# Forgotten Digging Finds and a Gun!



## PlaneDiggerCam (Jan 8, 2018)

*From Left to Right-* *Back:* Otis Clapp and Son Camphor Diskoids Boston, The Abner Royce Co. Pure Fruit Flavours Cleveland O.(Common and chipped but a anything but those Foss bottles is great!), and a Large amber bottle (Rexall hair tonic?). *Middle:* Sliver Plated Shoe Buckle? Early?, perfume sample, and a medicine sample.*Front* The Gun! Pretty heavy and has hollow barrel. Is it real or a toy?

Close up of the Otis Clapp and Son 

Close up of the Cloudy Abner Royce

Piece of a Price's Pure Preperations bottle from Westerly R.I. (probably extract). Would've been nice whole.


Can't wait to get out digging again after the snow is gone and it is warmer!


----------



## saratogadriver (Jan 9, 2018)

Hard to tell that crusted up but on first glance I'd say it was an early S&W revolver, minus the cylinder.   

Jim G


----------



## RCO (Jan 9, 2018)

I'm no expert but I assumed it be a toy gun at first but the more I look at it . the more I'm leaning towards it being a real hand gun . although with that much rust it be impossible to find any markings to verify one way or another .

but it seem odd that someone would throw away a real gun ? as gunsmiths would often repair them back then and they were very expensive , that fact would still lead me to doubt it was real and possibly some sort of toy that just looked really realistic


----------



## PlaneDiggerCam (Jan 9, 2018)

Grand Army of the Republic part of pin ribbon found in same dump last year. It could be a Model 2 smith & Wesson civil war era revolver from a little reasearch I did. The dump does go back to about the 1840s. There is a chance it could be a toy though do toy guns have revolving cylinders?


----------



## RCO (Jan 9, 2018)

it just seems really odd that someone would throw out a real gun ,even if it was broken ( unless it was used in a crime which seem unlikely as its in a dump not a river )   . they were often used for parts and could be fixed by gunsmiths who were In ever town at the time . 

some cap guns looked really authentic , they were popular in the 50's , when westerns were the big thing . I would imagine some had working parts and revolving cylinders


----------



## PlaneDiggerCam (Jan 9, 2018)

That is true, I guess we may never know if it is real or a toy.


----------



## saratogadriver (Jan 10, 2018)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> View attachment 181062
> Grand Army of the Republic part of pin ribbon found in same dump last year. It could be a Model 2 smith & Wesson civil war era revolver from a little reasearch I did. The dump does go back to about the 1840s. There is a chance it could be a toy though do toy guns have revolving cylinders?



I was leaning towards about that vintage SW but it's pretty hard to tell.    Real guns got thrown out.   I've got the barrel and action of an old marlin sitting in my garage that was part of the fill on my property.   That revolver is missing the cylinder and may have just been worn beyond repair.   Especially if it was an old enough model to not have any real value to a user.  It would have been pretty much antiquated in a TOC dump, for instance.

Jim G


----------



## sandchip (Jan 10, 2018)

Neat finds!


----------



## DanielinAk (Jan 12, 2018)

Sweet finds bud


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CanadianBottles (Jan 13, 2018)

Are you thinking of trying electrolysis on the gun?  That would likely help to figure out if it's real or not.  I believe that some higher end toy guns did have revolving cylinders.  If it is a toy it's likely a lot older than the toy guns I'm used to seeing from the mid-20th century.  I know I've seen people post real guns they've found in dumps before, but I don't think I've ever seen a real one missing the cylinder.  

By the way that Civil War veterans' pin is really cool!


----------



## Yimbo (Jan 17, 2018)

Just from what I can see your pistol looks like one I have with the birds head grip and spur trigger, (no trigger guard). I also have a S&W 32 cal black powder revolver that was sold at JW hardware in NY in 1862 but I don't think it's that kind of pistol.


----------



## willong (Jan 17, 2018)

Yimbo said:


> View attachment 181148View attachment 181149
> Just from what I can see your pistol looks like one I have with the birds head grip and spur trigger, (no trigger guard). I also have a S&W 32 cal black powder revolver that was sold at JW hardware in NY in 1862 but I don't think it's that kind of pistol.



My first though on seeing the picture of the dug-up revolver was that it was likely something on the order of an early Iver Johnson, Harrington & Richardson, etc. Those were typically cheaper pieces than Smith & Wesson or Colt. It's certainly within the realm of reason to think the owner of one that was worn out and unreliable--particularly one shaving lead upon firing (due to an out-of-time condition)--would opt to discard the revolver rather than invest in repair. The fact that the cylinder was deliberately removed before disposal tends to reinforce this hypothesis in my opinion. Wouldn't you want to prevent injuring a potential finder of a fire-able but unsafe revolver by disposing of the cylinder separately, thus rendering it inoperable? 

I don't know, offhand, if any of the cheaper brands like H&R had spur triggers, though some Irish Bulldog revolvers did. Smith & Wesson model 2 revolvers were, I thought, hinged. I notice that the first revolver you've pictured, like the corroded dump recovery, has a solid frame. What make and model is that piece? It looks like a fairly good candidate for a match.


----------



## Yimbo (Jan 17, 2018)

The first pistol is a Harrington and Richards Victor 2 1/2 32 cal black powder rim fire with punch mark engraving. I think it's nickel plated but not in good shape. My father-in-law gave me that and the S&W which is also 32 cal black powder rim fire, along with about 25 round someone made up for him years ago. I would say the crusty revolver is a genuine firearm, toys were usually like pot metal and didn't last long underground. The cylinder might have gotten lost so the frame was pitched maybe.


----------



## PlaneDiggerCam (Jan 19, 2018)

Nice information, those pictures along with your ideas of disposal make more sense! I am pretty sure that it WAS unsafe and the owner removed the cylinder to prevent a finder injuring themselves.


----------



## jarhead67 (Feb 8, 2018)

Nice bottles. That firearm looks like a very early (1870's-90's) Smith and Wesson .32 or .38 caliber. Doubt very much it's a toy as it has a spur trigger and no trigger guard with rounded butt handle. Also interesting as noted above, the cylinder was removed, but then the retaining/base pin was re-inserted. Interesting finds all.


----------



## may91 (Feb 9, 2018)

how did you get your bottle so clean.


----------



## stc1993 (Feb 21, 2018)

The pin is my favorite too.


----------

