New Here, But man I have a neat story!

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CeilingCat

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So basically I found this forum upon research based on my new acquisition. I found tons of useful information and i'm sure I will be digging for more as time goes on.

So the story...

I recently bought a house here in WA. One owner built in the 70's. Owners passed away and I bought it from the estate. The downstairs has a drop ceiling and last week I was poking around to see where I could fish some cables. I noticed an odd shape so I grabbed a flashlight. To my surprise it was (and you could guess based on the forum content) guns!! :what: So i grabbed a stool and started pulling the new found treasure down from its hiding place. The first down was an M1 Carbine that was sitting directly on a ceiling tile. I continue to pull down two more M1 Carbine's, a Winchester 1897 12ga. shotgun, Winchester model 94 30-30 lever action, NIB Winchester 9422 .22cal, NIB model 1200 12ga. shotgun. And my favorite of all... a Springfield model 1903 30-06! The rest were tucked up in the joists in a custom shelf. The previous owner actually built the house so I believe they may have been there since 1976.

So I spent a while looking for information on all of them. Also took most of them to a local gun shop that deals with older guns to get some more information. Unfortunately there were no killer rare super valuable models. All the military M1's and the Springfield have been reworked. The 1897 was cut down to the barrel length of a riot gun but is stamped "full". The serial dates to about 1899 and it does show its age. But still a cool piece. The model 94 is mint! Not sure if its ever been fired. And it is a pre-64. The Springfield looks almost new. The bore is perfect, the wood is great and the action is very smooth.

I've sold the Underwood and Plainfield M1's already. And I might be looking to unload a few more at a later date. But to answer the next question... NO! the m1903 is not for sale. :p Because the first thing everyone asks is if I will part with it. I bought a few boxes of 30-06 and plan on spending some time at the range.

Anyways, I am glad I found another great forum spend way too much time at. And I will try to get more pictures up soon. I think I'm too tired tonight.
 

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Lucky sonova!
Welcome to THR; may your time here be long and informative!

PS: One Dell might have been an honest mistake, but three? ;)
 
luigi

I'm not sure (not a lawyer but have bought a few houses), but if not specifically mentioned in the sales contract (things like all window treatments remain, appliances remain, etc.), then I believe everything on the property (and under the property as well-i.e. mineral rights, etc.), goes to the new owner. What if they didn't belong to the previous owner? What if he was keeping them for a friend? How do you prove ownership? The OP mentioned the owner passed away; maybe there are no heirs, or maybe he never mentioned these guns to anyone.
 
I would have at least made an effort to find out. Even if the ownership rights did transfer with the sale of the house (questionable depending on several factors), if the man had a family, they may have wanted to purchase them back themselves.
 
I seem to remember a case where a couple bought a old house (really old house) from a estate with the plan to totally update and remodel the home. Maybe six months later they found several hundred thousand dollars cash in one of the walls and made the mistake of telling people... it got into the press and eventually into court as the heirs sued them for the money.

In the end the new owners were awarded the money but had spent most of it on legal fees...

So.... I wouldn't go blabbing to the neighbors about it.

Kudos on your good luck. Too bad the Carbines were repro's!
 
nice find. i have something 'hid' and have shown two people that i trust where it is.
 
Bannock Burn
I'm not so much asking about the legalities as I am asking about what's right. I would have at least asked the owner's heirs the guns may have had extraordinary sentimental value to them.
 
Its not really our place to judge, or decide what is right...is it :uhoh:


Cool story! and find. I have never sold a gun. Dont believe in it! lol Dont think I could part with any.
 
I would have at least asked the owner's heirs the guns may have had extraordinary sentimental value to them.
Click to expand...

I doubt it because A) the owner would have probably had them in the will, or in a safe, cabinet or something... and b) the heirs would have KNOWN about them.

I think he was just hiding them, and no one knew or cared. Good find.
 
Note: The Underwood was not a repro, but mfg. for the U.S. Gov. Total production 545,616 pcs. The Plainfield was assembled from surplus parts accquired from the goverment and sold to police agencies and the cilivian market. However as time went on more and more parts were mfg. by Plainfielf till their demise.
 
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Leave it to the downers on THR to derail a pretty cool story by a new member,that we all wish would happen to us.
 
If there had been any sentimentality attached to those guns by any heirs (i.e., they used to go shooting with them with "grandpa", etc), then they would have looked for them a lot harder before selling the house, I expect. So, in lieu of claims of rights of ownership to the contrary, enjoy!
 
Personnally I would have contacted the family and felt out the family's knowledge or lack of any firearms and went from there. But thats just me. I believe its all up to the current owner and how he feels about it. He bought the house and it belongs to him. The End.
 
Amen NavyLT. That said, I'd maybe see if the owner had any heirs, or at least check with a lawyer, just to be sure where I stood.
 
I'm sorry but this is dumb.

He bought the house he's under no moral, ethical nor legal duty to tell the sellers family about the guns.

He's just as likely to find the former owner's family is a bunch of antis that will turn them over to the police for destruction or nere-do-wells that will just sell/trade the guns for meth.
So if I buy a real old house and find something of value in it I should hunt down the ancestors of everyone else that has owned the house and see if they want it first? So if you decide to remodel the house should you try to find the previous owners heirs so they can take the old cabinetry or flooring? Bovine Scat.



Anyone here ever watch the show "If Walls Could Talk"? When you buy a property you own it and anything in it.

Congratulations to CeilingCat on his discovery! And Welcome to THR.
 
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