How cool is this? Twice!!
So I bought an old 1945 or so Savage 99 250-3000 with a stith mount and Weaver 2.5 scope to use as my vintage hunting rifle. A fellows name is engraved on the bottom of the receiver with Rock Springs Wyoming. Done with an electric pencil, or hand engraver. And a damaged and repaired stock, so no collector value, but an old classic to hunt with.
So I pulled the butt plate off Thursday and found a 1949 Wyoming Deer and Bear License rolled up and stored in the butt! Deer coupon removed, but Bear coupon still there. License made out to the gents name engraved on gun aged 44 years old!
Friday evening I removed a few more butt plates on some more recent acquisitions and found another license! Under the plate of an old worn workhorse Winchester Model 12 12 gauge!
1919 sold in New Baltimore Michigan to a 42 year old Man from Detroit! Issued by a Deputy game warden for $1.00!
I've pulled literally hundreds of butt plates over the years, and these are my first 2 finds!
Mentioned the Wyoming license to my Sister in Billings, Mt and she said call Bob. A guy we went to High School with in Illinois is the Rock Springs, Wyoming Historical Museum Curator!!
I never heard of Rock Springs! What are the odds........
Anyone else find some jackpots while butt stock mining?
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"Butt Stock Mining."
Ehhmmnn...............................................No.
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Never thought to look under the plate/pad for something like that... Kinda seems like an odd place to put stuff, since most people I know don't bring a screwdriver hunting with them to remove the pad/plate if an officer asked them for their license and tag. Neat find though Ed...
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Reminds of the possibly apocryphal stories of cowboys rolling up a $10 bill and stuffing it into the "safe" cylinder of their Colt SSA as "buryin' money".
It would be a dry place to store maybe a Benjamin as emergency cash - if you didn't forget about it.
Edit to add: Rock Springs? Been there many, many times. It's a mining and oil/gas town consisting of equal parts sandstone, wind, sagebrush, and poverty. With I-80 running through it as fast as possible.
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toad67: 31534383660699/comments/31534393789723
Never thought to look under the plate/pad for something like that... Kinda seems like an odd place to put stuff, since most people I know don't bring a screwdriver hunting with them to remove the pad/plate if an officer asked them for their license and tag. Neat find though Ed...
That was a somewhat common practice through those years. The idea being you wouldn't forget your hunting license when you went hunting.
There's the old story of a hunter getting checked and asked for his license to which he replied "it's in my gun" and as he picks up his gun to retrieve it the game warden shoots him thinking "it's in my gun" had a different meaning. Who knows, could have happened I guess.
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OK :
Many years ago while working on My then father-in-laws Ithaca 37 : I found my wifes cousins hunting license from the early 60s in the stock under the butt plate : Ive still got it some place : He didnt want it back by the way ?
Thanks !!!!
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I have my grandfathers Remington double 12 ga. He purchased new in 1935 in Chatt, Tn. I found several Duck Stamps in the butt stock dtd 1940s thru 50s.
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Imagine......the license was Hidden in that butt of that Model 12 for about 101 years. And the man that bought that hunting license was born in 1877........I wonder what other cool old guns he had, and where they are!!
I decided since the old Savage is my new vintage hunting rifle, the license should stay in the butt stock where I found it.
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Somewhere out there is a 1986 vintage Browning A5 with the original sales receipt in the stock. I'm not sure why I left it there when I traded the gun .
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One of the joys of estate sales - of combing through the stuff one accumulates over the course of a lifetime are the gold nuggets items - the Easter Egg objects whose meaning and value are lost to most and prized by a few.
I speak of talismans - objects imbued with intrinsic power - possessed of lore and cultural wisdom beyond expectations and beliefs...
Witness what externally appears to be a subdued plain aged high brass paper hull shot shell - who upon closer inspection contain a bespoke sewing kit ? Or s series of pewter match sticks - one of which is of unequal length - to facilitate who takes which position on the trap line they are assigned...
The removal of the buttplate from the stock of a K31 Schmidt Rubin straight pull infantry carbine - often revealing the personal data on the last person issued the the gun when in the service (active duty - gaurd - or reserves) whom you can contact.
Discovering paper hulled vintage shot shells with the names and dates of the hunting party - or brief details of the event...
Duck blind shot shell sunflower analogous...
Primitive hand carved duck calls or swagger stick totems...
Ancient hunting license or game tags...
Duck bands...
Mike
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@...: https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/1888137/how-cool-is-this-twice
So I bought an old 1945 or so Savage 99 250-3000 with a stith mount and Weaver 2.5 scope to use as my vintage hunting rifle. A fellows name is engraved on the bottom of the receiver with Rock Springs Wyoming. Done with an electric pencil, or hand engraver. And a damaged and repaired stock, so no collector value, but an old classic to hunt with.
So I pulled the butt plate off Thursday and found a 1949 Wyoming Deer and Bear License rolled up and stored in the butt! Deer coupon removed, but Bear coupon still there. License made out to the gents name engraved on gun aged 44 years old!
Friday evening I removed a few more butt plates on some more recent acquisitions and found another license! Under the plate of an old worn workhorse Winchester Model 12 12 gauge!
1919 sold in New Baldwin Michigan to a 42 year old Man from Detroit! Issued by a Deputy game warden for $1.00!
I've pulled literally hundreds of butt plates over the years, and these are my first 2 finds!
Mentioned the Wyoming license to my Sister in Billings, Mt and she said call Bob. A guy we went to High School with in Illinois is the Rock Springs, Wyoming Historical Museum Curator!!
I never heard of Rock Springs! What are the odds........
Anyone else find some jackpots while butt stock mining?
I think the odds are good...to some extent anyway! Been through Rock Springs many times traveling back and forth...mostly to Texas. What a GREAT FIND, Ed!!! Sounds like a great rifle and scope combo, too!!!
Added: I'm thinking FCD is from somewhere around Rock Springs...at least I'm pretty sure he has mentioned the place a time or two.
Added: What's the name? I'll check him out on my ancestry account.
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Vet bring back paperwork brings a certain cache to the creation and preservation of an item - and while the source of great Magic in popular fiction and mass media...
In the 20+ years I worked in the trade I only bore witness to such ephemera or accompanying documentation a times.
Mike
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kimi: 31534383660699/comments/31534370030491
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/1888137/how-cool-is-this-twice
I think the odds are good...to some extent anyway! Been through Rock Springs many times traveling back and forth...mostly to Texas. What a GREAT FIND, Ed!!! Sounds like a great rifle and scope combo, too!!!
Added: I'm thinking FCD is from somewhere around Rock Springs...at least I'm pretty sure he has mentioned the place a time or two.
Added: What's the name? I'll check him out on my ancestry account.
James, his name is William Magoon. According to the 1949 license he was 44 years of age, so born in 1905.
What little checking I did, shows a William Magoon born 1905 buried in, I think Spokane, Washington in the early 70s. Looks like he was also the victim of a mine accident in about 1954. I have my notes at my office!
My old friend is searching the Rock Springs Historical data base and directories also for additional information. I still cant believe my Sister just happened to know this old classmate just happened to be the museum curator! However, he retired 8/17 but still has access to some data.
Butch Cassidy and a large race massacre are 2 interesting facts that Rock Springs is famous for!
Ed
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gearheaddad: 31534383660699/comments/31534395149723
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11148298#Comment_11148298
James, his name is William Magoon. According to the 1949 license he was 44 years of age, so born in 1905.
What little checking I did, shows a William Magoon born 1905 buried in, I think Spokane, Washington in the early 70s. Looks like he was also the victim of a mine accident in about 1954. I have my notes at my office!
My old friend is searching the Rock Springs Historical data base and directories also for additional information. I still cant believe my Sister just happened to know this old classmate just happened to be the museum curator! However, he retired 8/17 but still has access to some data.
Butch Cassidy and a large race massacre are 2 interesting facts that Rock Springs is famous for!
Ed
Ed, sounds like you have the guy pegged pretty good already, but I'll check around a bit here and there, then get back to you. In the meantime, good luck to your old friend and sister! What a great lady she is, too!!! Please give her our very best wishes!!!
Butch Cassidy and the massacre make this real interesting already!!!
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James,
I guess Butch Cassidy got the name "Butch" by working in a Butcher shop in Rock Springs, and Cassidy he took the name from a hand that worked for his parents?
And like 28 Chinese were killed in 1885 over a mining labor dispute......
Sounds like an interesting town!
Thanks
I'll get what information from the 1919 license for you, as I know nothing of that gentleman!
Hell, I can only find Baldwin and Baldwin Township, not even New Baldwin, Michigan!
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I once found a silver dollar hidden under the butt plate of a WWII M1 carbine and what later turned out to be cocaine in the cleaning kit well of an SKS. Lots of instances of social security numbers etched in various places on firearms.
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I once found two cartridges behind the cleaning rod trap door of an old Winchester.
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@...: https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/1888137/how-cool-is-this-twice
So I bought an old 1945 or so Savage 99 250-3000 with a stith mount and Weaver 2.5 scope to use as my vintage hunting rifle. A fellows name is engraved on the bottom of the receiver with Rock Springs Wyoming. Done with an electric pencil, or hand engraver. And a damaged and repaired stock, so no collector value, but an old classic to hunt with.
So I pulled the butt plate off Thursday and found a 1949 Wyoming Deer and Bear License rolled up and stored in the butt! Deer coupon removed, but Bear coupon still there. License made out to the gents name engraved on gun aged 44 years old!
Friday evening I removed a few more butt plates on some more recent acquisitions and found another license! Under the plate of an old worn workhorse Winchester Model 12 12 gauge!
1919 sold in New Baltimore Michigan to a 42 year old Man from Detroit! Issued by a Deputy game warden for $1.00!
I've pulled literally hundreds of butt plates over the years, and these are my first 2 finds!
Mentioned the Wyoming license to my Sister in Billings, Mt and she said call Bob. A guy we went to High School with in Illinois is the Rock Springs, Wyoming Historical Museum Curator!!
I never heard of Rock Springs! What are the odds........
Anyone else find some jackpots while butt stock mining?
Ed, did you get the Savage and the Winchester from the same place? It is very interesting to note, although not likely to ever connect, that the surname Place, as in Etta, is another spelling of Pless. I should also note that a Fred J. Polz lived out his life in the Chicago area, but I could not connect him to Detroit.
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gearheaddad: 31534383660699/comments/31534414763547
James,
I guess Butch Cassidy got the name "Butch" by working in a Butcher shop in Rock Springs, and Cassidy he took the name from a hand that worked for his parents?
And like 28 Chinese were killed in 1885 over a mining labor dispute......
Sounds like an interesting town!
Thanks
I'll get what information from the 1919 license for you, as I know nothing of that gentleman!
Hell, I can only find Baldwin and Baldwin Township, not even New Baldwin, Michigan!
This is cool!
Question about Baldwin and New Baldwin...do you mean New Baltimore, instead?
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I found a 1930s hunting license under the butt plate of a model 56 Winchester.22 short. The owner was from Manhattan, Kansas and was 40 some years old at that time. The license had all of the current, at the time game limits and seasons. I couldn't find any information about him, so I just rolled it up and put it back under the butt plate. It seemed the right thing to do.
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Was once common to put a roll of dimes or nickels into the bolt hole of shot guns as a recoil reducer. This also gave the owner some money to buy food an drinks while travelling to hunt. If you look close most old shotguns had large straight slot screws. That a dine would take out. Hunters would travel by train or trolley to hunt out side of town. So a dinner would be near that line. An a few cents would provide a cup of coffee an piece of pie.
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@...: 31534383660699/comments/
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11148298#Comment_11148298
You are exactly right!
Rock Springs is "home".
Thanks for the feedback, FCD!
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