Critterhunter
New member
I few days back somebody asked me to tell them the story about my only barber half I ever found. It slipped my mind up until now so I dug up this old post and am re-posting the text and pictures here...
"Well, that *MIGHT* or might not have happened, but it is interesting to wonder and think about. A little while back I was scouting the woods and found a rather remote look out spot on the top of a ridge spine. More like a nice flat overlook area that could serve several purposes, including a strategic vantage point in case of attack, a nice place to put a cabin, a good perch to watch for game, or just a nice area to picnic and enjoy the view.
Anyway, this spot isn't obvious unless you take a decent hike up some hills into the woods, and even then you pretty much need to be standing close to spot it. It's that remote in a sense and very hard to get to. The only way to get to it while staying on public land is via crossing a rather steep and slippery edge of a gully. Not something most people in their right mind would want to do, but one day I was hunting nearby in the woods when I spotted this "perch" that gave a good view of the valley below. After a little investigating I found one spot that would allow me to get over to it while still standing a good chance of not breaking my neck.
It was worth it, because I found my first barber half next to an old oak tree that gave a good front row seat view of the valley below, a 1903-S I think from memory. Anyway, there was also a v-nickle in the hole with it. I also found a barber dime and Indian about 50 yards away, but the real shocker was what I found within about 8 to 10 feet of the barber half- What looks like a musket with the end of the barrel "flowered" as some call it, or blown up as most would call it. At first I wasn't sure if this was just a pipe or a barrel but then I saw the crushed trigger guard and trigger at one end of it...That's when I knew I had dug up some kind of gun barrel.
After looking at the end of it I think this might in fact be a musket because the barrel hole looks to be bigger than even a 10 gauge shot gun. I'm a gun hunter and have owned a 10 gauge, which is bigger than a 12 gauge, and yet this hole looks bigger to me. That combined with how big, fat, and heavy it is makes me think it might very well be a musket, which are older than muzzle loaders or flint locks. But, I'll let somebody with more knowledge of antique weapons give me a more informed opinion on it. I did dig several large lead musket balls, much bigger than any I've ever dug before, that I'd assume were fired from this gun.
Which all brings up an interesting thought. I realize muskets are much older than a 1903 barber half but back in the day I'm sure people pretty much used what they had when it came to survival in the woods. Anybody think maybe this poor soul loaded too much powder into the gun, which exploded and probably took a good piece of his face with it, and in the process he lost the barber half and v-nickle? He might have just got mud in the end of the barrel and it caused the explosion when it was fired. What's interesting is the gun was laying right near the edge of this overlook while the coins were behind it by about 8 to 10 feet. I could see the guy standing at the edge of this overlook and aiming his gun down into the valley at whatever friend (deer or other game) or foe he desired to kill and getting blown backwards by the explosion and landing were I found these coins. Yea, there is a good chance these items aren't related but I found no other old coins in the exact area. The others were a good ways down the spine of the ridge.
Oh, and here's the photos of the barrel. Somebody clue me up on if they think this is a musket and if so how old. I plan to electralysis it and then paint with some Extend to preserve it. Will look so cool in a glass case along with a barber half and v-nickle and a little "story" that one can wonder might have really happened." If you look close at the left end of the picture of it laying on the ground you can see the crushed trigger guard.
"Well, that *MIGHT* or might not have happened, but it is interesting to wonder and think about. A little while back I was scouting the woods and found a rather remote look out spot on the top of a ridge spine. More like a nice flat overlook area that could serve several purposes, including a strategic vantage point in case of attack, a nice place to put a cabin, a good perch to watch for game, or just a nice area to picnic and enjoy the view.
Anyway, this spot isn't obvious unless you take a decent hike up some hills into the woods, and even then you pretty much need to be standing close to spot it. It's that remote in a sense and very hard to get to. The only way to get to it while staying on public land is via crossing a rather steep and slippery edge of a gully. Not something most people in their right mind would want to do, but one day I was hunting nearby in the woods when I spotted this "perch" that gave a good view of the valley below. After a little investigating I found one spot that would allow me to get over to it while still standing a good chance of not breaking my neck.
It was worth it, because I found my first barber half next to an old oak tree that gave a good front row seat view of the valley below, a 1903-S I think from memory. Anyway, there was also a v-nickle in the hole with it. I also found a barber dime and Indian about 50 yards away, but the real shocker was what I found within about 8 to 10 feet of the barber half- What looks like a musket with the end of the barrel "flowered" as some call it, or blown up as most would call it. At first I wasn't sure if this was just a pipe or a barrel but then I saw the crushed trigger guard and trigger at one end of it...That's when I knew I had dug up some kind of gun barrel.
After looking at the end of it I think this might in fact be a musket because the barrel hole looks to be bigger than even a 10 gauge shot gun. I'm a gun hunter and have owned a 10 gauge, which is bigger than a 12 gauge, and yet this hole looks bigger to me. That combined with how big, fat, and heavy it is makes me think it might very well be a musket, which are older than muzzle loaders or flint locks. But, I'll let somebody with more knowledge of antique weapons give me a more informed opinion on it. I did dig several large lead musket balls, much bigger than any I've ever dug before, that I'd assume were fired from this gun.
Which all brings up an interesting thought. I realize muskets are much older than a 1903 barber half but back in the day I'm sure people pretty much used what they had when it came to survival in the woods. Anybody think maybe this poor soul loaded too much powder into the gun, which exploded and probably took a good piece of his face with it, and in the process he lost the barber half and v-nickle? He might have just got mud in the end of the barrel and it caused the explosion when it was fired. What's interesting is the gun was laying right near the edge of this overlook while the coins were behind it by about 8 to 10 feet. I could see the guy standing at the edge of this overlook and aiming his gun down into the valley at whatever friend (deer or other game) or foe he desired to kill and getting blown backwards by the explosion and landing were I found these coins. Yea, there is a good chance these items aren't related but I found no other old coins in the exact area. The others were a good ways down the spine of the ridge.
Oh, and here's the photos of the barrel. Somebody clue me up on if they think this is a musket and if so how old. I plan to electralysis it and then paint with some Extend to preserve it. Will look so cool in a glass case along with a barber half and v-nickle and a little "story" that one can wonder might have really happened." If you look close at the left end of the picture of it laying on the ground you can see the crushed trigger guard.