Thought y'all might find this interesting...

[Buckeye Dale]

(couldn't copy the pic, look at the link)
This was found in the Great Basin National Park, which back in those days had a prolific resident of black bear. Although black bears are mainly vegetarian, they are meat eaters as well.



My guess is he was likely attacked by a bear and had no chance to reach his rifle. No one would forget that type of rifle and it was a 44-40, a bear gun.



Gene




This is what happens to a gun when no one holds it to shoot it.

“According to the best available historic records, the 134-year old rifle was made in 1882 by Winchester Repeating Arms at the original factory in New Haven, CT. Where it travelled over all the intervening years until an unknown someone left it on a south-facing hillside in Nevada’s high desert remains a mystery, but the gun’s latest stop on its remarkable journey completes the circle as it paid a visit to the current home of Winchester Repeating Arms in Morgan, Utah.”




STORY UPDATE -- 132-year-old Model 1873 found against a tree at Great Basin National Park has a new home.

www.winchesterguns.com/news/articles/lost-model-1873-visit-winchester-repeating-arms.html

[dilligaf]

I would hardly consider a .44-40 rifle a suitable "bear gun."   The .44-40 cartridge was developed for use in handguns, and thus is not particularly potent, even in a rifle.   The idea was to have a rifle that used the same cartridge as the handgun, to simplify carrying the proper amount of rounds for each gun.   When the ammo is the same, the choice is much easier.

It's a very interesting mystery of who abandoned it and why,  and WHY it was crudely converted into a single shot.

[daleko]

Mar 31, 2021 0:29:49 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

I would hardly consider a .44-40 rifle a suitable "bear gun."   The .44-40 cartridge was developed for use in handguns, and thus is not particularly potent, even in a rifle.   The idea was to have a rifle that used the same cartridge as the handgun, to simplify carrying the proper amount of rounds for each gun.   When the ammo is the same, the choice is much easier.

It's a very interesting mystery of who abandoned it and why,  and WHY it was crudely converted into a single shot.

Agree, it wouldn't be on any list, for me, to hunt bear w. BUT still better than a rock and a sharp word. Cowboy rifle that tamed the west, whatever the cal.

Perhaps Nevada territory had a mag limit of one and he ran into two bad guys.

[Panama pfRedd]

I'm surprised that assault weapon didn't up and shoot some innocent elementary school kid in the last 100 years.

[dilligaf]

Mar 31, 2021 16:16:39 GMT -5 daleko said:

Mar 31, 2021 0:29:49 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

I would hardly consider a .44-40 rifle a suitable "bear gun."   The .44-40 cartridge was developed for use in handguns, and thus is not particularly potent, even in a rifle.   The idea was to have a rifle that used the same cartridge as the handgun, to simplify carrying the proper amount of rounds for each gun.   When the ammo is the same, the choice is much easier.

It's a very interesting mystery of who abandoned it and why,  and WHY it was crudely converted into a single shot.

Agree, it wouldn't be on any list, for me, to hunt bear w. BUT still better than a rock and a sharp word. Cowboy rifle that tamed the west, whatever the cal.

Perhaps Nevada territory had a mag limit of one and he ran into two bad guys.

LOL! 
I agree that any gun beats rocks, BUT it was the HENRY rifle that came first.
It was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company starting around 1860, evolved into the Winchester Model 1866 lever-action rifle, and the company was renamed the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
The Dammyankees used Henrys in the War of Northern Aggression, and although they held more ammo and were faster to fire, they were not as rugged and reliable as the Spencer rifles and carbines.

[dilligaf]

Mar 31, 2021 18:16:46 GMT -5 Panama pfRedd said:

I'm surprised that assault weapon didn't up and shoot some innocent elementary school kid in the last 100 years.

It hadn't fired itself in so long, its skills had gotten rusty.

[Panama pfRedd]

Mar 31, 2021 18:24:56 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Mar 31, 2021 18:16:46 GMT -5 Panama pfRedd said:

I'm surprised that assault weapon didn't up and shoot some innocent elementary school kid in the last 100 years.

It hadn't fired itself in so long, its skills had gotten rusty.

I see what you did there