Another history find.

[duckhunt]

Back in 1981 my parents built a new house and needed some fill dirt.They got it from the neighbors land which I own now. When they dug it up this gun showed up. I've had it in my shop since the parents moved in 2005. Any gun guys know what it is?

 

[geetar]

A lever gun of some sort is about all I can tell.

 

[duckhunt]

 

[duckhunt]

A lever gun of some sort is about all I can tell.

That's what I thought. Its short and small.

 

[Hullguy]

Really hard to tell what part it is.

 

[geewhiz]

It'l buff

 

[p_ham]

Do you have a photo from the top and bottom? Looks too short to be a lever gun. Maybe a falling block.

 

[geetar]

Do you have a photo from the top and bottom? Looks too short to be a lever gun. Maybe a falling block.

Now I see that. You are correct. It does look like a rolling or falling block.

 

[shines@times]

It's a single-shot falling block rifle of some variety. Looks very similar to the Low Wall Winchester except for the straight edge where the forward part of the buttstock wood mates to the metal (the Winchesters had a concave curve to the metal at that junction).

 

[OntarioHunter]

Do you have a photo from the top and bottom? Looks too short to be a lever gun. Maybe a falling block.

Yes, falling block or high wall would be my guess. No loading port and the screw into the barrel ahead of receiver pretty much confirms it didn't have a magazine. Do some research on those two types of single shot rifles and you'll probably find it.

 

[shines@times]

Here's a late reproduction produced by Browning during the Japanese Miroku production era--it has the same straight edge as the recovered relic.



I'm still looking to see if any of the vintage Winchesters had the same flat profile.

 

[shines@times]

Here you can see the crescent shape on the antique Winchester Low Wall:

 

[shines@times]

This old Hopkins & Allen looks pretty close to a match:

 

[OntarioHunter]

This old Hopkins & Allen looks pretty close to a match:
View attachment 184971

I think we have a winner. Good job.

 

[duckhunt]

Thanks for the replies. Always wish I knew the story about how it ended up buried in a field.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Probably not a nice story!

Yours is the later falling block type. H&A made an earlier rolling block version without the lever. Was yours a .22? They made these in larger calibre rimfire too.

I would date this gun probably around turn of 20th century. Maybe do a property search and see who owned the property at that time. Then search the newspaper records for a story about the family without a "happy ending". You may need to go looking for a body in that field! Would be very cool to reopen and solve a century old cold case.

By the way, the knob ahead of the receiver was for saddle ring. Perhaps it fell off the tractor/farm machinery (e.g. horse drawn rake or mower) without farmer noticing, lost, and buried later by breaking plow or cultivator. How deep was it buried?

 

[duckhunt]

Probably not a nice story!

Yours is the later falling block type. H&A made an earlier rolling block version without the lever. Was yours a .22? They made these in larger calibre rimfire too.

The barrel is plugged with mud but from what I can tell it's a. 22

 

[OntarioHunter]

The barrel is plugged with mud but from what I can tell it's a. 22

Look at my edits added while you posted this.

 

[duckhunt]

Look at my edits added while you posted this.

I will get with dad and see what he knows about it.

 

[shines@times]

By the way, the knob ahead of the receiver was for saddle ring. Perhaps it fell off the tractor/farm machinery (e.g. horse drawn rake or mower) without farmer noticing, lost, and buried later by breaking plow or cultivator.

From the perspective of sad personal experience, I think you have hit upon a likely scenario.

My small saw, a Stihl 024, was much easier to handle through a full day of limbing even fairly large Douglas firs I'd dropped on property I owned decades ago than was the 056 that I bought at the same time to do the heavier falling and bucking chores. And for all but the largest Red alder trees on that Olympic Peninsula parcel, the 024 was adequate by itself. I really liked that little saw. It tucked nicely between my seat and the rear brush screen of an 850 Case track loader that I used for skidding. At least it did until one time when, at the end of a long day, it wasn't there where I was sure I'd tucked it at the start of the day. After looking all around, I finally decided it must have bounced out at the only spot where I'd been jarred through the day, a fairly small naturally eroded ditch or trough. I had dragged some debris and dirt backward into the depression with the bucket in order to ease the subsequent crossings that I needed to make through the day's skidding. Digging into the fill, I recovered my 024; but it was no longer usable. Man I miss that saw!