The Other Gun

mnmthunting

mnmthunting

Banned
We've talked about rusty old Henry rifle.

The other gun in the pic is a Winchester 30-06.

I was Elk hunting in the Little Belts Mountains central Montana. Just down from the summit South slope I came across this. Just laying there. Kinda a half open area with wind blown White Bark Pine. Nothing else around and at least 2 miles from the trail.

This is a dry area. Wood very slow to rot. The rifle could have laid there for 20 years?

The gun had a 4 power Weaver completely clouded, the leather strap mostly rotted. A live round stuck in the chamber. [from corrosion]

I cleaned the gun up. A gun smith added a couple parts. I put on a different scope and the gun worked. Not good however the barrel badly corroded. So I never shot it again

I wish I would have left the gun as it was.

This one really stumps me, nothing makes sense?

Ideas anybody?

The Pic.
p10100102.jpg
 
Weaver could have told you the age of it I bet. But I think they were sold a few times over the years. But if you can find the markings on the scope they might still be able to tell you about what year it was made. That could tell roughly how old the gun is.The same could be done with the gun if the markings can be found.......Bob
 
Maybe:

Somebody camps there, packs up and realizes it missing once they get home and it's too far to return and look for it.

Falls off a vehicle/snowmobile/pack horse and the snow is too deep to find it, or just too much time and terrain has passed to go back.

Guys wife gets tired of him hunting so much, so she goes off the beaten path and tosses his rifle. Only she's not so smart because she could have pawned it for some cash, and besides, just a good excuse for him to get a new one.

Long shot, but did you ever check to see if any hunters had ever gone missing in that area?
 
A number of years ago my nephew was elk hunting in western Wyoming on horseback. He had his rifle in a scabbard that mounted behind his leg. he and his partner spotted some elk in the timber and took off on the horses to head them off. When they stopped his rifle was gone. Apparently a tree branch snagged it and pulled it out of the scabbard. They spent the rest of the day looking for the rifle but never did find it. Some place in the mountains of western Wyoming is a custom made .375 H&H Mag laying in the timber.
 
The horse back theory is a good one. Being there was no trail there would be little chance of back tracking and for sure some other hunter would have come across it long before me.
I showed the gun to a rancher friend nearby, he took the serial number asked around [a lot] contacted authorities. No information.
Whoever lost it was probably out of state. Lost before puters. a difficult trace.
 
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