132-year-old rifle found leaning against tree in Nevada 'where it was left'

Telegraph ^

[Phillyred]

It was a moment frozen in time – an 1873 Winchester repeating rifle propped up against the trunk of a juniper tree exactly where its owner had left it over a hundred years ago. Eva Jensen, an archaeologist out scouring the hillsides of Nevada’s arid Snake Mountains for Native American artefacts, let out an involuntary cry of surprise when she stumbled across the find, and then fell into silence. “I recognised it instantly, but it takes your brain a little while to catch up,” she told The Telegraph. “The reality of it, I let out an exclamation and the rest of my staff thought I must have fallen off a cliff or something, because I just couldn’t say anything else after that," she said. The find was pure chance - the rusted barrel of the rifle just catching in a gleam of the late afternoon sun. Otherwise it was perfectly camouflaged, the walnut stock that once been a rich, burnished brown bleached grey and rendered indistinguishable from the juniper wood by a century of desiccating winds. From the first moment of the rifle’s discovery last November, Ms Jensen and her staff at the Great Basin National Park found their minds racing with speculation about the how the rusting repeater came to be abandoned in the hills. Related Articles Ship found beneath World Trade Centre built in 18th-century 31 Jul 2014 Human teeth found in statue of Christ 11 Aug 2014 “Everyone gathered round and the questions began right away,” recalled Ms Jensen. “Who would just leave their rifle? Why did they lean it against the tree, and what happened that they never took it back?”

[TYVets]

D. B. Cooper’s rifle?

[Tucker39]

It looks like part of a horse bridle hanging right by the rifle......I think I see a snaffle bit ant part of a rein or halter lead. The bear got ol’ Harvey AND his ride!

[HotHunt]

Maybe in a wetter climate or a different kind of tree. But that part of Nevada is very arid. Very little rain. Juniper trees grow very slowly. It's very possible the tree started out as a junior shrub and in a hundred years only reached small tree size. That tree in the picture doesn't grow fast enough to grow around anything in twenty years.

The weathered stock is the best indication of how long it has been outside. It looks like is has been exposed to the elements for a very long time. The metal parts look the same, weathered to a patina rust.

This gun looks much the same as many wooden and/or metal things I've come across hiking in the deserts of the west where I grew up and lived for four decades. This is a believable find.

[SunkenCiv]

A bit of an update (with the usual YT production values; at least mixup98 is a gun guy).

Winchester 1873 Rifle Found In Nevada - What Happened To It?" [YouTube posted by mixup98]

[Fresh Wind]

If that rifle is 132 years old, then all “1911” guns are 107 years old. Got it.

[gundog]

I don’t remember if it was a ‘73, specifically, but a widow had brought an older model lever gun into a local gun dealer to check on its’ value. She spruced it up a bit, first, sanding off the “funny colors”...color case hardening. THAT was a crying shame.

[gundog]

Maybe not. Desert conditions, hot and dry. snow covered in winter. Trees grow at different rates. We’ve got stands of Port Orford cedar to the south at the highest point of elevation in the county. I’ noticed the scorch marks on the bark many times, but it toolk me awhile to ask a friend when the area burned. He said it was the late ‘’60’s. Fifty years later and they still retained burnt bark.

[SunkenCiv]

Here's the full list of topics, I believe I've posted the update in each one.

• 132 Year-old Winchester rifle found against a tree at Great Basin National Park [2015]
• The mystery of the 132-year-old Winchester rifle found propped against a national park tree [2015]
• Mystery 132-year-old rifle found in national park [2015]
• Rusted, 132-year-old Winchester rifle found against tree in Nevada national park [2015]
• Archaeologists find 1882 rifle leaning against Nevada desert tree [2015]
• 132-year-old rifle found leaning against tree in Nevada 'where it was left' [2015]
• Mystery deepens: Who left 130-year-old rifle in NV desert? [2015]
• Experts are still baffled by 132-year-old rifle found leaning against a tree in the Nevada [2015]

[Charles Martel]

If that rifle is 132 years old, then all “1911” guns are 107 years old. Got it.

The upper tang "Model of 1873" stamping does indicate an early production gun - definitely pre-1900 (Winchester made them until the 1920s). Later production guns had changes to the markings, adding the Winchester name to the tang below the model number.

[deport]

I guess the question is what is the serial # on the rifle.
That dates it to a production run/yr.

[deport]

Disregard my Post 50 as that info is mentioned in the article.

“However a unique serial number that Winchester stamped on all their rifles enable researchers
to cross reference with records at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum in Cody, Wyoming,
to establish the weapon had been manufactured and shipped in 1882. “

[deport]

The serial Number was produced in 1882 according
to records of the Winchester production list.

[PLMerite]

A live .44 cartridge was in the trapdoor stock; it was manufactured sometime between 1887 and 1911.

[deport]

From the article posted....

snip

However a unique serial number that Winchester stamped on all
their rifles enable researchers to cross reference with records
at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum in Cody, Wyoming,
to establish the weapon had been manufactured and shipped in 1882.

[PLMerite]

None of which helps much to determine when the rifle was left there, except some time after 1887. If they could determine who the rifle was sold to and if he disappeared up in the hills...

[deport]

Thanks. But I haven’t been talking about when it was left at
the tree. I was only referencing the age of the rifle.

[PLMerite]

Fair enough. There was a side discussion about how long it might have actually been leaning against the tree. I wasn’t paying attention to who was in which vein. :)

[Fresh Wind]

Yes, I missed that vital clue. Sorry. But my underlying point was that there are plenty of clueless people out there who really do equate the model date with the manufacture date.