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1873 rifle found in park

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    1873 rifle found in park

    This is a couple of years old but I found it interesting and figured I would share it here I am sure some have seen it but it's still worthy of a post or re-post. think if this rifle could tell its history.



    Here is the excerpt if you can't open the link:

    From the Great Basin National Park page:


    Numerous questions surround the small piece of American heritage found and recovered by Great Basin National Park archaeologists in November. The 132 year-old rifle, exposed to sun, wind, snow, and rain was found leaning against a tree in the park. The cracked wood stock, weathered to grey, and the brown rusted barrel blended into the colors of the old juniper tree in a remote rocky outcrop, keeping the rifle hidden for many years.

    “Model 1873” distinctively engraved on the mechanism identify the rifle as the Winchester Model 1873 repeating rifle. The serial number on the lower tang corresponds in Winchester records held at the Center for the West, Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, with a manufacture and shipping date of 1882. Currently, the detailed history of this rifle is unknown. Winchester records do not indicate who purchased the rifle from the warehouse or where it was shipped.

    Winchester Model 1873 rifles hold a prominent place in Western history and lore. The rifles are referred to as “the gun that won the West”. 720,610 were manufactured between 1873 and 1916 when production ended. In 1882 alone, over 25,000 were made. Selling for about $50 when they first came out, the rifles reduced in price to $25 in 1882 and were accessible and popular as “everyman’s” rifle. The Winchester business plan included selling large lots of rifles to dealers or “jobbers” who would distribute the firearms to smaller sales outlets.

    This rifle may provide its own bit of lore. Mysteries of the rifle’s journey through time spur creative and lively discussion. Who left the rifle? When and why it was leaned against the tree? And, why was it never retrieved? The Great Basin cultural resource staff is continuing research in old newspapers and family histories hoping to resolve some of the mystery and fill in details about the story of this rifle.

    The park will provide a viewing opportunity for the community before sending the rifle to conservators to stabilize the wood and apply museum conservation techniques. The treatment will keep the gun looking as it was found and prevent further deterioration. When the rifle is returned to the park it will be displayed as part of the Park’s 30th Birthday and the NPS Centennial celebration.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Super cool story. I bet the gun has seen some things.

    Comment


      #3
      Burnadell has had that thing listed in the lost and found for like 100 years now! It’s time we reunite that gun to its rightful owner.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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        #4
        That’s awesome!

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          #5
          The elk herd I hunt lives on the park...lots of history out there. I run across mines and other artifacts all the time.

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            #6
            If that rifle could talk, the stories she could tell.

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              #7
              They don’t make them like they used to

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                #8
                That's cool...makes you wonder why it was left there.

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                  #9
                  That's a great story, must have been a slow growing cedar though.

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                    #10
                    I wonder if it was loaded?

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Traildust View Post
                      That's a great story, must have been a slow growing cedar though.


                      Exactly what I was thinking!!


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Traildust View Post
                        That's a great story, must have been a slow growing cedar though.
                        With you on that.

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                          #13
                          Yeah get an age on the tree. Something don’t seem correct.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Speedgoat View Post
                            I wonder if it was loaded?
                            The gun was found unloaded, but there was a single UMC 44-40 cartridge found in the butt-trap recess, and that type of cartridge was manufactured sometime between 1889 and 1911.

                            Taken from here...

                            The "Forgotten Winchester" has a new home. The Winchester Model 1873 rifle found by National Park Service employees in 2014 has created a great deal of intrigue and speculation over the past few years. This is the same rifle that stopped for a visit at Winchester's Utah headquarters several years ago. The weathered rifle, found leaning against a very old tree, had two key clues to its history: a readable serial number and a single 44-40 cartridge in the butt-trap recess. This is a rifle that begs for a story. The rifle has finally returned to the Great Basin National Park as the centerpiece of a superb display.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I agree with Traildust, something fishy about that story and why the cedar did not absorb part of the rifle.

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