Lost Pistol with Camo Jacket

[MikeInOr]

I don't quite understand the worry about leaving guns behind? When I go shooting the first thing I do is put my guns, ammo and other gear on my tailgate. If I am done shooting one gun and decide to shoot a different gun the first gun goes back into its pouch on the tailgate and the next gun comes out. When I am packing up if there is an empty gun pouch I know something is wrong... but this never happens because everything is always on the tailgate. Even my jackets go in the cab or on the tailgate.

I found a used bed slide on craigslist a couple years back which is even better because I have a 4x8 table which makes it easier to organize all my guns and gear.

When I had a car I used the trunk.

What is everyone setting their guns down on? My biggest worry is that I might leave a piece of spent 50ae brass behind... but even then I use the divided plastic ammo boxes so I know if there is a missing piece of brass.

 

[Member 52301]

I always walk around two or three times.
And count guns before I leave.

I always did this when I owned more firearms.

I still do this with my main rifle and with my husband's guns too.

He does the same thing.

I double and triple check everything. And I mean everything.

I did this 'walk around bit' when towing my (Late husband.) former sail and power boats, back east, and my former Coleman pop up camper in many states. I did this when I camped using a van in grizzly country too. I checked that NOTHING was left behind and that any trash was taken care of. Pack in/Pack out or in the proper trash can IF there was one to use.

Cate

 

[Connor Murphy]

Unfortunately, women's clothes seem to lack pockets.

Stomper is forever saying that very thing.

 

[Stomper]

Stomper is forever saying that very thing.

When my wife is wearing clothes with no pockets and her hands get cold, I always offer to let her stick her hands in my front pants pockets..... win-win.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I don't quite understand the worry about leaving guns behind?..

No kidding. When I leave my guns behind they'll be with my cold dead hands, lolz.
knock on wood

 

[Stomper]

No kidding. When I leave my guns behind they'll be with my cold dead hands, lolz.
knock on wood

See? Nothing to worry about!

 

[Member 5605]

Let's keep from crucifying the individual gents.....

We all make errors of judgement, large and small. It's just that sometimes our errors don't involve a firearm, loved one or injury.

@Cogs do keep us informed if you ever hear it surfaces and is returned.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

When my wife is wearing clothes with no pockets and her hands get cold, I always offer to let her stick her hands in my front pants pockets..... win-win.

I always have her fish my keys out of my front pocket when my hands are busy/dirty, like gutting a deer.

 

[Cogs]

@Cogs do keep us informed if you ever hear it surfaces and is returned.

Will do.

My question is; If someone takes this gun and tries to trade it in or pawn it off, will the serial number reveal it to the gun store as a stolen or lost item? I wonder about Washington, because I heard that a gun shop may not find out if it's a hot weapon when they take it in on trade. I've also heard that Oregon would automatically flag the serial number. All that is hear-say but I'd like to know if it would turn up in a trade-in or pawn shop.

 

[User 1234]

You could also add it to the stolen gun advisory on the NWFA and WAGuns for sale forums. I don't think many people actually check it but it can't hurt.

 

[EPS]

Let's keep from crucifying the individual gents.....

We all make errors of judgement, large and small. It's just that sometimes our errors don't involve a firearm, loved one or injury.

@Cogs do keep us informed if you ever hear it surfaces and is returned.

I was just going to ask if there has been any new information.

 

[ConcernedCitizen]

Let's keep from crucifying the individual gents.....

We all make errors of judgement, large and small. It's just that sometimes our errors don't involve a firearm, loved one or injury.

@Cogs do keep us informed if you ever hear it surfaces and is returned.

I agree. No matter how thorough a person can try to be, there are always extenuating circumstances. A momentary distraction is often all it takes, and in my case physical fatigue is often the most critical factor.

No matter how good my planned system is, fatigue will override it almost every time, given the chance. Rather than wait to clean up at the end, where I am more likely to miss something, I try to clean up periodically during the shooting session. Every time I switch firearms, I try to consolidate everything I'm not currently using and put it away, but that's not always easy when you're trying to entertain a large group of friends or guests.

Another factor, like the gentleman who suggested the tailgate method mentioned, is keeping things in a familiar location. I have found that the instant you deviate from your system and set something down where it shouldn't be is the instant you will forget about it completely.

In my experience, both items I have lost or misplaced due to negligence involved setting them on the roof of a vehicle. The key factor was a roof rack that once the item fell behind, it was no longer immediately visible. On a smooth roof this is not so much of a factor, but that roof rack offered just enough cover to keep the item concealed.

The first item I can recall was a padlock that I had set on the roof of my vehicle, which managed to ride all the way down to Salem with me until I had to brake suddenly, at which point it went flying off the roof and tumbling down the road. That was quite an eye-opening experience.

My second event is even more embarrassing, considering I had already started using my magazine pouch or bandolier idea for keeping items accounted for. This is where fatigue became the deciding factor. After spending most of the day shooting, the hot sun had finally gotten to me, and when it was time to pack up I was not as thorough as I should have been in putting everything back in its designated place. I had left a single magazine sitting on top of the vehicle, again hidden by the roof rack, rather than making sure it was accounted for. Again, I attribute this solely to fatigue, and the intense desire to get out of the sun and get home to rest.

The magazine surprisingly stayed in place throughout quite a few miles of windey gravel road with potholes, but the instant I hit the main road and got up to speed, I heard a clunking noise which I immediately recognized as something falling off of the roof. I was able to backtrack and find the magazine, which had one corner of the base plate a bit chewed up and some possible feed lip damage, but otherwise in decent shape. I was lucky to be able to find it simply because I heard it and recognized it for what it was.

A friend of mine wasn't so lucky growing up, as he lost a High Standard HD Military .22 pistol that he had set on the roof of his dad's car. I've heard similar stories of rifles left leaning against trees, against rear bumpers, and even some that were backed over by the truck when the people were leaving. Unfortunately this is a fairly common problem, as many of us may have experienced.

I would love to have a bunch of custom cases with foam cutouts for every firearm, magazine, and accessory, but for now I have to make do with the systems I have available. I've even considered instituting a checklist system every time I go shooting, just to make it easier to keep everything accounted for. It's just a matter of finding what works for you.

 

[Carbon]

 

[CLT65]

I've left things behind too. Nowadays I'm anal about checking around to make sure I haven't left anything behind, because of mistakes made in the past.

A distant relative of mine told me the story of losing his Hi Standard .22 revolver way out in the boonies in the snow while elk hunting. A number of years later he happened to be talking to a guy he just met in a hunting camp somewhere, swapping hunting stories over a beer. He started telling about how he lost his gun, a Hi-Standard with custom grips, out in such-and-such unit. He said the guys face lit up, then fell as he described it.

The guy said something like "Some days I hate being an honest guy", and went over to his RV to bring back the gun, which he had found in the woods a few years earlier! It had some minor rust damage and something had chewed on the grips, but otherwise OK.

Hopefully they find their lost gun, and it doesn't end up in the hands of some criminal. I had several guns stolen from me 20 years ago, and the thought of some dirtbag using them for nefarious purposes was worse than the monetary loss.

 

[Cogs]

View attachment 576231

NO! Dang it! That's my lifelong dream to find one of those in the woods! Weathered stock and all! (It would be my death to loose one!).

 

[CLT65]

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You found my lost gun! I wondered where I left that thing.

 

[RVTECH]

You found my lost gun! I wondered where I left that thing.

Ah yes - the 'Mystery' 1873 Winchester found In Nevada.
Reality being what it is it was most likely left against the tree maybe no more than 50 or 60 years ago or it would be in a lot worse shape than it is.
Its fun to 'romanticize' about it but more than likely left by a hunter/shooter in the 60s or so.

 

[ConcernedCitizen]

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I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it, Lord hope it be a white man. It is a good rifle, and killt the bear that killt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

My question is; If someone takes this gun and tries to trade it in or pawn it off, will the serial number reveal it to the gun store as a stolen or lost item? I wonder about Washington, because I heard that a gun shop may not find out if it's a hot weapon when they take it in on trade.

When I worked at a pawn shop here in Washington...By law we had to give the Police a report of all the items we took in that day , be it on loan , sold to us or traded in to us....So if the item was reported lost or stolen....it would show up as such...

Not sure about gun shops ....I would assume that if a gun was "hot" and traded to a gun shop it would come up as stolen when the new owner did had his BGC...but we all should know the dangers of assuming...
Andy

 

[Geardo]

Well haven't lost a gun yet, but lost a $40 HK mag and a $100 steel torso target my last 2 trips out.