How many have found interesting or valuable items in the butt of a shotgun. While working on a double 16 recently i removed the buttplate to get at the stock bolt. The hole was plugged up with what appeared to be foil. Upon removing the it i found wrapped in the foil a small book about 3/4x5/8x3/8 inches. I have been unable to find anyone who has seen anything like it. Thought i would ask the more worldly traveled on this sight.
Regards Rich
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Looks like Arabic to me. Prayer book? Poetry?...Geo

Raimey will know!

I've heard of people finding old hunting licenses,duck stamps even money on occasion under butt plates but I've never has this happen. A book,even a small one,is new to me.
Jim

Here are more pics. http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g211/rshow/missgc1048.jpg" alt="" />[/img]
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Philbert:

I really appreciate the confidence, but Arabic & Turkish is a bit out of my league. I attended engineering school with quite a few Arabs and Indians but didn't really pick up on the right to left writing and reading language. But with that said it looks as if it's a text for Turkish men on the subject of art, more than likely skin art. Maybe Dr. Hause can pic some of the Damascus art out of the Arabic. The lower portion of the 1st pic post in Turkish is what looks to be the bookstore or printer's telephone? Give him a bell!!

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I think its an abridged mini edition of the Koran issued to soldiers.

Beyazit Square is a large area in front of a big mosque in Old Istanbul, Turkey. Adjoining it is the Beyazit Sahaflar Bazaar, famous for booksellers. Google these names and you should get info.
I do not read Arabic so cannot help on the text; you could have anything from a poem to an excerpt from the Koran. Miniature books are collectors items.
Rs
K.

Aha!! So this is some kind of Arabic "Girlie Magazine" for a follower of Islam to contemplate while waiting for a flock of infidel ducks to passover* his blind!!
*I guess I better tread lightly on the "passover" angle here.
Jim

Hello,

"Turkmen Kitabevi" is Turkmen Bookstore and the rest is obviously the store's
address and tel. number.

Here is an interesting web page to see Store .
There is an e-mail link "e-posta", maybe they can help.

No idea whatsoever as to what the little book is about.

JC

Googled them myself out of curiosity. They are still at the same address, but their telephone number has changed.

TÜRKMEN KİTABEVİ
Sahaflar Çarşısı No: 19
BEYAZIT
Tel: 011 90 212 512 22 71
(011 for international, 90 for Turkey and 212 for Beyazit, Istanbul.)

No website that I can see, but active in internet bookselling. Suggest you find your local Turkish consul and email him the photos – he/ she will help.
Interesting find, what does the gun look like?
Rs,
K.

I gave a Mod 12 to a friend one time and upgraded the stock to fancy walnut. In the throughbolt area under the butt plate, I found 3 Missouri hunting licenses (1929-31) which were $1 each. Along with that were a bunch of $5 gold pieces. Ceratinly paid for the gun many times over.
Pete

The gun was a 16 gauge double made around 1965 i believe and the gun is in very good mechl. condition, however the but stock looked like it had been dragged down a gravel road. The last 6-8 inches of the butt looked as if it was banged on some rocks, however the metal was good as was the lockup and the bores

That was about the time (April 1933) that Roosevelt ordered all of the US gold to be confiscated. Seems like the previous owner of the Model 12 was willing to protect what was his by force if necessary.

Come on, lets see the gold pieces.

I sold the gold but still have at least one of the licences. I don't think Roosevelt confiscated gold. He took us off the gold standard and stopped minting gold coins. He also had the gold certificates removed from circulation.

If this Presidential Order dated April 1933 is legitimate the directive to deliver all gold currancy to your local Federal Reserve Bank sure sounds like confiscation to me. http://www.the-privateer.com/1933-gold-confiscation.html

No, coins are NOT currency. Also, the gold certificates were replaced with silver certificates as they were replaced with Federal Reserve Notes in the late 60's as silver certificates were retired. Our notes are now backed with Obamma promises. Doesn't THAT make you feel all warm and fuzzy!

If I was to pick ONE act that started us down the path to Socialism this would be it. We went from the gold standard on to the silver standard on to the point in 1964 where the only backing for our currency was and is the governments promise to pay.
There is a law most of us learned about while taking Money and Banking in college called Greshams Law. This law states that bad money will drive good money out of circulation every time. I'm NOT blaming what happened here on any ONE entity as all the politicians allowed this to happen.
Prior to 1964 you could exchange a dollar bill for the equivelent in silver coin. I think you all know what would happen if you tried to do this today.
Jim

I hate to quibble but this is the definition of currency:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/currency

It is irrelevant that the gold was replaced by paper it was still illegal for US citizens to own gold coins, bars or other non-jewelry items until the early 1970s when Roosevelt's presidential order was rescinded.

Silver was $1.2929/oz in those days. Gold was $35. The dollar (and other currencies) have significantly devalued since then for reasons of irresponsible politicians on both sides. Inflation or stagflation will clobber us soon. That is what you get when you elect a Marxist as president.

Twice,

You're wasting your time, Peat isn't going to admit that he's wrong.


DLH

I kind of figured that Destry.

Thanks JC
I tried the (eposta)email add.and got back a commercial for Kapidex, a pill for acid reflux disease.
Thanks all Rich

I've only ever found 2 things "under the recoil pad" that weren't there when the gun was made; strangely enough, they were two different stocks for the same gun!

I bought an old Krieghoff Model 32; when I bought it, I got a 3-day inspection. But, since it was a Friday, I had to figure out if I wanted to keep it by Monday. Normally, the weekend would be a great time to make that determination, but this was an exception. Upon receipt, I immediately called Krieghoff to discuss sending the gun in for an Annual Service. I was asked the serial #, gave it, and was given some bad news: The gun might not actually be a K-gun, but could have been made with left over Remington 32 parts (early, 3-digit number). To make the determination, I needed to pull the stock.

The pad came off just fine, but there was something down the bolt-hole blocking access to the stock bolt. I couldn't tell was it was at first; I now think it was an old fiber wad for a 28 ga. After struggling a bit, I got it out, but something else was there: a fired 28 ga hull! I could see the primer had been popped, so I knew it was safe; after a brainstorming session with 2 friends, we finally figured out how to get it out: we cut the end off a screw, screwed on end into a cleaning rod, and the other end was driven into the hull until we could screw it in deep enough to gain purchase & pull the hull out. It had been filled with shot, & was being used as a weight. Mind you, all this was being done with the idea that I had a couple of hours to get the stock off & send pics to Ottsville for a determination of whether or not it was a K-Gun (if so, I keep it, if not, I send it back!). We made it just in time.

I just bought a used K-80 stock to have fitted to the same gun. When I pulled the recoil pad, once again there was something down the bolt hole! This time, though, it was a real recoil reducer. I couldn't get it out, & asked Krieghoff to pull it out, fit the stock & reinstall it before sending it back WITH the correct bolt to pull it out myself.

Unless someone has removed it in the last 45 years or so, there is an old J Stevens 12ga model 325 floating around out there with a penny in the butt stock. In the summer of 1954 at age 16 I had bought this gun, my very first double. Just about time for school to start I was diagnosed with hepatitus. I was placed upon very strict instructions to avoid anything strenous. We were still raising Burly on the farm then & cutting time was coming up. Nothing was mechanized about this operation then, the stalks were cut, speared onto a stick stuck in the ground & after a few days curing were then hauled to the tobacco barn & hung on racks. Dad hired a neighobor boy who was a few years older than me to take my place, & one day he borrowed my Stevens to go shoot a mess of squirrel. Apparently he thoughrt it "Kicked" (I didn't) because when he came back he told me you could take the buttplate off & drop a penny down the hole & it wouldn't kick as hard. I thought this over & in my own mind thought, that is nothing but pure "HogWash". However when I again became able to roam these TN hills with the old Stevens I used it as was for a while then one day pulled the plate & dropped that penny in. I of course could detect absolutely no difference as I was sure would be the case. I didn't deem it worth a penny though to pull the butt plate a second time so somewhere out there it probably still remains. "IF" I could find this gun, after purchasing it for a reasonable price, if that penny was still there I would add one of those Obama $1.00 folding promisary notes for it.

Thought I would bring this up one more time to see if I could any info. Thank. Rich

1860s George Daw with spare firing pins and extractor, probably not seen since the gun was new!


Custom Krag with Tom Shelhamer stamp.


Lenard Brownell's hidden mark.

I've found combo hunting fishing license that still had the embossed stamp from the county Treasurer. 1926 and the fee was $2.00. The guy that owned the gun knew it was a family gun but didn't know for sure who owned it. The license belonged to his Grandpa. A friend that worked at Simmons in KC found a letter a father had written to his son telling him how sorry he was for being such a rotten sob father. The kid either put it back or never saw it and the smith couldn't find him.

SDH,that's a fantastic find of the extractor's. Forgive my typing been of line for some time do to health problems and its not the same anymore, very difficult to type but I like to read the forums. thank's for the reply.

And those two "signatures" of classic stockmakers aren't exactly chopped liver, either! Great finds!

I was excited to check after reading this, but I guess just lead for me...

Back when I was collecting Marlin rifles, I bought a 45/70 Lever action..cant remember the Model #' Took the cap off the PG and found a Gold five dollar California trade coin..worth more than I paid for the rifle...Interesting gun..had a bullet hole through the butt stock. if it had been shouldered or half way mounted? dead dude

I took a chance on a nice G grade Lefever a couple years ago that appeared to have a split in the buttstock, and the buttplate bulging outward from the butt. Because of the split, I got it for a very very good price.

When it arrived, I pulled the buttplate and found a hole filled with lead shot, just as I had suspected. The shot had expanded as it oxidized, and split the wood. After I dug out the old shot, it was very easy to apply some Titebond II wood glue and pull the crack completely closed with rubber tubing to clamp it. Then I turned a close fitting dowel of walnut, and glued that in the hole to further strengthen the stock. The deformed buttplate was easily returned to normal shape by putting it in very hot water and bending back to its' correct curvature.

Get the lead out of your butts if you have it! I have seen many split stocks. Even on some high on newer guns due to swelling lead in the butt used for balance.

Never figured out if the lead expanded or the wood contracted over a 100 years. Had a Parker VH made in 1900 that had a whole drilled and filled with lead and yes it indeed did crack. One of the best buys ever. Bought that gun for $400. I had it restored and it is now in the hands of a duck hunter in Maine who bought it from me on this forum more then a few years ago.

Thank's for the info. I can't believe that I let so many slip through my hands when I was younger. Rich

tut, I think that if the wood would shrink the lead plug would actually become looser.
terc

tut, lead dioxide does occupy more volume than the lead it replaces, and Brian Dudley is correct... it can and will split gun stocks. I've seen it several times, and that's why I was pretty sure the Lefever I bought would be easily repairable. We also see the same thing happen with iron oxide when rusting re-bar expands and breaks concrete.

In the FWIW department, where I have wanted to add weight to a firearm using lead in the stock, I have first poured it into a length of copper tubing, making a very dense cylinder of whatever length provided the necessary weight. The cylinder was then fitted in a slightly oversided hole in the stock with a little bit of tape at each end so that it didn't rattle side to side, bt could still allow for stock shrinkage and expansion due to humidity. Then a little dense foam at the bottom of the hole or under the buttplate keeps it from rattling fore and aft. It is best if the foam is at the buttplate end of the hole with regards to damping the recoil.

In any event, the use of the copper tube seems to inhibit, if not flat-out prevent the swelling of the lead due to repeated impacts of recoil and/or oxidation.

YMMV

The Winchester M-12 heavy duck came from the factory with a lead plug in the butt.

I bought a like new Remington Model 11, 16 gauge, circa 1934 at a old pawn shop in Omaha Neb around 2004. I thought the gun was a 20 gauge A-5 when I spied it on the rack. Price? $250 because it was a Remmy and not a Browning. Happily took it home, the gun was perfectly clean except for some old caked on dirt on the butt plate screws. I took them off to clean and inside the butt stock was a hunting license from 1942...State of Montana..#95775, belonging to a Mr. T. Harold Welch, 105 Yellowstone Ave, Billings, MT.

It's still in the butt stock, placed in a ziplock bag for safe keeping.

Anyone here know this fella?? :-)

I have my grandfather's and great uncles' 97 Winchester with Montana hunting licenses dating to 1917. I'll never sell that gun and there are more licenses there now from many other states where I have hunted that gun.

Best thing I ever found was a piece of paper stating " This gun has been stolen from**********************************"!

I've posted this before on a similar thread. This Rem. M-10 belonged to my grandfather, then to my father, and then came to me. I found this 1918 Minnesota small game license under the buttplate -- the date is a few days before my dad was born.

Jay

GF, what a great tradition and family heirloom. Gil

^ fantastic.

Only ever found a penciled inscription which *might have been original to the guns manufacture.

Interesting things I have seen are exceptional stocks with serious figure only to find large voids checks and pithy inclusions - its the kind of stock blank which would get cut up for knife handles or something to day yet way back then it seemed they would go to serious lengths to carefully cut pieces to fill voids and cracks, just think its interesting.

The problem with highly figured stock is the grain runs in every direction. Sometimes the stocks don't dry well. Years of being in houses where the humidity is a lot lower and the temp.more controlled the stocks tend to dry out more than they were originally.I have a couple of my own guns that are fifty or more years old that have cracks under the butt plates and even in the cheek piece it's self. Rich