The Other Rifle

We've talked about rusty old Henry rifle. [couple years ago]

The other gun in the pic is a Winchester 30-06.

I was Elk hunting in the Little Belts Mountains central Montana. Just down from the summit South slope I came across this. Just laying there. Kinda a half open area with wind blown White Bark Pine. Nothing else around and at least 2 miles from the trail.

This is a dry area. Wood very slow to rot. The rifle could have laid there for 20 years?

The gun had a 4 power Weaver completely clouded, the leather strap mostly rotted. A live round stuck in the chamber. [from corrosion]

I cleaned the gun up. A gun smith added a couple parts. I put on a different scope and the gun worked. Not good however the barrel badly corroded. So I never shot it again

I wish I would have left the gun as it was.

This one really stumps me, nothing makes sense?

Ideas anybody?

The Pic.
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ridgetop
That's a cool story. I wonder if they just flat out lost it. Maybe they downed an animal or got injured and left the gun behind, thinking to come back and get it. Then maybe a snow storm came in and they could not remember exactly where it was left. Did you read my 2009 review story. How I found a whole camp that was left to rot. It does make you wonder. Congrats on a great find.
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Default Avatar
That's spooky all right. I've found a couple of camps that were just left behind. Both had been destroyed by bears by the looks of them. I think the owners of the equipment just left the stuff there in disgust. In the case of the 30-06 rifle you may want to ask the old timers if any hunters were lost in the area (sometimes people just start dropping stuff as they walk especially if hypothermia is a factor) or start looking up old newspaper articles on google.
Mark
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pram-z
Boy... If that gun could only talk, what a story. A number of years ago my brother-in-law was hunting in Utah on horseback, when his brand-new .264 with a camoed stock fell out of it's scaboard. Upon finding it missing, he turned around to look for it, and rode about a mile down the trail,and came upon more hunters riding up. As he was retelling the story to those guy's, they looked down and spotted the rifle laying in the sage. What luck!
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a_bow_nut
I'm with Pram-z. There is a good chance that it fell out and they didn't notice in time. Cool find though.
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NONYA
Ever have the sr# checke to see if it was reported stolen or lost? :-k
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sneekeepete
Those are both some awesome finds!!! I would check the Ser.# like Nonya said.
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NONYA
Talke to a friend in McDs today that is a sheriff deputy,he said it should have been turned over to the local PD IMMEDIATLY,they would have run a federal/state NCIC search and held it to make sure it hadnt been used in a crime,after a period of time if it hadnt been linked to a crime or claimed by the rightful owner you would have been able to keep it. :-k It would suck to find out you have a murder weapon in your house! ](*,)
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Springville Shooter
Given the circumstances of the find, I bet it was simply a deer and elk murder weapon, NONYA's what-if story would be much more likely if the weapon was a pistol. Look up the stats sometime on how many crimes are commited with a bolt action rifle, right there with the compound bow. I bet if you called the authorities in Utah, they would simply run the serial numbers and tell you to keep it. California authorities would come to your house, search your house, drug test you, then confiscate the rifle while giving you a lecture on how bad guns are. There's my what-if story.-------shooter
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killerbee
givin the guns condition when you found it, i would have done the EXACT SAME THING.
i think it's a pretty cool find :thumb now that henry's rifle- that could have been biily-the-kid's rifle, you might get it checked out lol
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MuleyMadness
Don't have a clue as to what happened, but crazy find/story. I say it was just lost.
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waynedevore
Well Yeah #-o If I found the gun in a parking lot or alley, back of a store, bank, road ditch etc I sure would have turned it in. The gun was lost by a hunter, no doubt about it.
I did show the gun to a rancher friend from the area took the serial number.. He asked around including authorities. No information available.

I hadn't thought of the horseback theory, good thoughts. No trail, but then if there were they would have backtracked or some other hunter would found it long before me.

Ridge, I read your story, interesting find for sure.

I know of a couple greenhorns from town, took off to hunt elk with new tent and camp equipment. Got way back in the Bitterroots on 4 wheelers. Nice weather then tuned bad!! took off leaving the camp, never returned. Had enough Western adventure
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Default Avatar
Thats coolest find I've heard of. We find old trapper, homestead, and miners cabins every now and again. A couple years ago we even found one that was 2 stories high with a old Franklin stove in it miles from anywhere.

Last season My cousin and I found a Truck camper on a hill. No roads there so I got no clue how it got there but there were rusted bullet holes exiting the door and one wall, kinda got the nerves on edge. After telling my dad about it he said he'd found it a dozen or so years ago in the same shape.

He's got a neat collection of beaver traps and old cans found up in the hills, but a rifle definitely isn't on the list.
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NONYA
Regardless of what and where the may be some laws concerning finding a firearm,I would have gone beyond asking a local rancher what he thought you should do,Im sure there was someone missing that rifle very much,probably some dumb kid who left dads rifle sitting somewhere and couldnt remember where,then again maybe some drunk moron stole it out of the back of a pickup,used it for a day and dumpe it right where you found it.I know guys who found 3 rifles and a glock while diving near here,the glock had been stolen from a probation officer,2 of the rifles were stolen from a pawn shop,the 3rd,an original Winchester was never linked to any crime and they reclaimed it one year later.A NCIC,that would be done by the feds not Baney Fife in podunct MT,would be enough to tell you if it had been reported stolen or lost.
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a_bow_nut
Sounds like you live in a great part of Montana. lol
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Default Avatar
Item along these Lines:
A Friend of the Family leased a large parcel of land to graze his sheep on (around 30,000 acres), hired a young man to tend the flock (sheep herder), had the towable trailer and moved with the sheep. Part of the outfit included a 30-30 rifle, young man lasted about a month before he was canned. Going though the outfit he was asked where the rifle was, “I think if fell out of the scabbard, I don’t know where it happened”, the replacement cost was taken out of his pay. We all thought he sold/pawned the rifle. About 10 years later, we were riding horses though that area and what did we find lying on the ground, that old 30-30 rifle. Guess it did fall out.
As much as I rode that ranch, I keep find new thing, spent shells from 45-90 sharps rifles, old camp gear, lots of Indian artifacts, 4 different grave site(only 2 had dates both 1870’s) scratched in stone.
Have a great day.
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NONYA
"a_bow_nut" wrote:Sounds like you live in a great part of Montana. lol
 There are meth freaks all over this state,if its pawnable it better be locked up.It doesnt matter where you find someone elses property,it isnt yours because it was laying on a hillside on public land and I dont believe for a minute that law enforcment would tell you to keep it without a standard background check and a holding period.
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waynedevore
I put in a lot of years out in the Montana Mountains Elk Hunting.
This was back somewhere about 1985-1990 hope that helps the authorities. And NONYA solve the horrific crime that may have taken place. :thumb
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NONYA
There is no statute of limitations on lack of morals.
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a_bow_nut
There doesn't seem to be any statute of limitations on rudness either. :>/

Just my thoughts.
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79Ford
Cool find! When I was in a gun shop last year buying my new shotgun another gentleman in there was telling me how he lost his $1200 camo shotgun while he was upland game hunting when he leaned it against a bush and walked a few feet away to go to the bathroom. Similar thing happened here maybe? I'd say either way it looks like it was just lost while hunting, with having a live round in the chamber and such. Someday maybe i'll find something cool like that :thumb
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