Original 1873 Winchester found in mountains yesterday

Bishop Creek · January 9, 2015, 01:01 AM

I recently posted this picture of an 1851 Colt Navy found near my home a couple of years ago in the Eastern High Sierra of California:

Now this. My wife works for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and two of her fellow BLM employees out exploring yesterday, January 7, 2015, found
this 1873 Winchester leaning against a Pinon Pine tree in the Inyo Mountains of the High Sierra region southeast of Lone Pine, California.

Who knows how long it has been there or why it was left behind and forgotten.

Trum4n1208 · January 9, 2015, 01:10 AM

That's a cool find. If only that rifle could talk, I bet it'd have a story or two.

baddarryl · January 9, 2015, 02:14 AM

That's cool!

Model12Win · January 9, 2015, 02:31 AM

Very cool! How to date something like this??

hartcreek · January 9, 2015, 07:54 AM

Who won the coin flip to take that 1873 home? I sure would not have posted photos cuz then it would have wound up not with one thta found it.

Gunfixr · January 9, 2015, 10:04 AM

That receiver looks kind of long. Are you sure it isn't an 1876?
They look identical, but for receiver length.
The gun looks pretty good, though. Cool find. It would sure look good in my safe next to the custom build on an original receiver.

noelf2 · January 9, 2015, 10:23 AM

was it loaded?

**4V50 Gary** · January 9, 2015, 11:46 AM

Luck. They have it. I'd hit it with Kroil and after a day, check if it's loaded.

Fingers McGee · January 9, 2015, 01:59 PM

It does appear to be an 1876 rather than an 1873

DoubleDeuce 1 · January 9, 2015, 02:06 PM

That is a great find! A friend of mine had a neighbor who had some property in the California gold country. About forty years ago the neighbor was out hiking on his property and found an old Winchester leaning up against a tree. The rifle followed him home. As kids, we thought that was really cool.

Story · January 9, 2015, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Who knows how long it has been there or why it was left behind and forgotten

.

Wendigo got him.
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/wendigo.htm

Sure Shot Mc Gee · January 9, 2015, 02:42 PM

Hey that's my rifle!!!

**4V50 Gary** · January 9, 2015, 02:54 PM

Sorry Sure Shot McGee. You a young 'un and unless you were born in 1900, you didn't leave it there. You would have gone with a more modern 1894 that fired the magnum of its day, the 30-30.

Bishop Creek · January 9, 2015, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Who won the coin flip to take that 1873 home? I sure would not have posted photos cuz then it would have wound up not with one thta found it.

No one took it home. It was found by the BLM on Federal land that they administer. It was turned over to the staff archeologist who will examine it, catalog it, and the rifle then will likely end up in a local museum.

To the others, it could well be and 1876 Model. I don't know as I have not seen it in person, only the photos.

AKexpat · January 9, 2015, 06:40 PM

Who in their right mind would just leave a rifle leaning against a tree and forget about it (or do it purposely)?

It does look like an 1876...

Sure Shot Mc Gee · January 9, 2015, 06:47 PM

Quote:

You would have gone with a more modern 1894 that fired the magnum of its day, the 30-30.

Yep I guess your right 4V50 on all accounts. Even have that 1894 magnum in 32-40 racked & walled here. I was thinking if I could get my Dibs in early on this one {pictured} hopefully the OP would send it to me._

Bishop Creek · January 9, 2015, 10:31 PM

Story wrote:

Quote:

Wendigo got him.

Maybe. There are local Indian legends about them here.

Hawg · January 9, 2015, 10:41 PM

Went digging for civil war relics way out in the woods about ten years ago and dug up a 92 Winchester in 32-20. No houses for miles nor evidence of any. Rifle was made in 1907 and was empty.

Bishop Creek · January 9, 2015, 10:58 PM

I'll try and find out if this rifle was loaded or not.

Wish I could dig for relics like I used to back in the '60s and '70s. Most open spaces here in eastern California and Nevada are Federal land and new Federal laws say that if you find a relic (50 years or older) you cannot keep it. So in other words, if you threw a Pepsi bottle out the car window into the desert back in 1965 and now feel guilty about, you could be fined for retrieving it now.

Jbar4Ranch · January 9, 2015, 11:36 PM

It's a '73. You can tell by the shape of rear of the side plate and the length of the action between the rear of the side plate and the butt stock.

Captchee · January 10, 2015, 10:24 AM

Cool find . Defiantly one of those where you have to say ; if only it could talk .
As to why it was left there . Who can say . Around here we still find such items . Not as often as we once did but still enough that folks are not overly surprised . Many are muzzleloaders found along the Oregon trail . Other times up along the White Bird trail where Miles chased Joseph and his people .
Also a lot of mining went on around here . I remember my father found a Spencer leaning up against a tree while hunting one year . After doing some looking we concluded that probably the owner either gotten snake bit or trap in a cave in of a mine shaft .
When I was a boy living up in the salmon river area , we would often come across old cabins that were caving in . sometimes you would come across one where the plates , silverware , rock drills , saws , even can goods , would still be inside.
I remember one such cabin that still had plates with forks and knives still laying on them . like they had finish eating , got up , walked off and never came back .
There are still a few of those that have not been all dug up by folks looking for plunder or burnt down by the USFS back in the later 1970’s

Hawg · January 10, 2015, 12:28 PM

Here's the 92 I dug up.

After soaking in kerosene for three months it freed up but its too far gone to do anything with.

**4V50 Gary** · January 10, 2015, 03:52 PM

Hawg - are you going to try to get that 92 working again? I'm thinking functional, but not a shooter.

Hawg · January 10, 2015, 05:12 PM

I thought about getting a stock and forearm and leaving them out in the weather for awhile and hanging it on a wall but the stock screws are broken off in the tang and I dunno of I could ever get the fore end cap and mag tube off to install the forearm.

Jbar4Ranch · January 10, 2015, 11:14 PM

The Facebook page below shows the same picture as above and claims it was found in Great Basin National Park near Ely, Nevada in November. The pic was posted only yesterday though... hmmm...

https://www.facebook.com/GreatBasinN...659121/?type=1

January 9, 2015, 01:01 AM	#1
Bishop Creek Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Posts: 568	Original 1873 Winchester found in mountains yesterday I recently posted this picture of an 1851 Colt Navy found near my home a couple of years ago in the Eastern High Sierra of California: Now this. My wife works for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and two of her fellow BLM employees out exploring yesterday, January 7, 2015, found this 1873 Winchester leaning against a Pinon Pine tree in the Inyo Mountains of the High Sierra region southeast of Lone Pine, California. Who knows how long it has been there or why it was left behind and forgotten.

January 9, 2015, 10:23 AM	#7
noelf2 Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2008 Location: Stuart, VA Posts: 2,473	was it loaded? __________________ Liberty and freedom often offends those who understand neither.

January 9, 2015, 11:46 AM	#8
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 22,301	Luck. They have it. I'd hit it with Kroil and after a day, check if it's loaded. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

January 9, 2015, 02:54 PM	#13
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 22,301	Sorry Sure Shot McGee. You a young 'un and unless you were born in 1900, you didn't leave it there. You would have gone with a more modern 1894 that fired the magnum of its day, the 30-30. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

January 9, 2015, 10:58 PM	#19
Bishop Creek Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Posts: 568	I'll try and find out if this rifle was loaded or not. Wish I could dig for relics like I used to back in the '60s and '70s. Most open spaces here in eastern California and Nevada are Federal land and new Federal laws say that if you find a relic (50 years or older) you cannot keep it. So in other words, if you threw a Pepsi bottle out the car window into the desert back in 1965 and now feel guilty about, you could be fined for retrieving it now. Last edited by Bishop Creek; January 9, 2015 at 11:04 PM.

January 9, 2015, 01:10 AM	#2
Trum4n1208 Senior Member Join Date: September 13, 2013 Posts: 173	That's a cool find. If only that rifle could talk, I bet it'd have a story or two.

January 9, 2015, 02:14 AM	#3
baddarryl Senior Member Join Date: March 29, 2011 Location: Cape Fear! Posts: 1,700	That's cool!

January 9, 2015, 02:31 AM	#4
Model12Win Junior member Join Date: October 20, 2012 Posts: 5,854	Very cool! How to date something like this??

January 9, 2015, 07:54 AM	#5
hartcreek Junior member Join Date: April 22, 2014 Location: Washington Posts: 1,549	Who won the coin flip to take that 1873 home? I sure would not have posted photos cuz then it would have wound up not with one thta found it.

January 9, 2015, 10:04 AM	#6
Gunfixr Senior Member Join Date: June 10, 2007 Location: East Coast, USA Posts: 360	That receiver looks kind of long. Are you sure it isn't an 1876? They look identical, but for receiver length. The gun looks pretty good, though. Cool find. It would sure look good in my safe next to the custom build on an original receiver.

January 9, 2015, 01:59 PM	#9
Fingers McGee Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2008 Location: High & Dry in Missouri Ozarks Posts: 2,113	It does appear to be an 1876 rather than an 1873

January 9, 2015, 02:06 PM	#10
DoubleDeuce 1 Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2013 Posts: 101	That is a great find! A friend of mine had a neighbor who had some property in the California gold country. About forty years ago the neighbor was out hiking on his property and found an old Winchester leaning up against a tree. The rifle followed him home. As kids, we thought that was really cool.

January 9, 2015, 02:42 PM	#12
Sure Shot Mc Gee Senior Member Join Date: January 2, 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,876	Hey that's my rifle!!!

January 9, 2015, 06:40 PM	#15
AKexpat Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2014 Location: SW WA State Posts: 490	Who in their right mind would just leave a rifle leaning against a tree and forget about it (or do it purposely)? It does look like an 1876...

January 9, 2015, 10:41 PM	#18
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,380	Went digging for civil war relics way out in the woods about ten years ago and dug up a 92 Winchester in 32-20. No houses for miles nor evidence of any. Rifle was made in 1907 and was empty.

January 9, 2015, 11:36 PM	#20
Jbar4Ranch Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 1999 Location: Near Helena, Montana Posts: 1,721	It's a '73. You can tell by the shape of rear of the side plate and the length of the action between the rear of the side plate and the butt stock. __________________ Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced... SASS 47015

January 10, 2015, 10:24 AM	#21
Captchee Senior Member Join Date: April 2, 2013 Posts: 439	Cool find . Defiantly one of those where you have to say ; if only it could talk . As to why it was left there . Who can say . Around here we still find such items . Not as often as we once did but still enough that folks are not overly surprised . Many are muzzleloaders found along the Oregon trail . Other times up along the White Bird trail where Miles chased Joseph and his people . Also a lot of mining went on around here . I remember my father found a Spencer leaning up against a tree while hunting one year . After doing some looking we concluded that probably the owner either gotten snake bit or trap in a cave in of a mine shaft . When I was a boy living up in the salmon river area , we would often come across old cabins that were caving in . sometimes you would come across one where the plates , silverware , rock drills , saws , even can goods , would still be inside. I remember one such cabin that still had plates with forks and knives still laying on them . like they had finish eating , got up , walked off and never came back . There are still a few of those that have not been all dug up by folks looking for plunder or burnt down by the USFS back in the later 1970’s

January 10, 2015, 12:28 PM	#22
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,380	Here's the 92 I dug up. After soaking in kerosene for three months it freed up but its too far gone to do anything with.

January 10, 2015, 03:52 PM	#23
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 22,301	Hawg - are you going to try to get that 92 working again? I'm thinking functional, but not a shooter. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

January 10, 2015, 05:12 PM	#24
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,380	I thought about getting a stock and forearm and leaving them out in the weather for awhile and hanging it on a wall but the stock screws are broken off in the tang and I dunno of I could ever get the fore end cap and mag tube off to install the forearm.

January 10, 2015, 11:14 PM	#25
Jbar4Ranch Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 1999 Location: Near Helena, Montana Posts: 1,721	The Facebook page below shows the same picture as above and claims it was found in Great Basin National Park near Ely, Nevada in November. The pic was posted only yesterday though... hmmm... https://www.facebook.com/GreatBasinN...659121/?type=1 __________________ Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced... SASS 47015