What To Do If You Find A Gun While Metal Detecting
*Article Notice - This blog post is not to be political towards either side of gun rights or their agendas. It is simply meant to help educate the metal detecting community and hobbyists in order to provide detectorists the options available to them when they find something potentially harmful or suspicious. The sole purpose of this post is to help provide an example of being a responsible citizen and to uphold the core values of metal detecting ethics. Thank you.
There is no doubt that the longer you stick with the hobby of metal detecting, at some point your coil will come across a gun of some sort. Exactly what type of gun that is however may vary and depending on the location you are metal detecting, that gun could be a collectable relic (Civil War) or it could have been used during a potential crime.
Many guns that are found while metal detecting are that of a child’s toy, such as a cap gun or “Texas Ranger” play gun. Depending on these various gun types and where you find a gun, it is important to know what to do with it.
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Unknown or Suspicious Guns
I came across a very suspicious gun in my own backyard several years ago as I was prepping and building a shed foundation. The area that I found this gun is in a place that I had gone over with my metal detector as my home was built in 1896 and I knew I had to detect the entire backyard. However, upon detecting, I found a trash pit in the corner of the lot with buckets and buckets of broken glass, iron, copper, and even broken pottery and finely crafted China dishes.
I uncovered this gun in a trash bag, buried by my shed foundation in my backyard.
I decided to start digging the trash pit to see how far it had gone down. I quickly began getting in to layers of burnt ash as I pulled out relics, bottles, buttons, marbles, etc.
I decided to expand my search from where the foundation for the shed was, I uncovered a black trash bag with even more glass on top of it. I started to dig it out and pull the bag, I quickly noticed the butt end of the stock from what appeared to be a gun!
As I lifted the edge of the bag to peer inside, I confirmed what I originally saw. It was indeed a gun.
I peeled the rest of the bag back to reveal a gun that I was certainly unfamiliar with, because at the time, I had only found toy guns while metal detecting and this was uncharted territory for me as you’ll see in the video below (firearms are not my expertise).
Now, having watched the video above, it is clear that I was WAY over my head on this find which is why I decided to call local law enforcement to help out.
Finding the gun being:
buried;
in a trash bag;
bones were found buried nearby;
that neighborhood has had a rough and long history of incidents;
it was something I was very unfamiliar with, having never seen this type before;
made it very clear to me that this was something that I needed to report to local law enforcement. I did not know if this was a weapon involved in a crime, but wanted to provide as much help to officials as possible.
Not knowing anything about this style of gun, I decided to call local law enforcement after uncovering it.
A little hindsight here: I now know after-the-fact that once I saw it in the bag, I should not have touched it because as evidence, I do not want to tamper with it nor do I want my fingerprints on it during forensic analysis. I also should not have moved the gun for safety precautions in case it was loaded and/or in firing condition, thus keeping my fingers and hands away from the trigger or any firing mechanism.
The key in this story is that I have learned from my mistakes and my hope is that you, the reader, learns from this article should something similar happen to you during one of your metal detecting adventures.
The video below shows the return of the gun nearly 8 months later!
Fortunately for me, this gun turned out to be a non-firing weapon; most likely a prop gun, and was not recorded to be used during any known crimes in the area according to Michigan State Police and is now back on display at my home. This find has now made for a great story and is also a very important learning moment for me!
Historical Guns Found Metal Detecting
Just like all other things found metal detecting whether lost accidentally, purposefully stashed, or simply forgotten about, guns of historical relevance have been found with a metal detector. The condition of those guns will vary greatly depending on where they were found and how they were preserved over the years.
Lost in Dirt or Water?
YouTuber “Aquachigger” seen recovering an old Civil War era musket.
A gun that is found in a cellar hole or a campsite pit could have severe wood rot and there may not be much left of the stock or butt of the gun. Only the barrel, chamber, and trigger may be left. However, if a maker’s mark or serial number is present, it could help identify the gun and its history.
Many gun finds have come from being brought up from the depths of rivers and creeks. These could have been purposely thrown in to the water so that the enemy could not seize their weapons as they were about to be captured. Those guns could have also ended up on the river’s bottom from a capsized boat that was trying to cross or a soldier who lost their footing on the rocks as they waded to the other side.
Check out this video from Aquachigger as he finds a Civil War era musket!
Regardless of how those guns got there, the water seems to help preserve them quite a bit better than being buried in the dirt and many come out looking very whole, almost as the day they were dropped, aside from being extremely waterlogged.
If you find a gun in the dirt or water, it may be possible to preserve your relic, but it would be best to consult with an expert so that it is done in the best way possible.
Gun Relic Accessories
While it may not be possible to recover a complete gun of historical periods, other gun relics are often found to help showcase evidence of their presence.
Civil War era bullets. Photo Courtesy of Gettysburg Museum of History
These relics include bullets, gun powder flasks, bayonets, ramrods, firing mechanisms such as the gun lock, etc.
No matter what relic you find, whole gun or accessory item, each plays a role throughout history and has a story to tell, so be glad you were able to recover it.
Toy Guns Found Metal Detecting
Texas Ranger cap gun in dug condition.
Find toy guns while metal detecting is the most common type of gun your coil will come across. These toy guns can include:
Roy Rogers
Buffalo Bill
Texas Ranger
Lone Ranger
Crescent Frontier Ace
Nichols Derringer
Hubley
And the list goes on…
These can often be found in private yards, local parks, farm fields, school yards, or anywhere else you would expect to find kids playing.
Various models of vintage toy guns.
More often than not, you’ll recognize these types of guns as being toys because they will often be very lightweight and made of die cast aluminum or have a large amount of plastic in the build quality.
These toy guns will also signify that it is indeed a toy with an inscription made on it.
Toy guns will also typically not have any type of chamber or place to put “ammunition” into because they are indeed a non-firing toy weapon.
Toy cap gun in original condition.
Finally, you may even notice that the barrel is filled solid and there would not be any place for a bullet to even be fired from, further indicating that it is a toy and unable to be fired. As always though, proceed with caution if you are unsure and never point it at anyone if you do choose to handle it.
New version of Texas Ranger cap gun.
For many of us, finding a toy gun such as these Texas Ranger cap guns can be very nostalgic as we’ve probably played with them ourselves growing up and it helps bring us back to those “simpler” times in our lives.
Reliving those moments is just one of the many benefits of metal detecting as we are always recovering bits of history and even memories along the way!
Summary
Metal detecting is very much like the famous quote from Forrest Gump, “My momma always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” You could be metal detecting a gun. It could be a cannon ball! You may find a Roman hoard! Or it may be just another infamous pull tab.
The NEW XP Deus II
The Deus II has 12 factory settings allow you to have so much flexibility while you are looking for treasure underground. Whether you hunt at the beach for gold chains or prefer hunting for old coins and relics around homesteads, there is a setting that can help you do that.
Every time the coil sweeps across the ground responding to various targets along the way, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to reach down and hope you dig up a delicious treasure.
The only problem is you’ll never know 100% of the time what lies beneath… so you just have to dig and find out for yourself! Only by digging will you truly find and know what treasure awaits! Once you recover that treasure such as a gun, it’s up to you on what you want to do next with it.
Have you ever found a gun, weapon, or something that you simply had no idea what it was and needed to call in an expert? If so, leave a comment and tell me about it!
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