Looks like a trade gun

[waksupi]

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/wisconsin-angler-finds-200-year-old-flintlock/

[missionary5155]

Good morning
With that large trigger guard and location... "Good deduction Watson "... as the Inspector moves off into the London fog.
I would wonder why it was in the lake? Caught on the motor ? Neat story and what a treasure.
Thanks for posting this !
Mike in Peru

[OverMax]

Being Wisconsin Michigan Minnesota were popular fur trapping states. Something like this rifle being found doesn't surprise me. Just a thought: What is unusual. Is its condition after all those years laying on the bottom of a lake. One would think that acid rain would have had more of effect on an old iron rifle.

[Junior1942]

A friend found a Colt cap 'n' ball revolver in a river near here close to an old steamboat landing. It was so rusty you could barely tell what it was.

[Pb2au]

Wow, what are the chances of hooking that with an anchor.
Very cool find. I wonder what stories that old piece could tell of its life. Thanks for sharing!

[Stephen Cohen]

I never get such luck, looks like it could almost be salvaged.

[Beerd]

Pretty cool find.
I sometimes dream of discovering an old cache when floating the rivers around here, not that there would be much left after two centuries under ground.


"Groff says the rifle is a catch of a lifetime and will be proudly displaying it in his home. It will be unaltered except for a layer of sealant.

“I’m not going to start messing around with it,” he said."

Good idea, leave the restoration to an expert.
..

[GARD72977]

I hope my Trade gun does not look like that!

[GARD72977]

I hope my Trade gun does not look like that!

That is a great find. There is a good chance that who ever owned that gun died in that lake the day the gun was lost. So many ways that gun could have ended up in water.

[ElDorado]

The article says that it's "half-cocked, as if waiting to be shot", but it looks to me like it's been fired and not reloaded, at least not primed. It makes you wonder if the owner didn't have time to reload and why.

[rondog]

Probably fell out of a canoe or dugout, maybe in rough water during a storm. Who knows. But now that it's out in the air the rusting will probably kick into high gear and eat it up.

[waksupi]

I agree it looks to be in fired position.

Larry, do you mean you didn't want it antiqued? Oops! It should be arriving there most any time now.

[GARD72977]

Probably fell out of a canoe or dugout, maybe in rough water during a storm. Who knows. But now that it's out in the air the rusting will probably kick into high gear and eat it up.

Maybe I can shoot mine and leave it in the bathtub until Im ready to clean it. Looks like they hold up pretty well!


I sent the money order today priority mail so it should be there in a couple of days. Cant wait to see it. This is getting expensive. I ordered a throwing hawk and knife today. I still don't have anything to wear!!!

[John Allen]

Overmax, if it was deep enough in the lake there could be low oxygen levels which will preserve it. We pull wood off the bottom that you can still read writing on after it has been on the bottom for years. If it gets sunk into the mud they can come up in great shape not usable but definitely cleaner than you think.