Finding a Firearm

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I found a nickel plated 357 revolver in the woods. Made a beer tap handle out of the cylinder. Threw the rest of it in a river.
20210412_180852.jpg
 
Funny thread - Recently picked up a handgun while diving. A https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JO.LO.AR. to be specific.

The gun must have been recenty dropped, as magazine/safety/loading mechanism worked well.

Assume it belonged to an elderly perosn that wanted to get rid of it. (Serial numbers still visible etc.)

Did call the police, but I do feel the gun would belong at our dice-clubhouse. (Police took the gun).

I do have photos, but Chrome seems to die when I open the gallery on the phone. (+25K photos)
 
If it can be restored to working condition I'd keep it. One can never have too many guns. It is also a good idea to have a throw away gun in case the home invader's body needs one. If not I'd discard it.
 
g2:
Recently, on another board, I posed the question "What should you do?" when you find a gun while diving. It turns out a few people had indeed found guns and had to make that decision. My question was prompted because we've been finding lots of WWI-era 30-06 ammunition, some in stripper clips.

Note that I'm talking about contemporary guns, typically thrown off a dock or dropped from a boat, not historical artifacts -- which is another matter entirely.

In short:
  • Everybody acknowledges that an gun in the water may have been used in a crime, and (if you bring it up) the best action is probably to notify the police -- lest you be caught with a stolen weapon or one used in a crime.
  • Due to poor vis, currents and silt where we dive, "mark the spot and leave it for the police" generally won't work. If you don't pick it up immediately it's likely gone for good. YMMV.
  • The decision whether to take it really comes down to the diver's comfort level with firearms and the condition of the gun. In all cases, you should make sure it's safe before handling it.
  • Ammunition becomes unstable over time. It's probably dead after being in the water for a while, but you don't know that. I leave ammo on the bottom now.

So, of course, we found a handgun yesterday while diving. In this case there was nothing left but a block of rust, with no magazine. We didn't report this one.

Have you found a gun? What did you do? Please post pictures.

View attachment 653100
You could probably lift some prints from that....

The military has always been good at dumping things they don’t want in the ocean. Until the 1950s, the assumption would be what ever it was, it is gone for good now....
 

Back
Top Bottom