My Uncle is at times a bit forgetful.  He has lost several handguns.  One was a Smith and Wesson 7 shot SS 22lr Revolver which belonged to his mom.  The other was his Remington Rand 1911 45 ACP. The 22 hasn't been heard from since it went missing.  The 1911 disappeared for several years.

When my brother was in high school my Uncle gave him his old Nissan hatchback car.  He had parked it behind his garage since he didn't need it anymore.  Since my Uncle is notorious for forgetting where things are, as soon as my brother brought the car home I went over every inch of it to see if there was any goodies to be found.  I came up empty handed...

Naturally the next time I spoke to my Uncle, I told him what I had done to the car once it was at my house.  He said that he didn't blame me since he was so forgetful...Turns out he cleaned  and vacuumed it before my brother came over to pick it up.  Underneath the passenger seat was his old 1911.  Man I would have made him pay if I would have found it....

I've left one of my AR15's sitting on my porch over night propped against the railing when I lived in a small town.  Another time I left my hunting rifle in it's case overnight  in the back of my truck while it was parked in my driveway.  Both times my brother found them and rubbed my nose in the fact that I had forgot about them.  Needles to say, I'm trying to be more careful now.  (I could not believe I'd forget an AR on the porch, but hey I must have been way off that day)

So have you ever found a firearm or lost one? What did you do when you lost/found it?

Sly

When I was in the ARMY I found lots of M-16's and M-9's that dumb privates left unwatched. [:D] It is safe to say that none of them ever left a weapon unattended again.

A friend and I were in San Francisco near China Town. We did the usual tourist stuff and went back to the rental car. We noticed the rear quarter window was broken. We looked in the car and found a Glock 17. We called the cops and they were there quite quick. Apparently they were near China Town looking for someone. It looked like someone got rid of the gun by throwing it and it landed in our rental car.

My brother worked detailing cars for a local auto auction.  He found a S&W 45 automatic one day.  He showed it to a co-worker who said that he should turn it over to the supervisor.  After he gave the supervisor the pistol, his super handed him $50 and told him not to worry about it.  Hmmm, you think he tried to find the original owner?

Sly

Edited to add: OK, I replied to my own post as if I hadn't posted the topic, but I'm starting to remember a few more things as the day goes by...Like the story above and that I posted this topic in the first place!  (Yikes)

I've "lost" a few guns when a family member has moved them. Other than that, no.

However, just ask [b]brasspile[/b] about his 1911....

I found a Sears/Winchester 22 semi auto rifle on the top shelf of a closet when I moved in the house I live in now. It's a good shooter.

I would no more leave a firearm "lying around"
then I would leave a hand grenade "lying around" in a room full of children.

I'm EXTREMELY conscious of where my firearms are, and other than stored in the case at home, I never take my attention or eyes off of them.

First, they're too expensive to lose, and second, I don't want some thug stealing my guns, and either using them in a crime or wrecking them.

You can "lose" cell phones, credit cards, sunglasses, and most anything else, and the only person hurt is you.

Guns are one of those things you DON'T "lose", PERIOD.
The consequences are simply too catastrophic to allow this kind of inattention, or carelessness.

I've never lost/found one but a friend found an FBI issued MP5 on the street several years ago. Turned out it had fallen off the trunk lid when the agent drove away from his office.


..and yes he turned it in.

I lost 2 Ruger 10/22 rifles along with a dozen hi-cap mags and couple bricks of ammo.

Back about 18 years ago I greased these 2 rifles, mags and ammo and sealed them in a length of 12” PVC pipe.  I went out to an open field next to a dirt road about 8 miles outside of the city and buried it in 6 - 7 feet deep hole.   I had the spot marked by a large rock between 2 utility poles.  I used to go out to look at the place every year.  Then I moved out of the country for few years so I didn’t get to go look for about 5 years.  When I finally got back in country I went to look and found a large office building where the open field used to be and the spot were the rifles were buried was the parking lot.      

Turned it in...Hell as a taxpayer, wasn't it his in the first place?[uzi]

Sly

When I was 15, hunitng in upper michigan, saw a pick up driving to fast on a very bumpy dirt road.  After hitting a particularly big bump, a cased .30-30 bounced out of the back of the truck.  We took it to the local MSP barracks.  After 90 days they called us and said nobody came in to claim it, and we could come pick it up.  we did, and gave it to the landowners whose guest we were that season as a thank you gift.  He told everyone that would listen, and everyone at the VFW hall at least twice, how he got that rifle, and still nobody has stepped forward to claim it.

I have forgotten what guns I owned, and found one I had forgotten about in the safe.....


But I have never lost a firearm.

I cant tell you all the mags and .303 stripper clips I've lost over the years.

I thought  I was the only one that did that.

briefly

[img]http://sio.midco.net/tjt/camo/refi/stubble1400.jpg[/img]

One of my friends found a BB gun in a ally way frequented by drug dealers last week.  We laugh when we think of the thug running to get his "peice" during a fight only to see its no longer there.

Someone on here (I THINK it was Ed) buried a rifle (SKS?)and found a HUGE pile of dirt on it. Funny ass story, I heard it a few years ago.

A friend and I found a Smith & Wesson shotgun at an old rock quarry while out Jeeping/shooting about 15 years ago. We decided that since we were in my Jeep and he wanted a ride home, I'd get to keep it. [;)] It wasn't much to look at and I never did shoot it before giving it to my brother in-law who horsetraded it away for something else.

Never really "lost" a firearm, but I did have a Ruger 10/22 bounce out of my Jeep and had to go back and retrieve it. Still going strong today with the same Tasco 4x scope, dings and all.

I didn't actually [i]lose[/i] a firearm, I had it stolen (along with my stereo) from my truck. Lo and behold, 3 years later I get a call from the PD in that town telling me that the weapon had been recovered. Come on down and get it.
Wow.
(Actually, it had been recovered 4 months after being stolen, but it took 2 1/2 years to work it's way through the system and back to me)

I found a old Winchester in a abandoned barn up in North Dakota once, still have it too.
I have never "lost" or "misplaced" any

I was looking for the TV remote once.I turned over one of the chairs in the living room...and while fishing around inside it I found a 22 Beretta that I had lost 2 years ago..It had been reported stolen along with 2 pistol from my truck..I have no idea how it got in the chair.My wife still calls me DUMB ASS.....

One time my EX-SEAL buddy brought me his "lost" equipment bag as a thank you for a favor.  2 SIG factory 20 round mags, 6 15 rounders.  5 HK mp5 curved mags. 2 20 M16 mags with tracers.  2 surefires for mp5s and abour 300 rounds of 00 buck and 200 rounds of winchester silvertips.  Nice trade for a friggin beanie baby that his daughter just had to have.  I bought one for my niece and had it in my coat pocket.  We were rounding on patients and he sees it and says where did you get that.  He had been looking for this one for weeks.  I had bought the last one so I gave it to him. I think he needed it more. A few days later he drops off this duffle bag with the goodie inside!  Half that stuff was sold to buy food and beer! Residents dont make much.

In the early 1970's, I went into an old, windowless, doorless, sagging, about to fall down wooden farmhouse in Oklahoma, and found a Wichester Model 1897 12 gauge in the attic. After a little work, I found out the guy who used to live there and own it back in the 1930's. He was happy to get it back. He is still alive today. Guess I should have kept it..But oh well..

Safe to say the only things I`ve ever lost is one 20rd mag and one 30rd mag.
Now one time in high school during a "search", (Lincoln High School in Philly) I was looking around thinking what a GD waste of time, I looked down and saw a foot away from my foot, a stainless Lorcin or Raven or some other junk of that nature. I ALMOST picked it up but then I realized where I was in a public school during a weapon and "anything else they don`t want you to have" search. About 15 minutes later the NTA`s finally picked it up.

The next door neighbors have been in their house 8 years. Last summer he was in the basement and was removing some boards a previous owner stored between the floor joists.

A brand new Stoeger .22 luger hit the floor. It was boxed with paperwork and unfired.

Some guys have all the luck!

I still gotta clean out my car.

What is stopping me is wanting to hit the brakes and have an M4 slide out.  [:D]

I left my 870 leaning against the clothes line post for about a week once. I was leaving for work,, & my roommate pointed it out. I couldn't believe I had done that, & put it away before we left for work. It was still in perfect shape, no rust at all.
I had a single shot 20ga I got from my estranged dad as a kid disappear from a back bedroom closet. I think a renter in our 4 plex stole it, because we found his signature in pencil on the wall in another room, but I didn't notice it till we moved out, & the shoty was never found. It wasn't worth much just sentimental value.

After thinking about it more, I remembered that I lost my Ruger Vaquero when we moved from S.D. to Texas. I stored all my belongings in my parents garage for about 5 months while we sold our house, & looked for another. The move from S.D. was fast & furious, so my guns got jumbled around. When I got moved into our present home no Ruger to be found. I looked high & low over, & over to no avail. I was very upset. Then about 5 months after moving in, I had to work on the entertainment center in my sons room, & when I opened the door on it I spotted the familiar grey case & snatched it up! Boy was I happy. I had thought the movers might have decided it belonged to them, & I would never see it again. It was a happy day.[:D]

Colt .44 cal Cap and Ball at the East Cavalry Battlefield, Gettysburg,Pa.

I must itterate for the purpose of any National Park rangers on the board, this was found when i was there with the Cub scouts in the late 1970's, The East Cavalry part of the battlefield was not owned by the NPS yet so so it was private property, The Guns mine, Suck it up and Move on, no fine to be levied here!

I had a .38 Taurus Model 85 stolen out of the armrest compartment of my Explorer last year.  I had been up for about 36 hours because of work one day, and walked into my apartment for a minute intending to go back outside and get a few more things out of the truck.

I ended up falling asleep for about 17 hours straight, and two days later realized that I had left the Explorer unlocked overnight.  I snapped open the compartment immediately and OOOOOOOHHHHHH SSHHIIITTT!

[lolabove]

What a find! And a good story to boot! One of the guys I shoot with at the range was given a Glock 17 by his nephew who found it on the sea bottom at 60 feet while diving. He said it has zero rust, runs fine, and even has the little caps for water shooting installed. If only I could be so lucky.

Another buddy down the street from me had just bought his house when he found a military-issued Ruger MKII that was fairly old up on a high shelf in a bedroom closet. He said the guy who he bought the house from was a total prick, haggling over little stuff at closing so he kept the pistol for it.

I am still waiting to find some loot...