Most of the time we don't go in search of iron or steel items. Sometimes, though, it is not only necessary, but desirable.
A friend of mine, Fred, got ahold of me the other day to ask a favor.
"Dave, he says, " Would you bring one of your detectors over to my house this weekend?"
"Sure, Fred, whatcha got... some old coins or civil war artifacts that need findin'? A stash of robbers loot, maybe?"
I was joking, but Fred wasn't.
"No, nothing like that. This is more important than that old junk you're always looking for. See, I lost the magazine spring from my shotgun and I cant find it! I'm afraid I'll have to buy another one!"
Now that was something important, all right - cant have a good gun out of commission, no sir.
"Heck yeah," I said, "I'll be over in the morning. Make sure you're up... and put them danged dogs of yours up!"
Fred has a lot of dogs, a regular pack of 'em. They're friendly enough, as things go, but you never with dogs...
When I got there, the dogs were out, raisin' holy hell at my approach - just as I figgured.
And of course, Fred was sound asleep and I had to blow my horn several times to rouse him. Fred is nothing if he aint dependable.
He came out of the house eventually to relieve me of the dogs. Seems they didn't take kindly to a stranger showing up and then cowering in his truck. Never mind that they were growling and barking and could have eaten me in less than five minutes. No, that never seemed to dawn on them.
"So how's it going, Dave. Never mind them dogs, they got no sense. Heck, they aint hurt nobody for a couple of years now. So c'mon outta there and Ill show you were we need to look..."
"Gee, thanks Fred - I appreciate that." I slowly got out as the dogs came over to lick me up and down and slobber on my jeans. It seems that once Fred came around they figgured I was okay. Like I said, you never know about dogs.
I snagged my Golden uMax and another detector from the truck and followed Fred down the yard to an area behind his tractor. It was a shaded grassy spot, about 30' x 30'. There was an old bathtub off to one side and various other "yard treasures" scattered about the area. It didn't look like much of a place to be shooting a shotgun.
As if to answer my question, Fred said, "Yeah, I was down here the other day, shooting up into the trees. Just blasting away at much a nuttin', really. Sometimes you just gotta shoot off your gun, you know?"
I allowed that I did, indeed, know. One of the dogs slobbered on my shoe. It was a rare moment, I assure you.
"Well," he went on, "the gun jammed. So I tried to take it apart. I probably shoulda took it inside, but I wasnt done shooting yet. Anyway, somewhere along the line I heard a [size=large]'tink'[/size], and the spring flew out of the mag tube. The plug went one way, the spring the other. I couldn't watch 'em both, so I kept my eye on the plug. Man, I hunted all over for that spring. I even burned back some of the grass, hoping I could find it that way. You reckon them gadgets of yours can find the spring?"
"No problem, Fred. Don't worry. Here, I'Il give you this one," and handed him my alternate detector. I turned it on and set it up with him watching. "I'll use this other one. Between us we should get it pretty quick."
"I'm not too sharp with this electronic stuff; not like you are. Whaddo I do?"
"Just listen for a beep. I set it up to find only iron. When it hits some, it'll go off. It's that easy - like falling off a log.
"Well, I've done that plenty of times," he replied.
"Yeah, buddy, I'm sure you have. Ready?"
Well the rest of the story takes about 30 seconds to tell. I hadn't swung the Golden uMax three times when I got a pronounced low tone, the sound of iron beneath the coil. I had adjusted it to wide notch and minimum discrimination. When it crossed that spring, it just went "quack," and that was it. I bent over and picked up the spring, about 18" long and and inch or so in diameter.
"Is this it?"
"What?! You got it already? Man, lookee there - that is IT!"
We high fived each other and smiled. The dogs had a howling fight in the dust, to show their appreciation. Again, it was a rich and memorable moment.
Fred and I jawed a bit and he offered to use me in his handyman service, whenever the need for a metal detector came up. That sounded alright to me, although I didn't ask just how often such a need arose. It was time to go, and as I turned to leave, I saw one of the larger dogs hike his leg and pee on my rear tire.
"Hey!" I shouted at the beast.
"Oh, don't mind him," Fred said. "He's just showing that he likes you."
Yep, you never know about dogs.
A friend of mine, Fred, got ahold of me the other day to ask a favor.
"Dave, he says, " Would you bring one of your detectors over to my house this weekend?"
"Sure, Fred, whatcha got... some old coins or civil war artifacts that need findin'? A stash of robbers loot, maybe?"
I was joking, but Fred wasn't.
"No, nothing like that. This is more important than that old junk you're always looking for. See, I lost the magazine spring from my shotgun and I cant find it! I'm afraid I'll have to buy another one!"
Now that was something important, all right - cant have a good gun out of commission, no sir.
"Heck yeah," I said, "I'll be over in the morning. Make sure you're up... and put them danged dogs of yours up!"
Fred has a lot of dogs, a regular pack of 'em. They're friendly enough, as things go, but you never with dogs...
When I got there, the dogs were out, raisin' holy hell at my approach - just as I figgured.
And of course, Fred was sound asleep and I had to blow my horn several times to rouse him. Fred is nothing if he aint dependable.
He came out of the house eventually to relieve me of the dogs. Seems they didn't take kindly to a stranger showing up and then cowering in his truck. Never mind that they were growling and barking and could have eaten me in less than five minutes. No, that never seemed to dawn on them.
"So how's it going, Dave. Never mind them dogs, they got no sense. Heck, they aint hurt nobody for a couple of years now. So c'mon outta there and Ill show you were we need to look..."
"Gee, thanks Fred - I appreciate that." I slowly got out as the dogs came over to lick me up and down and slobber on my jeans. It seems that once Fred came around they figgured I was okay. Like I said, you never know about dogs.
I snagged my Golden uMax and another detector from the truck and followed Fred down the yard to an area behind his tractor. It was a shaded grassy spot, about 30' x 30'. There was an old bathtub off to one side and various other "yard treasures" scattered about the area. It didn't look like much of a place to be shooting a shotgun.
As if to answer my question, Fred said, "Yeah, I was down here the other day, shooting up into the trees. Just blasting away at much a nuttin', really. Sometimes you just gotta shoot off your gun, you know?"
I allowed that I did, indeed, know. One of the dogs slobbered on my shoe. It was a rare moment, I assure you.
"Well," he went on, "the gun jammed. So I tried to take it apart. I probably shoulda took it inside, but I wasnt done shooting yet. Anyway, somewhere along the line I heard a [size=large]'tink'[/size], and the spring flew out of the mag tube. The plug went one way, the spring the other. I couldn't watch 'em both, so I kept my eye on the plug. Man, I hunted all over for that spring. I even burned back some of the grass, hoping I could find it that way. You reckon them gadgets of yours can find the spring?"
"No problem, Fred. Don't worry. Here, I'Il give you this one," and handed him my alternate detector. I turned it on and set it up with him watching. "I'll use this other one. Between us we should get it pretty quick."
"I'm not too sharp with this electronic stuff; not like you are. Whaddo I do?"
"Just listen for a beep. I set it up to find only iron. When it hits some, it'll go off. It's that easy - like falling off a log.
"Well, I've done that plenty of times," he replied.
"Yeah, buddy, I'm sure you have. Ready?"
Well the rest of the story takes about 30 seconds to tell. I hadn't swung the Golden uMax three times when I got a pronounced low tone, the sound of iron beneath the coil. I had adjusted it to wide notch and minimum discrimination. When it crossed that spring, it just went "quack," and that was it. I bent over and picked up the spring, about 18" long and and inch or so in diameter.
"Is this it?"
"What?! You got it already? Man, lookee there - that is IT!"
We high fived each other and smiled. The dogs had a howling fight in the dust, to show their appreciation. Again, it was a rich and memorable moment.
Fred and I jawed a bit and he offered to use me in his handyman service, whenever the need for a metal detector came up. That sounded alright to me, although I didn't ask just how often such a need arose. It was time to go, and as I turned to leave, I saw one of the larger dogs hike his leg and pee on my rear tire.
"Hey!" I shouted at the beast.
"Oh, don't mind him," Fred said. "He's just showing that he likes you."
Yep, you never know about dogs.
