Plug for Surflung

[Ron]

I believe that fellow VDH'er Surflung either owns or manages E. Arthur Brown in MN. I told him that because he was a fellow vintage diver, that I would send my M44 Mosin-Nagant in for rebluing. My rust bucket went to his guys a while ago, and this is what came back:


Now I know that this isn't the best picture. This rifle was literally a pile of rust when I sent it to him. It looks better than an off the shelf Remington bolt action rifle.

I normally don't plug people, but if you need work done on a rifle send it to the guys and girls at E. Arthur Brown. Their prices were very reasonable as well, so much so that I mailed my rifle from Florida there in lieu of having it done locally.

[crimediver]

Nice job. I wonder if Surflung can work his mojo on these?


or this:


or


or


or


or especially these:



I have dozens more like these that could stand a good re-bluing. As you can see I don't take very good care of my guns. A night on the town filled with robbing and killing and then being put away wet sure does take a toll on a gun.

[JES]

Crimediver,

It looks like the bad guys have been keeping you busy.

I'll bet it's a great feeling when you actually find these, knowing that you're one step closer to putting them away for a very long time.

[8dust]

I have dozens more like these that could stand a good re-bluing. As you can see I don't take very good care of my guns. A night on the town filled with robbing and killing and then being put away wet sure does take a toll on a gun.

Wow ... Your favorite dive spot off the shores of Mayo Island???

What's a days limit on 38's? I'd imagine they're in season come about mid-September, after a good long hot summer...

[crimediver]

It is pretty thrilling to find a crime gun. It never fails to give me a major rush of adrenelin.

My first gun find was memorable. About 15 years ago I became certified as an underwater criminal investigator and was eager to try to locate some important evidence. We had an informant give us information where a murder weapon had been tossed of a bridge in a city in Virginia. The problem was this city had a bunch of bridges.

The crime lab was able to tell us the gun would be a Bryco 9mm pistol based on the class characterics of the bullets removed from the victim. We also knew the suspect had purchased a 9mm Bryco at a gun show a few years earlier. In fact, we even knew the serial number of this gun when they ran the background check and did the ATF paperwork.

We picked the bridge most likely to have a gun tossed off of it based on it's proximity to the location where the body was dumped. I did not expect to find the gun so I was really surprised when I turned my face to one side and saw it looming up at me. I could see the serial numbers and knew I had found it. I started getting a rush and it felt just like I did when I was a kid and shot my first deer.

It only got better as I just continued to search that area. I was rewarded by finding some stolen tools and a safe. Then I recovered a 9mm S&W pistol in a plastic bag. But the best was yet to come. I recovered a Ruger .357 Security Six revolver that was used in three sepeate killings. You better believe the homicide detective was very excited to get his hands on that gun. As far as I know, no arrests have been made on the Ruger case yet, but my Bryco find got it's owner a life sentence.


I am still waiting for the gun that will put a needle in the arm of a death row inmate. It will be like finding the Golden Egg in an Easer egg hunt. Maybe I have already found it with the Ruger. Time will tell...


I have been really lucky at finding crime guns. I guess I have recovered dozens of them. I have found as many as five unrelated guns in a day but I have been in a bad slump lately. In the past ten dives I have not found even a bullet. It is just a matter of time as they are shooting each other every day. But I do trip over a lot of other cool stuff like cannonballs and anchors and brass. I guess I have about 30 anchors around my house. My old lady is not too fond of them but I like them. I would love to know where they have traveled. The one pictured below was found when searching for a gun. It is ten feet long. The wooden stock on it is missing and it is very old. The cat is just for scale.

[crimediver]

What's a days limit on 38's? I'd imagine they're in season come about mid-September, after a good long hot summer... [/quote]

I think the limit for .38s is two a day. I never find many revolvers for some reason. I have only found a few. Most guns are large frame hi-capacity guns. The revolvers are actually better for whacking folks as they don't eject shell casings. The funny thing is they leave the shells in the revolvers when they toss them. It makes it easy for me!

Then it all goes to the lab.

[Drado]

Nice job. I wonder if Surflung can work his mojo on these?


or this:


or


or


or


or especially these:



I have dozens more like these that could stand a good re-bluing. As you can see I don't take very good care of my guns. A night on the town filled with robbing and killing and then being put away wet sure does take a toll on a gun.

Interesting things to take home from work, CD

(BTW, I resized your photos...)

After a case is resolved, what happens to the guns? Are these guns from solved crimes?

(if they are, maybe Eben can indeed work his magic on them - it would be a good before-and-after photo)

[crimediver]

Thanks for re-sizing the pics Drado. I wondered what I did wrong to make them come out that way?

If the guns are used in court they are introduced as evidence and become part of the court case file. The courts have a warehouse somewhere full of that stuff. Some guns are never linked to a crime by the lab or other jurisdictions. Some are too far deteriorated or have been in the water for decades and are impossible to link to any crime. I have even found guns that I talked to owners and learned that they threw a gun in the river because their husband died and they did not like guns so they deep sixed it, etc.

Stolen guns normally end up back with their owner as a rule of thumb.

I have kept some that were not asociated with crimes as curios and will eventually put them in a display case and give it to my agency police academy when I retire.

Not all guns are in bad shape. I have found guns that have been in the water just a day or two.

If I find something like a pipe bomb, which is not that uncommon, it is safely removed and blown up. Blowing that stuff up is a lot easier than trying to remember to never cut the red wire (or is it the green wire?)