Broke into again.

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I was broke in to last winter where some of my main reloading items were taken. I put locks on the shop and just had gotten the big pieces replaced and this past weekend a hole was cut in the back wall and they took my press, brand new chargemaster, scale and probably 30 boxes of j-bullets and a bunch of odds and ends. Im also missing tools and one large deer rack.
Crooks really know how to get a man down. I didnt have insurance as I have been laid off since Oct. and needed the money elsewhere I thought. I would really like to find out who the jokers are. They had to make a few trips to get what they took. I think Im going to set some traps this time.

[uncle joe]

sorry to hear about your local thugs.
as for a trap, take some of the money you saved not boosting an insurance company and throw the new box out at the road, then spend a few nights inside the shed with a 12 gauge.

[cheese1566]

Sorry to hear about it, burglaries suck ass!!

Being in law enforcement for the last 11 years, last 2 of which being an investigator, if they want in-they will get in!

Sounds like somebody familar with your layout and knows what you have, check with someone who's been in there...

Reloading equipment doesn't have serial numbers, but one can put there own ID's on anything. Keep a list of those and photos of stuff to give to the cops when they come for the report. Anything with a serial # can be listed into NCIC as stolen.

Be careful of traps in this lawsuit happy age!

[oldtoolsniper]

I had over $9000.00 worth of tools stolen a few years ago. I had just retired from the Marine Corps and everything was still boxed from the move. They took the molding off of the back door to remove the glass. They just hauled boxes out of the house. They got all of my medals, uniforms and citations. My insurance company covered the loss but even that does little to help with how you feel. Here we have a huge problem with meth and welfare people moving here to get to the top of the housing list for hud. After they are here a year they go back to the big cities they came from. They are guaranteed front of the line privileges for housing then. We need to drug test everyone who is getting welfare. If they pop positive they get no benefits. The 10 percent who really need the program would be the only ones left.

I welded some boxes up for a farmer whose land I trap. He kept getting broken in to. I made them to look like the outside security cameras. They are painted white and placed on poles in plain sight. Three years and no break ins. Just look up pictures on the web and make them look like that. It won’t help with how you feel but it may stop it in the future.

[44man]

I would be going to all the pawn shops in the area looking for my stuff.

[largom]

Game cameras have come way down in price lately. I would get a couple and place around my shop in a tree if possible but somewhere out of sight. I would not just want to deter them I would want to catch the ********.
Larry

[swheeler]

********, the only thing worse than a thief is a chomo! I like the game camera idea, catch them and send them to CH school!

[Steve]

We lived in Colorado about 20 years ago near a lawyer who won a case where the man was found not guilty of "man trapping" (one of the oldest laws in the U.S.). The man had set up a shotgun to kill intruders breaking into his construction tool storage area because he had been broken into numerous times. I remember the lawyer telling me every now and then you'd get a jury who will really surprise you. The man who was found not guilty had to move out of state to avoid gang retaliation. I thought it was a great verdict. The "make my day law" really helped in that area also.

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I was thinking a couple of bear traps that I have and if I catch someone a load of triple 00

[Geraldo]

cheese1566 Sounds like somebody familar with your layout and knows what you have, check with someone who's been in there...


+1 on this. It's most likely the same people striking twice, but they knew about the locks and brought tools to get in. Do you have kids? They may have mentioned your hobby at school. Somebody either reconned the area or heard about the upgrades. They also either knew you bought new stuff or just plain got lucky.

Put the word out at gunshops and pawnshops about what was stolen.

[Catshooter]

The only good thing about theives is when ya get to catch 'em.


Cat

[hammerhead357]

elk huntr I know how you feel I lost about 9000.00 worth of tools and reloading stuff about 5 years ago. I think that the persons who did this were the trash collectors, since they had come by while the garage doors were open and know one else had ever seen inside. But the police never found anyone connected to the breakin.
It really chaps me, I lost a dillon 1050 and a rcbs promelt plus a lot of other stuff and it had to have been at least 2 or more people since some of the stuff was really bulky and heavy.
Sorry to hear of your loss just be careful if you catch them some of these cretains would think nothing of shanking you or slitting your throat....Wes

[softpoint]

Do a search on Revell burglar bombs if you want to set a trap. Those folks sell some teargas-pepper bombs for about 50 bucks apiece. I won't go into a lot of detail here, but they will RUIN a crook's day, and the perps will probably still be there crying when you get home. If not, they will certainly leave without taking anything

[Jaybird62]

I feel for you. I had my cabin broken into last November. Took my wood stove, of all things. Local crack heads are the likely culprits. Word around the neighborhood is the county sheriff is a homosexual and will trade about anything for "favors," so it makes it hard to stop theives. I've called the law about the break-in twice and they've yet to come check it out or even call me back. Mighty frustrating.

[PatMarlin]

Those vermin autta be hung. That's why I stay home.

Get some big dogs also. Dogs have saved my butt many times from theives.

[obssd1958]

Sorry to hear about this...
You might want to keep an eye on your local craigslist - lots of stuff get's sold on there with no question as to origin.
If you send me a PM with a list of stuff and any descriptions that might help identify any of it, I will watch to see if it shows up down here (Boise area).
If there is anything else we can do to help, just let us know!!

Take care,

Don

[azrednek]

I was thinking a couple of bear traps that I have and if I catch someone a load of triple 00

A friend of a friend did that with bear traps. No he didn't catch him but from what I was told the blood left on the floor, the bad guy had his day ruined.

[9.3X62AL]

I'm a great believer in BFDs--an acronym meaning "Large Aggressive Canine(s)".

As for the meth heads, I like how the ChiComs dealt with opium addicts. Similar processing for meth monsters has great appeal to me.

[Bret4207]

[COLOR="Blue"]

Sounds like somebody familar with your layout and knows what you have, check with someone who's been in there...



Yup, it's someone you know or a friends kid or someone who can see you putting the new stuff in there. IME in 20+ years police work the thieves are someone you've had in your house about 60% of the time. If it's druggies then it's just your turn.

Agree on the BFD, cameras. etc. You don't have to make it easy for them. Audible burglar alarms work too.

[Down South]

Dogs make great burglar deterrents. I live out in the sticks with no one around. I keep a couple mutts loose in my yard all time. There is something about a barking dog that burglars just don’t like.

The game camera is a good idea if you can get an infrared one that doesn’t flash. The only problem is that thieves probably won’t be back not at least till a long period of time.
I know you are PO’ed about this and I would be too but I’d really consider not setting any type of trap that would do injury. Even if you did catch the sorry $OB’$, you could be liable for any injury done to them by the trap. The bigger problem with traps is the possibility of catching the wrong person by accident.

I also second the notion that it is a strong possibility that the thief may be someone you know. I’ve been hit a couple times through the years and the one time that the thief was actually caught it was a guy that I had been trying to help out.

I did set a trap once. There were some kids that were stealing all of my gasoline regularly from my camp. The kids belonged to a trashy couple that lived in a shack close to the camp. I knew who was doing the thieving but just couldn’t prove it. The kids were using the gas to fuel their 3-wheelers. They were even stealing my outboard motor gas with two cycle oil mixed in it. Another thing, the kids were ripping and running those 3-whelers wide open in front of my camp all the time.
Soooooo, I bought a 5-gallon can of gas, mixed a couple pounds of sugar in it and placed it inside my side shed. Sure enough when I came back to my camp the next weekend the gas was gone, but I never saw another 3-wheeler or had any more gas stole after that.

[oldtoolsniper]

Check on ebay for listings closest to you. Deer racks sell quite high if they are big.

[montana_charlie]

Agree on the BFD, cameras. etc. You don't have to make it easy for them. Audible burglar alarms work too.
Especially considering that the earlier break-in had already proven you are a 'target'...I'm surprised that you felt 'locks' were the only insurance you needed.
CM

[jimkim]

I agree it's someone you know, and more than likely they already had a buyer in mind too. If they steal electronics, or hand tools they go to a pawnshop. When they steal something with a specific market they already have a buyer in mind.

[pjh421]

What if your reloading press had a 230v short in it somewhere? What if moving your gear caused a vibration that made your entire lead supply fall from overhead? In 1987 I was living in an apartment in Longview, WA. Some doper-looking folks moved into the apartment recently vacated by Miss Cowlitz County. I had my reloading stuff set up in the basement and all was fine up until then. It wasn't long before my Lyman D7 scale became gone. The idiots left the dump pan though. I was so poor then that I had to replace the scale with the Lee beam scale. What a PITA! I sincerely hope you get satisfaction, my friend.

Paul

Paul

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I understand its all my fault. A real dumb A&& move on my part. As for insurance Charlie, like I said right now I cant afford it at the moment. Should of made different arrangements as I got to thinking what hapened is really nothing compared to losing everything to a fire.
Bad winter 2 years in a row in construction here then layed off in October has taken its toll. Im out doing any and all work I can possible find.
I figure locks would take care of the problem and they did to a degree. I never thought about someone cutting a hole in the aluminum panel.
We have 2 Jack Russells and a Lab. all stay inside the house at night. They take care of the family and I wouldnt change it. If they had been out they would of probably stopped it.
If it happens again I promise I will know who did it. If they arent out here they definetly will be at the hospital. As far for the insurance, it is true that you cant afford to be without it. Its to late for what ive lost but will have insurance on everything tomorrow some way or another.
As for who did it. No clue. My some lives 30 miles away and never brings anyone here. My daughter is 15 and I dont think she knows what my equipment even is. Could of been one of my so called friends. I honestly dont know.
I should of not even mentioned it but was so upset, pissed, mad, hurt. I have never thought about doing such a thing to anyone. I needed to rant as my wife has heard to much. LOL

[Heavy lead]

I don't think you should go blaming yourself for that. That's on the bad guys not you.
It does remind me though, when I can afford it I need to get the house wired.

[Jim]

Huntr,
Quit beatin' yerself up, bud! This ain't your fault. A lot of folks can't afford anything more than average locks, nevermind special insurance. I just hope it don't happen again 'cause I b'lieve if it does, there's gonna be one mell of a hess to clean up.
I saw it myself. He picked up that hammer and was comin' straight at you with it up over his head. The way I see it, if you hadn't shot him, he was gonna kill you.

[Phil]

Yep I seed Jim there. now I kain't rightly recommember perzaktly when it wuz but i kin cogitate on hit sum and i'm sure ill recommember it fer sure. Jim'll recommember cuz his recommemberer is a lot better than mine, him bein younger an all.

Seriously, this is a bummer and I hope the rat or rats get caught. You just get to the point that you don't trust anyone anymore. I wish you well Idaho. Let us know what its going to take to get you up and running again. I have a few odd die sets and who knows what else. Post what you need and if I have anything I'll get it in the mail to you.

Phil

[mtnman31]

I feel your pain. In the past when I have had things stolen, as well as when I have had things vandalized, I find myself torn between two emotions, other than the disgust of the loss. First I want to protect myself and second I want to catch the SOB's. After I had a motorcycle stolen a few years back, I found myself consumed with ideas and thoughts on how I could catch the next guy who tried to steal my stuff. I had some pretty good ideas as well as some devious ones that if carried out would have landed me in trouble with the "law".

I currently don't have the level of security to store all of my firearms that I'd like to have, so I have had to take some other measures to at least give myself a little piece of mind. Even though they aren't as safe as I'd like, I have found a few spots to stash some of them so that a thief is going to have to take some time to find them. Secondly, I have done some things that will ensure that if the weapons are stolen, the thief either won't be able to easily shoot them or if he does he may damage the gun. Then at least he'll be less likely to hurt someone else with it, that is if he doesn't hurt himself in the process. If you can't afford a real security system, get or make a fake one, they really do help. As a side note, a guy I work with had a nice system installed at his house and after his car was broken into he went to look at the video only to find it hadn't been working properly. He got it fixed and a couple days later got to watch a video of a car smashing into his parked car, poor guy.

The last thing I have done is to limit other people's knowledge of my hobby. My girlfriend knows that the subject is very low key when talking to our friends and I am VERY selective of friend's who are invited into my workshop. By the same token, I enjoy my hobby and don't feel I should have to be "in the closet" about it. I like to share my love of shooting with others. Anyway, sorry for your loss and I truly hope that they are caught and you can relish in the thought that they might end up as some other dude's girlfriend while they serve time.

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I have a few odd die sets and who knows what else. Post what you need and if I have anything I'll get it in the mail to you.

Phil

Thanks for the offer and to all that have pm'ed offering to help. I will pass on our generous offers. Didnt post to get freebies, just venting. I do really appreciate the offers though. I have enough ammo to get me through hunting season. I will slowly build things back up.

The thing I hate the most is dad only used Nosler bullets. He gave me a big collection of them in sealed boxes from the 60's and them jokers got them. I can replace the rest but those bullets not replaceable.

[hpdrifter]

To plagerize a worthless politician, I feel your pain.

I was broke into last September. Fortunately, I took some action when my neighbors was was broken into a month or so earlier. I had "most" of my guns pretty well hidden. I left a shotgun(pump) out in the regular gun case along with an old old 22 auto and a TC Howken. I really didn't think anyone would steal a blackpowder gun.

I got taken for about $3500 worth of merchandise.

I now have video surveillence and an alarm system that will call me when it goes off. I've had four calls. One was when wife forgot to disarm, two when sensors eroniously went off, and one when my son came home from college without calling.

I built a "entertainment center" that is built like a fortress and will take over a few minutes to get into. I bought a few clunker guns from the pawnshop for $25 that were labeled disfunctional; for eye candy, and I've got my good guns all stashed away. It'll take them a few more minutes than they expected, all while an alarm is sounding in there ear.

I know if they want in, they'll get in. My hope is to slow them down enough so they won't think it's worth while and leave before too much damage is done.

I certainly hope you recover some of, if not all, of your equipment, but I haven't seem one piece of mine yet and I had serial numbers on all major pieces.

PS. I had two big dogs in the yard, a Golden retriever and a Labrador. They didn't deter squat. And, my Golden developed walking problems just days later and died. I can't help but believe she may have been injured by the hoodlums. Just didn't see any outward appearance of such until it was too late.

[Jim]

Well, I don't have the money to build a "Fort Knox" but I can tell you this: If Gretchen gets hold of somebody comin' in this house, they gonna need one h311 of a lot of stitches.

[hpdrifter]

$500 with the entertainment box.

[Gussy]

I made a quick, cheap alarm. Take a motion sensor light, remove the bulbs and screw in plug adapters. To one plug in a bell and the the other a red light (mine is a revolving one from radio shack) outside that you can see it (helps if they can see it too). Use long extension cords to get the noise and light away from the sensor. They leave quick and don't return. A second flood sensor is good too.

[Char-Gar]

FYI-- In Texas setting a trap is a legal no-no. If somebody is injured or killed, the person setting the device is looking at a stretch in the pen. Most other states have the same law. Now, you can turn bad dogs and rattlesnakes loose in your place and if anybody gets hurt, there is no crime.

[August]

I hesitate to mention this, but if they took loading equipment and boolits, then they know you have gunz somewhere. Significant attention should be given to securing your firearms. Now! A friend of mine lost his table saw a few years back. The next time the crooks showed up, they took his Harley Davidson.

[PatMarlin]

Reminds me of when I looked out the front window and saw some guys hop over my neigbor's fence, back in the city.


I knew he wasn't home and I thought, "You SOB's". I grabbed my 870, and ran to the other side back gate and met the vermin. You shoulda seen them hispanics turn honkey white when I chambered one and told em' to get the hell out of there.

They took off instantly ...:mrgreen:

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I hesitate to mention this, but if they took loading equipment and boolits, then they know you have gunz somewhere. Significant attention should be given to securing your firearms. Now! A friend of mine lost his table saw a few years back. The next time the crooks showed up, they took his Harley Davidson.

Guns are in the house and very safe. I bought a few safes a few years back when I could afford it.

Oh and they took my block and tackle. Just missed that today. They had to really work for that heavy thing.

[cajun shooter]

They can use the block and tackle to move the safes. In my 15 years on the force, I would tell everyone that they do come back. They see what you have on the first trip and always return. They had a farmer who keep having his equipment stolen from his barn, he set a shotgun trap and caught the bastard. He ended up selling his farm to pay the crook and his attorney!! The poor thief was now in a wheel chair and would no longer be able to work to take care of himself!! Give be a Break!! After our travel trailer was destroyed by Katrina, some crooks took all our possessions such as fishing tackle and clothes. They even took the stove which was under 4 ft of salt water. There is nothing lower than a thief. At least a armed robber looks you in the face. A thief sneaks like the slim he is.

[Beekeeper]

I agree with the others . It has to be someone you know or someone who has worked for you or a neighbor.
Had it happen around here several years ago and they caught a guy who had a setup to look like the pool guy.
Drive up , take net and chemicals through gate and breakinto house,Leave with goodies in net like a good pool guy.
Got any pools in your neighborhood?

[TAWILDCATT]

I hate thieves.any gun stores near you.talk to owner and find out if any one reloads.they will need powder and primers if they keep the tools.even if the sell it some one is going to show up.reloading tools are not like house hold products.
forget about police.do your own detective work. I did and the perps got $25 fine for damaging hydrant.the chief was trying to dick the mother of the girl involved.
so nothing.not even a peep about my guns.I found where they went a SP snitch.
so that ended there.to many corrupt police.and I am not bashing all police.:coffee:
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