S&W Model 16-4 Found in Field

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Dain Bramage

Dain Bramage

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One man's grail gun, another man's fodder.

Two boys playing Pokemon Go in Washington state found a loaded Model 16-4, in .32 H&R Magnum, laying in a field. The gun is a little rusted, but given Washington's wet weather, couldn't have been out there long. Boys called and waited for the police.

KIRO 7 News Link

gunfin1_20160712195604425_5405331_ver1.0_640_360.jpg
 
Looks like it was a nice gun. Even has target trigger and hammer. I'm sure someone's missing it. I wonder what happened to the sideplate screw that holds the cylinder in. Additionally it looks like the grip screw is missing and being held together by some sort of band.
 
...by some sort of band.
Click to expand...

Good eye.

News story says it "had likely been discarded in the field", implying it was done on purpose. It didn't show up as a reported stolen gun. Being loaded, it's not likely to have been chucked in frustration as a victim of "home gunsmithing". Plus, given the rareness of the model, it had good value even with the missing screws.

In my opinion, the .32 mag. is a decent field cartridge. Western Washington is currently being overrun with rabbits. I think it slipped out of somebody's kit.
 
Dain Bramage

News story says it "had likely been discarded in the field", implying it was done on purpose. It didn't show up as a reported stolen gun. Being loaded, it's not likely to have been chucked in frustration as a victim of "home gunsmithing". Plus, given the rareness of the model, it had good value even with the missing screws.

In my opinion, the .32 mag. is a decent field cartridge. Western Washington is currently being overrun with rabbits. I think it slipped out of somebody's kit.
Click to expand...

Possibly, as you would think if someone was attempting to discard it they would look for a lake or pond to toss it in or else bury it in the woods, not just leave it laying in a field somewhere.
 
If only it could talk... Its like a poor little sad lost puppy dog that needs a good home where it will be well taken care of. Where can I sign the adoption papers at?!
 
Good for those boys on doing the right thing.

BTW, at gonnesmithing school NRA safety classes were offered. The instructor asked, "What do you do when you come across a firearm?"

I immediate offered, "Stop! Don't touch. Tell an adult."

Looking me straight in the eye, he said, "That is correct for the Eddie Eagle program, but you are the adult."

"Oh."
 
"Stop! Don't touch. Tell an adult."


Actually had my scouts last week repeat it several time and then taught them the dance which they did in the class and on the range.

Wanted to make sure they understood a 12 hour class with .22 rifles does not make one an expert on all firearms.....and they were not adults.

Drove my daughter around after church activities last night and ran into other adults and kids at a Poke' Gem and Poke' Station.

-kBob
 
Interesting. Good job on the kid's part. Real shame about a fine Smith getting beat up.
 
All the luck!

Good for the kids to do the right thing.

But, what luck.

I've been looking for a Model 16-4 or even just a nice K-32 for several years without any luck and these kids just stumble into one.:banghead:

(Before this gets too off topic, yes, I know they pop up on the gun sales sites but I really prefer to fondle my prospective purchases before shelling out a boat load of cash.)
 
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A few years ago a buddy was camping with his 2 kids & 2 of their friends; getting ready for bed & his son comes over says "Dad! Bobby thinks he saw a gun in the outhouse!"

He tears off down there & sure enough, there's a new, small pistol on the little shelf above the toilet paper.

Next day while the kids are swimming and he & his wife are sitting on the dock watching them, a guy is shuffling through the underbrush, sort of kicking his feet back & forth...looking(?) for something??

He said he told his wife "If he comes over here & asks whether we've seen a gun & he correctly names the model, I'll give it back to him-if he doesn't, his loss is my gun." Keep in mind that he did not know for certain whether this was the guy or not - he thought he probably was though. He never approached them & he still has a nice small semi-auto today.

He said he watched the local paper's lost & found, as well as the Thrifty Nickel's, for a solid month & nothing was ever posted, but he felt that if the guy was careless enough to lose a gun in the outhouse, he probably wasn't competent enough to have one in the first place.

Sam
 
Not to worry, the BATF & FBI will be able to find the owner with their non-existent and illegal national gun registry.
 
The missing side plate screw and the grips held on with wire indicate that something odd was going on prior to the loss - or ditching - of that revolver. One of the posts referred to the gun being loaded - with assembly parts missing?

Does not make sense.
 
I was telling this story to my Mechanic yesterday and he asked how does he get signed up for this here Pokeman-go-find-guns app.

Now that the weather is hotter than hades he has abandoned his 1911 for one of the Sig .380s of that format for wear at work.

As my daughter was hunting Pocket Monsters as we spoke ( she got something called a Pidgi or some such in the door way of the shop) the mechanic announced he had first dibs on any firearms she found in his back lot.

-kBob
 
Waveski said:
The missing side plate screw and the grips held on with wire indicate that something odd was going on prior to the loss - or ditching - of that revolver. One of the posts referred to the gun being loaded - with assembly parts missing?

Does not make sense.
Click to expand...
Sure it does.
Cops pulled the grips to get the serial number off the bottom of the grip straps and pulled the sideplate screw to get the cylinder to swing free from the frame so they could unload the gun.
Revolver's action and moving parts are likely frozen with corrosion from that stay in the field.
Nothing nefarious going on here.
Some Sportsman lost his revolver in the field.
Bet the poor guy was just sick when he realized his prized popper was missing.
 
Prized popper for sure. Even those grips are worth a pretty penny in good condition.
Some K frame combats? Yes please

I've been looking for a set of round butt, K frame combats for a snub nosed M19 but prices are crazy
 
"Cops pulled the grips to get the serial number off the bottom of the grip straps and pulled the sideplate screw to get the cylinder to swing free from the frame so they could unload the gun."

That makes sense. However , why would said cops run a crude wire through the grips and frame rather than replacing the grip screw? And replace the side plate screw , for that matter. We could presume that the missing parts are in the envelope.

BTW , I did not suggest that something nefarious was going on , I did say odd. The very finding of a once fine Smith and Wesson lying in a field is odd.
 
Waveski said:
"Cops pulled the grips to get the serial number off the bottom of the grip straps and pulled the sideplate screw to get the cylinder to swing free from the frame so they could unload the gun."

That makes sense. However , why would said cops run a crude wire through the grips and frame rather than replacing the grip screw? And replace the side plate screw , for that matter. We could presume that the missing parts are in the envelope.

BTW , I did not suggest that something nefarious was going on , I did say odd. The very finding of a once fine Smith and Wesson lying in a field is odd.
Click to expand...
It could just be that the screws were rusted out enough that when they unscrewed them, the threading and or heads were too buggered up to put them back in. I would have thought they would use a zip tie, but who knows.

When you look at the wire though, it looks formed to the grip somewhat, as if someone was shooting it that way. I bet it's just some old farmer's gun. I bet the screw rattled loose from years of carrying it around the property, and out in the brush, the screw went missing, and this was the do it yourself fix that was conjured up. It's the type of thing my grandfather would have done. In my experience, farmer types who grew up during the depression had great skills at wasting nothing, and cobbling things together.
 
"Finders keepers, losers weepers". Can the finder keep it in this instance (once le determines the gun wasn't stolen nor used in a crime and the original owner can't be located)?
 
The wire on the grip appears to have corrosion on it to match the condition of the rest of the gun. Additionally it appears be well fit onto the grip as opposed to the zip ties which are very loose.

I don't know how removing the side plate screw would help unlatch the cylinder. If the cylinder was frozen shut with rust you would need to get the bolt, thumb piece, and center pin moving in order to free up the cylinder. The side plate screw shouldn't interfer with opening the cylinder unless it's too long.
 
SwampWolf said:
"Finders keepers, losers weepers". Can the finder keep it in this instance (once le determines the gun wasn't stolen nor used in a crime and the original owner can't be located)?
Click to expand...
Probably not seeing as they are presumably under 21.

Kids very much did the right thing. Hope they got something better than a Pidgey or Rattata for their trouble!
 
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