In 20 years of detecting, I have found more cartridges and bullets than you can shake a stick at. You name a common (and not so common) cartridge or bullet and I've likley found it. We had a thread on this recently. But I have never found a gun - until today.
A good friend has a vacant lot on what once was "Plantation Hill," dead smack in the old zone of my town. He has given me permission to hunt it all I want, so I went over this morning for a little reconnoiter. As per my normal habit, I took no detector to muddy my thoughts. I just wanted to see what was what and come up with a plan of action. So, I wandered around kicking at dirt and picking up shards of crockery and purple glass.
Near the back of the lot, I lost my footing and nearly stepped in an ant hill. Dancing quickly to get my balance and stay away from the little buggers, I spotted what I knew just couldnt be there. Protruding from the dirt was this:
All I saw at first was the butt of the thing, but it didnt take me long to know I was looking at a Berretta M9, 9MM autoloader. I've been around guns my whole life and held a Federal Firearms Dealers License for years . I know guns and this was a Beretta - well, yes and no.
What it really is a cigarette lighter. Seen just above the magazine release in the pic is the word "LIGHTER". How about that? A clever copy, made from pot metal. It has a broken mechanism and will never ignite anything again... well, except for a bit of excitement. But it is a frighteningly good copy of the real thing. I gotta say I don't favor these "toys," feeling we don't really need lighters, copied from guns. I believe every man or woman should own a gun and know how to use it, but in no form are guns ever playthings or to be trivialized.
This one may finally come to some good as a carry/draw training aid. We'll see.
Nevertheless, it took me back and I can say that I hit a high water mark with this one. The only thing left now is to find the real thing!
Happy Hunting.
A good friend has a vacant lot on what once was "Plantation Hill," dead smack in the old zone of my town. He has given me permission to hunt it all I want, so I went over this morning for a little reconnoiter. As per my normal habit, I took no detector to muddy my thoughts. I just wanted to see what was what and come up with a plan of action. So, I wandered around kicking at dirt and picking up shards of crockery and purple glass.
Near the back of the lot, I lost my footing and nearly stepped in an ant hill. Dancing quickly to get my balance and stay away from the little buggers, I spotted what I knew just couldnt be there. Protruding from the dirt was this:
All I saw at first was the butt of the thing, but it didnt take me long to know I was looking at a Berretta M9, 9MM autoloader. I've been around guns my whole life and held a Federal Firearms Dealers License for years . I know guns and this was a Beretta - well, yes and no.
What it really is a cigarette lighter. Seen just above the magazine release in the pic is the word "LIGHTER". How about that? A clever copy, made from pot metal. It has a broken mechanism and will never ignite anything again... well, except for a bit of excitement. But it is a frighteningly good copy of the real thing. I gotta say I don't favor these "toys," feeling we don't really need lighters, copied from guns. I believe every man or woman should own a gun and know how to use it, but in no form are guns ever playthings or to be trivialized.
This one may finally come to some good as a carry/draw training aid. We'll see.
Nevertheless, it took me back and I can say that I hit a high water mark with this one. The only thing left now is to find the real thing!
Happy Hunting.
