Crazy find at the local public range.

[Boerrancher]

First day in a long time my back wasn’t bothering me to the point of having trouble walking, so I decided to go for a short motorcycle ride. I haven’t had any windshield time this summer. About 8pm I came up to the road that goes down to the conservation shooting range. I don’t shoot there but sometimes I do go there to pick up brass. I decided what the heck, probably too hot today but I will see what I can find, so I turned down the road and parked at the range. No one was there. I guess I met the last folks leaving on my way in. From the parking lot I could see there had been some activity because the trash cans were pretty well full.

There is a small creek that separates the parking lot and the range and there is a concrete bridge that crosses it. I always look in the water as I cross because sometimes folks lose things in water or they throw stuff in the water. As I looked down I saw a long funny shaped stick laying there in about 6 inches of water, didn’t think anything about it until I got up to the benches. I found a Military type sling, an old leather ammo pouch, and what looked to be a mosen nagant cleaning rod. There was lots of old milsurp 7.62x54R steel cases laying around, as well as the usual suspects, like 9mm,45acp, and 223, nothing I wanted to pick up so I grabbed the sling pouch and rod and headed back across the bridge to put the items in my saddle bags. As I was crossing the bridge the light wasn’t as bad on the water and that funny looking stick looked more like a gun.

Now I have heard guys jokingly say they were going to toss said rifle off in the brush, but never in a million years would I have believed someone would actually do it. I worked my way down the bank and sure enough there was the rifle that the cleaning rod went to. I pulled it out of the water and it still had so much cosmoline on it that the water beaded off of it. I put the cleaning rod and sling back on it after shaking the water out of it,slung it on my back and rode home.

I pulled it apart and dried it then cleaned it real well. The bore doesn’t look to bad for an old military rifle, it is for sure good enough for a cast boolit shooter. There is a few scratches on the wood and a couple small scratches on the blueing where it hit the rocks, but other than that I can’t find a thing wrong with it. It is a model 91/30, and it looks better than a lot that I have seen. I don’t know what they are worth but it ought to be worth more than nothing. I thought about one years ago when they were $100 for a cast shooter, but couldn’t justify the rifle, dies, and mold costs. I hate Lee dies but they are cheap and will work for what I want to do. Now to find some cheap brass.

Best wishes,

Joe

[mtnman31]

Nice find. Cool points if you rode home with it slung across your back?

[Winger Ed.]

Cool.

The only thing I ever found that was thrown away like that was golf clubs.

At a local golf course, one Tee and green/hole backed up into a wooded area that us kids used to hang out it.
I'd seen golf clubs wrapped around a tree there a couple times.

[lead-1]

Sweet find boerrancher, hope it works out for you. That would be an added bonus to someone else's wall hanger/creek filler.

[nicholst55]

Sweet find! Wonder why the previous owner threw it in the creek? Check Graf's for brass.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/771?

ETA: Guess all they have in stock now is Lapua. So much for cheap brass.

[cwlongshot]

Hahaha. God story nice find!!

All I ever find are occasional ram rods... DOWN RANGE! :)

CW

CW

[Texas by God]

They didn't leave you any ammo? Some people are just rude!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[richhodg66]

They're better rifles than a lot think, at least mine have been. Pretty good cast shooters too, and now all the manufacturers have boxer primed brass available.

Clean her up and start working with it, I bet you'll like it for the price. Gotta wonder what kind of idiot would do that.

[smoked turkey]

That is a once in a lifetime find I'd say. Good thing you are pretty observant or you might not have seen it. Not to put a downer on your bonus gun, but if it were me I'd at least check the register on stolen guns just to be sure it isn't listed there.

[JBinMN]

Boerrancher,

You may want to report that "find" to the local LEO. Just to "CYA".

Yeah perhaps it sounds like I am being a bit too, "Joe Citizen", but I mention it for your own protection.

Suppose the owner has regrets and goes back to retrieve the rifle & it is not there, so he/she decides to report it as stolen to the LEO so to perhaps collect some insurance $$ on the loss.

It could even have been those folks you passed as you went to the range & if they say that the last person they saw at the range before it went missing was a guy on a motorcycle & they describe, "you" as a possible suspect.

Now they have a description of a possible "suspect" & a supposedly stolen rifle...

That nice "find" may not be so nice, if such a scenario I mention happens.

Better to report your "find" (Make sure to get a receipt for it.) & see if someone comes to claim it who is not in anyway related to the LEO office you report it to. If no one claims it then such "found" items should be returned to you as "your" property since it was "abandoned". If it gets claimed, then the claimant should be willing to offer some sort of a "finders fee"/"reward" for your honesty. ( If not & likely not due to the actions of throwing it away, but perhaps there is a bit of good in an idiot.)

BTW, I would not be doing any more "cleanup" for the other person who previously owned said rifle either, as it may not end up being "yours", if you do report it...

"Better safe, than sorry".

{With my luck, the scenario I described above would end up with me in legal troubles, so I would report the rifle & hope for the best... I am not willing to take the chance on things going bad for me & perhaps losing my firearms rights, or at minimum, dealing with the legal issues. The rifle, to me, would not be worth that. ;) }

Do as ya like, & I think it is a great find for ya, "if" there are not other strings attached to the find that come up later on like the scenario I described.

G'Luck! on whatever ya decide to do!
:)

[Sig556r]

One man's trash is another's treasure...

[alamogunr]

Sweet find! Wonder why the previous owner threw it in the creek? Check Graf's for brass.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/771?

ETA: Guess all they have in stock now is Lapua. So much for cheap brass.

Patience! My guess is they will have PRVI brass in stock soon.

[WILCO]

Yep! You can be notified when it's back in stock.

[jdfoxinc]

What you didn't get a background check?

[WebMonkey]

No, he went back to check the ground.

;)

It wasn't the Indian trail range was it?
I pick over that range regularly.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Boerrancher,

You may want to report that "find" to the local LEO.


>>>SNIP
I have to agree with JBinMN's suggestion.
I'm not sure what type of unhinged individual tosses a rifle into the creek and leaves the accessories strewn about, in a public space, but I surely wouldn't want a connection to people like that, without a police report.
that's my 2¢

[Hamish]

Philistines,,,,,,

[waksupi]

These things happen. A friend told me when he was a kid, he handled a shotgun unsafely, and his dad took the gun away from him. Threw a double barrel Greener in the river. Another friend snagged an old .32 Winchester when fishing. I bet someday someone will snag one of the guns I've lost in various lakes over the years.

[Cheeto303]

What you didn't get a background check?

I'm sure he looked behind him before he picked it up. He stated it was still covered with cosmoline. I bet the previous owner cleaned the bore out with the first shot. The recoil must have been sweet. I bet he couldn't hit diddly squat and was mad as hell. At least he helped the "new owner" out by throwing it in the creek after firing all that corrosive ammo. Nice find. The last batch of 91/30's I saw at AIM Surplus were priced over $300.00. Years ago my local boomstick vendor would get them by the crate. I have 1 each per year Tula Arsenal starting in 1920-1945 and the same for Izzies. I was paying $79.95 + sales tax a pop with all accessories. With a C&R no background check fee.I bought so many he gave me the empty wooden Russian rifle crates.Whenever he got a new crate he would call me so I could break it open and I got the pick of the litter.The early years are converted dragoons.I think I made a good investment. This dosen't count the original 91's,M38's,M44's,91/59's and the various Fins I picked up over the years.

[Boerrancher]

I will not take it to my county sheriffs office. Too many firearms disappear from there. I know the Sheriff and he is a good man, but he inherited a swamp full of bottom feeders for officers, but he has been removing them. I am not concerned because I won’t sell the rifle and it will never leave the Farm because I have my own ranges built and I can shoot out to 1000 yds. No need for me to ever shoot anyplace else. There is also a million Harley Davidsons in the area because until March of this year the only bike dealer was strictly Harleys.

[redneck1]

Many years ago I bought a ruger sp101 , the only way you could hit a barn with it was to stand inside it .
After a few months of trying tonget it to shoot I finally got disgusted with it and flung it off into brush .
I found it twice afterwards with the brush hog . I didn't pick it up either time .

Sometimes you just have enough ....

[RED BEAR]

I must say there would be a place in my safe for it if I were you. Some people have all the luck.

[country gent]

To these young shooters cosmoline is a permeant sealant they don't know to or how to remove it. The rifle and things strewn around do sound like a disgruntled new shooter. Ive had a lot of newer younger shooters bring a rifle to me and ask How do I remove this stuff? Its cosmoline. I give them a quart of kerosene a brush and rag. One shooter at the club was shooting a SKS ( back when they were $109.00) and he removed the cosmoline from bore and action but left it on the outside, was he a mess after handling and shooting that rifle.

[fatelk]

People do funny things out of irritation and frustration. There was a guy on another forum who bragged about having an M1 carbine that he smashed up with a sledge hammer, because he determined that it was unsafe (brand new). Sounds idiotic to me, but whatever; it was his own property.

[Winger Ed.]

People do funny things out of irritation and frustration.

Oh yeah. When I was a kid, there was a place where people came and flew some real high end model airplanes.

One guy had a beautiful 4 engine model B-17.
It wasn't doing right, and he was jumping up and down mad.

He finished his mad dance on top of it.

[Stewbaby]

It’s about as cheap to buy the PPU ammo and shoot it to get the brass (though you may not care for the J word shooting).

Brass, $0.50/rnd
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/73074

Loaded PPU, $0.79/rnd
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/77024

Basically getting the powder for free ($0.50 case, $0.04 primer, $0.25 bullet)

[Cheeto303]

Many years ago I bought a ruger sp101 , the only way you could hit a barn with it was to stand inside it .
After a few months of trying tonget it to shoot I finally got disgusted with it and flung it off into brush .
I found it twice afterwards with the brush hog . I didn't pick it up either time .

Sometimes you just have enough ....

Next time you find it throw it in a box and mail it to me. At the very least it would make a good snake gun!

[km101]

Wonder if he got over his “mad” and went back to get it? Bet he was shocked to find it gone! Sometimes you have to pay for your stupidity. Great find, and it will really be sweet if you can make it shoot!

[Bookworm]

SGAmmo is cheaper.
https://www.sgammo.com/product/prvi-partizan/200-round-case-762x54r-soft-point-150-grain-brass-case-non-corrosive-prvi-part

The 150gr isn't in stock, but the 182gr is.

I purchase the 200 round case, pull the bullets and sell them. I reuse the powder in a reduced load.

I neck size the brass, and end up with primed, new brass for maybe .40/each.

[Texas by God]

Can you come find the Hi-point C9 in the Ruger soft case that my dog carried off?

[blackthorn]

A few years ago I bought a cute little Timberwolf pump in 357 Magnum at a gun show. The price was more than reasonable and I had been wanting one for awhile. The guy selling it said "its in real good condition and has hardly been fired at all, and oh yes here is a box of ammunition that goes with it." So, I took it home and left the next day for my cabin at the lake. I took my new gun along and a couple of days later I went to try it out. Loaded it up, pointed it at a tin can, pulled the trigger and---"click"---nothing! Looked at the bases on my box of included ammunition and all of them had a real faint impression. I took that rifle back to the cabin, cleaned the Cosmoline out of the bolt and it works just fine. Good deal for me!

[Randy Bohannon]

My best find at a rifle range , walking back from the target to the bench I had been looking down and saw an shiny silver glint poking up through a little snow.I reach down and pick it up, it’s a two carat chocolate diamond ring with six white diamonds set in platinum,perfect condition. I think who ever lost this might want it back,or she took it off and tossed it ? Who knows ?. I do a couple of lost and found ads,report the find to local P.D. They say give it a few months,see if anyone claims, not one single call. Still have it,appraisal is $ 5600.00,it’s been two years.

[Petrol & Powder]

I have to agree with JBinMN's suggestion.
I'm not sure what type of unhinged individual tosses a rifle into the creek and leaves the accessories strewn about, in a public space, but I surely wouldn't want a connection to people like that, without a police report.
that's my 2¢

/\ I'll also agree

Another possibility is the person was a convicted felon and heard the OP approaching. OR the items were recently stolen property that the possessor didn't want to be linked to. Fearing potential discovery by law enforcement he abandoned the accessories and held onto the rifle until he got to the creek and distanced himself from the rifle at that point. He may have been in the vehicle the OP encountered OR he may have still been hidden nearby when the OP recovered the rifle from the creek.

In any event, I would not keep that rifle in my possession without a police report.

AND, at this point after disclosing the details of the event on an internet forum and riding down the street with the rifle slung over your back - I think there is little benefit in trying to remain anonymous.

Take photos of the rifle and write the serial number down. Take the rifle to the Sheriff's office. Take a witness with you if you like. Make a report. See if they want to hold onto that rifle for awhile. Under those circumstances they are NOT going to steal something surrendered to them for safe keeping. If that rifle is later reported stolen, you WANT a solid record of your lawful actions and you want that report FIRST.

I don't know why the OP fears the rifle will disappear if it is in the custody of the sheriff for a period of time (I think theft in that situation is highly unlikely) but if that's the worst thing that could happen it is still better than the alternatives.

At this point in time, with the multiple witnesses and the disclosure on the internet - I see keeping the rifle without a police report as exceedingly dangerous.

[KCSO]

All the guns we ever fish out of the creek are either hot or have been used in a crime. I would have the serial numbers run just in case, It would be hard to convince a cop later that you Found it in the creek.

[Petrol & Powder]

All the guns we ever fish out of the creek are either hot or have been used in a crime. I would have the serial numbers run just in case, It would be hard to convince a cop later that you Found it in the creek.

".........It would be hard to convince a cop later that you Found it in the creek"

I would replace the word "hard" with the phrase "nearly impossible"

AND requesting the police "run" the serial number and receiving no hits does NOT mean the gun is not stolen - it only means the gun was not REPORTED stolen, BY THE SERIAL NUMBER, at that time.

You are FAR better off with a found property report that listed the date, time and serial number of the gun when you presented it to the police for inspection after you found the abandoned or lost property.

Take the gun to the local police and make a report.

[Texas by God]

Probably a temper tantrum by a brat that thought it would look cool. I'd keep it and not worry. I don't think a thief would take a MN with accessories to a public range to shoot. Enjoy it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Petrol & Powder]

Probably a temper tantrum by a brat that thought it would look cool. I'd keep it and not worry. I don't think a thief would take a MN with accessories to a public range to shoot. Enjoy it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

That's a plausible explanation but not the only explanation.

Why take the chance ?

The ONLY thing one would stand to lose by taking the rifle to law enforcement and reporting the found property is the very small chance of losing a rifle that you didn't pay for in the first place; verses later coming under intense scrutiny for possession of a rifle that was stolen or used in a crime.

The risks verses benefits balance of that equation is tilted far to the risk side with NOTHING on the benefit side.

AND, if early recovery of stolen property helps to make a crime VICTIM whole again, wouldn't you want to assist with that effort?

Let your conscience be your guide.

[fatelk]

Many years ago I had guns stolen out of my truck. The police found one of them a few days later. I went in and positively identified it. I didn't have the serial number but it was pretty distinctive and found in the possession of a known thief in the area where it went missing, so there was no doubt at all. The detective told me that they would contact me as soon as they were done with it.

Some months later I was pulled over late at night for a dim license plate light or some such minor thing. I think he was bored and just looking for drunks. He saw I was sober, and recognized me because he had been the officer who had taken the initial report for the stolen guns. He asked if I had gotten my .45 back yet. I told him what the detective has said, and that I was waiting patiently. He looked surprised and told me in no uncertain terms that I should go in and ask about it ASAP, otherwise they might "lose" it.

I went down to the Sheriff's Office the next day, and sure enough they had a hard time finding it. They said they had been done with it months earlier because the thief had plea-bargained for a slap on the hand. They sent me from one place to another and back before it turned up. I did get it back though, and still have it.

A friend of mine found a Hi-Point .40sw pistol in a cloth bag in the bottom of a pond in the mountains camping a couple years ago. He turned it in to the local Sheriff's Office, and they told him they had no record of it being stolen, lost, or connected to a crime. I asked him if he could claim it after a time, and he said he didn't even ask, didn't want it.

I have no strong opinions about what the OP should do with his found gun; that's up to him. Are there any laws pertaining to found goods that clearly appear to have been abandoned?

[Petrol & Powder]

The issue is not whether or not the gun the OP found is abandoned property - it clearly is.

The issue is WHY was it abandoned? A very plausible explanation is the owner threw it in the creek in some type of tantrum. HOWEVER, that's not the only possible explanation. Another possibility is the gun is stolen property or connected to some crime.
Because the risk of later being found in possession of a stolen gun or a crime gun is coupled with a lot of easily prevented scrutiny, it would be easier to prevent those future problems by making a simple report. PLUS, if the gun is stolen, it would good to help the investigation early and possibly get the property back to its rightful owner.

All of this effort to avoid presenting found property to law enforcement is unnecessary. Take the gun to the police. It's a win - win.

[am44mag]

I would at least try to get a police report. Your freedom and your rights are not worth risking over a Mosin. If you lose it, then oh well. You'll still have your rights at the end of the day. You have no idea if that gun was stolen, used in a crime, or was tossed as the result of a grown man acting like a child. It's all a guess.

[fatelk]

As someone who's had guns stolen before, I can see your logic. I sometimes wonder where the other three that were stolen from me me ended up. I actually hope they ended up in the bottom of a river or in an unknowing honest person's collection, rather than in the possession of some criminal robbing people. Who knows, maybe they'll turn up some day.

[alamogunr]

A few years ago a friend had a Browning HiPower stolen. It was subsequently recovered by nearby large city police department. He asked to get it back and was given some story about it being evidence in a court case and they had to keep it for awhile. He finally got it back a couple of years later. It had been shot into barely holding together condition by officers. It cost him more that he paid for it to start with to get it back to the condition it was in before it was stolen. He could afford the repair cost but was still rankled by the treatment by the "authorities".

[Petrol & Powder]

A few years ago a friend had a Browning HiPower stolen. It was subsequently recovered by nearby large city police department. He asked to get it back and was given some story about it being evidence in a court case and they had to keep it for awhile. He finally got it back a couple of years later. It had been shot into barely holding together condition by officers. It cost him more that he paid for it to start with to get it back to the condition it was in before it was stolen. He could afford the repair cost but was still rankled by the treatment by the "authorities".

REALLY? The damage was caused by "the officers" ?

You are assuming the gun was in good condition when it was stolen and the alleged damage was caused by the police and not the criminals who were possession of the gun BEFORE it was recovered.

Let's not turn this into yet another police bashing thread.

Criminals steal guns. Criminals trade stolen guns amongst other criminals. Those stolen guns are not well cared for while in the possession of thieves, gang members, drug dealers, robbers and rapists. OF COURSE those guns are likely to be in bad condition when they are finally recovered, if they are ever recovered.

[Tom W.]

My first wife got her Charter Arms .38 stolen. She had left it in the car and didn't lock it, and some teens escaped from the Adjustment Center and headed towards Georgia. The car was in the front yard with a dead battery, or it probably would have been gone too. I had to bgo to court and identify the revolver. The kid's lawyer asked me if the revolver was loaded, and I said yes. He then asked me what it was loaded with, so I told him. He proceeded to ask me how I knew it was loaded, and I told him that I had loaded it. He went around and around and accomplished nothing.

We finally got the revolver back, but the kid had thrown it into a ditch and it was pretty well undependable after that. I sold it to a friend of my son's for $100, and both told him and showed him what I thought was wrong, but he bought it anyway.
The court did keep it for quite a while before I got it back, but it was evidence, and just put into a manilla envelope. Not cleaned, oiled or tampered with. We had good law enforcement in Eufaula, and I knew all of them on a first name basis.

[swheeler]

My first wife got her Charter Arms .38 stolen. She had left it in the car and didn't lock it, and some teens escaped from the Adjustment Center and headed towards Georgia. The car was in the front yard with a dead battery, or it probably would have been gone too. I had to bgo to court and identify the revolver. The kid's lawyer asked me if the revolver was loaded, and I said yes. He then asked me what it was loaded with, so I told him. He proceeded to ask me how I knew it was loaded, and I told him that I had loaded it. He went around and around and accomplished nothing.

We finally got the revolver back, but the kid had thrown it into a ditch and it was pretty well undependable after that. I sold it to a friend of my son's for $100, and both told him and showed him what I thought was wrong, but he bought it anyway.
The court did keep it for quite a while before I got it back, but it was evidence, and just put into a manilla envelope. Not cleaned, oiled or tampered with. We had good law enforcement in Eufaula, and I knew all of them on a first name basis. Oklahoma?

[Tom W.]

Alabama.

[Tripplebeards]

Probably use in a crime and pitched. Your preventing from solving a murder mystery! I bet without a doubt someone stole it and got nervous and pitched it. All you have to do is have someone run the serial number and it will tell you the story where it was last.

Was there a savage striker chambered in 7-08 or a Colt andaconda in there as well? If so I can give you my serial numbers of the stolen pistols that were taken from my house. Actually my old insurance company would want them back as I was paid out pennies on the dollar for the loss...I was robbed twice imo.

[white eagle]

nice score Joe
Finders keepers

[yeahbub]

I wonder if someone didn't put it on top of their vehicle when they were cleaning up to leave, forgot it was there and then drove off. I've seen people do that with groceries, pizzas, purses, boxes of yard sale stuff, etc. over the years. Every time I see someone put something on the roof of a car, I'm tempted to wait and see whether they leave it up there so I can prevent a nasty inconvenience for someone. It seems part of the human condition to be occasionally brainless when in a rush to get rolling. If, on the other hand, it was some
Philistines possessed of an impervious ignorance and lack of appreciation of history, then they're likely better off for having abandoned it. IIRC, isn't it a federal crime to wantonly abandon a functioning weapon? Seems to fly in the face of the idea of proper adult responsibility.

[Tripplebeards]

I wonder if someone didn't put it on top of their vehicle when they were cleaning up to leave, forgot it was there and then drove off. I've seen people do that with groceries, pizzas, purses, boxes of yard sale stuff, etc. over the years. Every time I see someone put something on the roof of a car, I'm tempted to wait and see whether they leave it up there so I can prevent a nasty inconvenience for someone. It seems part of the human condition to be occasionally brainless when in a rush to get rolling. If, on the other hand, it was some possessed of an impervious ignorance and lack of appreciation of history, then they're likely better off for having abandoned it. IIRC, isn't it a federal crime to wantonly abandon a functioning weapon? Seems to fly in the face of the idea of proper adult responsibility.


I did that with a bow and arrow years ago. I put out a sign where I parked on my hunting property with a $125 reward and got it back a week later. I had about $1200 in the set up with a toxonic nail driver target sight, plus a half dozen ACC arrows in the quiver at the time. I had to send it back to browning for a pair of cams and a string from the damage as it bounced off the blacktop road. That would make sense if the gun parts were scattered as they were being it bounced a few times and things flew off of it.

Wish I could get lucky...on the other end like you did!

[fatelk]

I got a Mosin some years back for nearly as cheap. It was a pre-'68 import (no stamp), WWII era 91/30. The stock had been butchered and was completely unsalvageable. An acquaintance was settling an estate and nobody else wanted it so he offered it to me for $25. I eventually bought a replacement stock fairly cheap, but it still cost more than the rifle did, so I guess it wasn't such a great bargain after all.

Several times in my life I've had people give me broken, inaccurate, or malfunctioning guns that they were tired of. Every time I've repaired them and offered them back. Every time they've quickly taken it back with a happy "Thank you!" Every time I've kicked myself a little wishing at least a little that I'd kept it.

As to what the OP should do, I'm pretty sure that what we all might think doesn't matter much. I don't know the OP personally, but I have read enough of his posts to suspect that he's not the type who's going to be terribly concerned with what we all think he should do, and I can't fault him for that.

If it were me, I'd most likely take it to the sheriff's office, with the understanding that it would be mine after a certain time if it wasn't reported lost or stolen. That's just me. On the other hand, really, I'd be shocked if it was anything but what it clearly seems to be: a legally owned rifle that the owner got frustrated with and threw in the creek in a fit of rage. If you read the original post, the rifle was in a creek under a foot bridge between the parking lot and the range, pretty clear it didn't fall off a vehicle. It seems childish to me to throw away a firearm like that, but it's far and away the most likely scenario.

I have several Mosin Nagant rifles. Most of them I bought when they were well under $100. I remember one time Big 5 Sporting Goods had them on sale at Christmas time, and I bought two of them, with all the gear, for $99 out the door (including the $10 Oregon background check).

[Bwana John]

Sounds like one of them tragic boating accidents to me.

[Boerrancher]

To all the folks who think it was stolen, why would they have left the bolt, cleaning rod, and the rest of the accessories for the rifle along with some fires steel cases? They were obviously trying to make it shoot. I clearly stated that they left that stuff in the OP. After shooting it with some milsurp ammo a friend gave me, I can see why they threw it in the creek. I shot it on my range yesterday, at 25 yds and had a 20 inch group. The parts for it that I found were on the 100 yd range. The original owner probably couldn’t even come close to his point of aim.

[Tripplebeards]

To all the folks who think it was stolen, why would they have left the bolt, cleaning rod, and the rest of the accessories for the rifle along with some fires steel cases? They were obviously trying to make it shoot. I clearly stated that they left that stuff in the OP. After shooting it with some milsurp ammo a friend gave me, I can see why they threw it in the creek. I shot it on my range yesterday, at 25 yds and had a 20 inch group. The parts for it that I found were on the 100 yd range. The original owner probably couldn’t even come close to his point of aim.


Lol...sounds like you have a challenge on your hands! I'd check the bore for wear, the diameter of the bore, the headspace, bedding,...and god knows what else to see if you can get it to shoot. Sounds like it groups like my 375 RUM when I tried trail boss through it.

[fatelk]

One of my Mosins is like that. I bought it at a garage sale for $50 many years ago. The bore is something like .316 as I recall, rifling seriously worn, especially at the muzzle. I was never able to get it to shoot well, but I never tried real hard either. Back when I was tinkering with it there was a time or two I was about tempted to toss it in a creek!

The wood is stamped on the butt stock "INSTRUCTIE". I later learned that these were Romanian rifles that were typically worn or abused, and held in reserve or used for training.

[Tripplebeards]

That’s the great thing with cast boolits you can size them bigger than the bore. With J words your stuck with what ever size the manufacturer offers. I keep thinking the same thing. Slug the bore and bump the boolit diameter up two to three thousands over instead of the normal one thousand i always do with mine. It’s Worth a try. Otherwise what could you bore the barrel out to? Or you could rebarrel it? It’s not like you have anything invested in it...yet.

[jimlj]

I used to live about 100 miles from Yellowstone. Not long after the wolves were introduced, the ranchers were having livestock killed by the wolves who didn't know the park boundaries. I asked one what he was doing to prevent it. He said "shoot, shovel and shut up". I think good advice here is shoot, enjoy and shut up. If you're experience turns out like it seems the previous owner had, you could always put it back where you found it.

[Thumbcocker]

The mystery of rifle creek.... or the Lady of the Lake has gotten more modern with her weapons.

[richhodg66]

A few years ago in the pre-dawn hours of an archery season day, I was getting stuff together for the walk in to the stand at the parking point with a big state funded sign and gate there for the public hunting area and talking to a county sherriff deputy who was off duty and doing the same thing. He asked me "is that your shotgun?" and I kinda wondered if he'd lost it, but I looked over and sure enough, there stood a Browning BPS propped up against the sign. It had been there all night because it had frost all over it, no doubt, a duck or pheasant hunter had been busy getting dogs in the truck or something and forgotten it. Anyway, the LEO took it with him to try to find the owner, but this is apparently a lot more common than one might think in public hunting and shooting areas.

[Petrol & Powder]

I used to live about 100 miles from Yellowstone. Not long after the wolves were introduced, the ranchers were having livestock killed by the wolves who didn't know the park boundaries. I asked one what he was doing to prevent it. He said "shoot, shovel and shut up". I think good advice here is shoot, enjoy and shut up. If you're experience turns out like it seems the previous owner had, you could always put it back where you found it.

Too late now for the "shut up" part of that advice.

The OP slung the rifle over his back and transported it home on his motorcycle in plain view.
THEN, just for good measure, he got on an internet forum and told the world what he did.

I think the general consensus is that rifle was discarded into the creek by its petulant former owner. However, that same impulsive, emotional child may later falsely report that rifle stolen. What's the harm in protecting yourself by taking that rifle to the police and making a found property report?

What do you have to lose? A crappy Mosin Nagant that will not hold a 5' group at 100 yards?

[swheeler]

loose lips :popcorn:

[Texas by God]

People leave handguns behind in rental cars quite often.

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[WarEagleEd]

If you're looking for brass, you can trade any of your excess over on AmmoBrass Trader, assuming any is available there. If you wait long enough some will pop up.

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[Boolseye]

Best deal for brass is to just buy PRVI Partizan ammo. The loaded ammo is as cheap as unloaded brass, and you get nice cases for your future use.

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