leaning against doesnt look that big. That makes me wonder how old the tree is and what the life span is of a juniper tree. It seems like aging the tree is the first piece of the puzzle.

I was wondering about the tree myself.

Boom Boom · Jan 15, 2015

engineerbrian said:
That makes me wonder how old the tree is and what the life span is of a juniper tree.

Life span is well north of 100 years in that area of the country. It will get to five feet or so in the first 20 years. In 100+ years, it might get 10 to 15 feet tall. If that tree is 20+ feet, it could be 150 to 200 years old.

iH8DemLibz · Jan 15, 2015

There are questions, but still a great find and good on them for making it a museum piece.

Hope they don't find out that it was placed there last month as a hoax.

lsw · Jan 15, 2015

WeaponsCollector said:
Very cool! I have a similar '73 Winchester, my sister found it in the trash in front of an old house that was being renovated. It was wrapped in a blanket and most likely hidden under the porch and forgotten.

Wow, now to me that's almost as amazing as the other rifle being found. I wish I had your sister's luck!

Armadillofz1 · Jan 15, 2015

WeaponsCollector said:
Very cool! I have a similar '73 Winchester, my sister found it in the trash in front of an old house that was being renovated. It was wrapped in a blanket and most likely hidden under the porch and forgotten.

this is awesome!

Rack&Roll · Jan 15, 2015

I'm suspicious about the Winchester resting in the crook of that tree for a hundred years. If someone leaned it into a crook in the 1800s that crook would not be there today for it to be leaning into.

More likely it fell off a pack horse or a horseback rider had it come out of a scabbard on rough ground and did not realize it. Probably found on the ground in unusable condition and leaned against the tree in the last couple of decades.

Boom Boom · Jan 15, 2015

Rack&Roll said:
More likely it fell off a pack horse or a horseback rider had it come out of a scabbard on rough ground and did not realize it. Probably found on the ground in unusable condition and leaned against the tree in the last couple of decades.

Something like that anyway. I don't think it's reasonable to expect it rested there since the 1890s. It's value was minimal in the 1940s through 1960s, so maybe around then, at the longest.

fidelity · Jan 15, 2015

Very reasonable points. It was established as a National Park in 1986, so less than 30 years ago. It was presumably open for hunting before then.

Alphabrew · Jan 15, 2015

My wife texted me the same article. Pretty cool!

Rack&Roll · Jan 15, 2015

God knows what else is out there to be discovered. A long time ago my wallet worked its way out of my back pocket on a motorcycle ride through the California mountains and it arrived in the mail 5 YEARS later. That was a wallet that was on the shoulder of a paved road and it still took years for someone to chance upon it.

If I recall, the few scheckels in the wallet were still there. Good deed from a great American.

wilcam47 · Jan 15, 2015

Rack&Roll said:
I'm suspicious about the Winchester resting in the crook of that tree for a hundred years. If someone leaned it into a crook in the 1800s that crook would not be there today for it to be leaning into.

More likely it fell off a pack horse or a horseback rider had it come out of a scabbard on rough ground and did not realize it. Probably found on the ground in unusable condition and leaned against the tree in the last couple of decades.

If it was there for too long the tree would have grown into/around it. Still a neat find.

Squaregrouper · Jan 15, 2015

Amazing how this deadly rifle didn't kill scores of school children during the time it was against the tree.

Rack&Roll · Jan 15, 2015

fidelity said:
Very reasonable points. It was established as a National Park in 1986, so less than 30 years ago. It was presumably open for hunting before then.

The 1986 date is important. I think it was leaned into the crook of the tree in recent decades, before 1986. After that there were Park Rangers to talk to, someone probably would have said something.

I think mushroom-or-weed-infused nature-hiking Hippies chanced upon it in the '70s and left it leaning for someone else to find. Pre-70s, I believe anyone else would have carried it out as a curio/relic.

Gryphon · Jan 15, 2015

Its obviously a well trained and behaved firearm. It stayed there all those years and never killed anyone.

fidelity · Jan 15, 2015

Wonder if any uncorroded brass cartridges are inside the Winchester, and if these would help bracket the approximate time that the rifle was left there (assuming that the rifle isn't a "plant").

protegeV · Jan 15, 2015

Gryphon said:
Its obviously a well trained and behaved firearm. It stayed there all those years and never killed anyone.

perfect!

zoostation · Jan 15, 2015

Brown's campaign warned us this would happen if we elected a Republican. Now rifles are just showing up against trees.

1873 Winchester found against tree

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