Weird gun question...underwater deterioration

[Chew]

What shape do you think a Remington 870 or similar type shotgun (wood stock, standard receiver) would be in after being under water for 14 years? Water is a small freshwater pond that appears to be fairly oxygenated (lots of green plants in the water).

I'm a cold case investigator and we are going on a hunt for this gun next week. Just curious if y'all think the wood will be gone and maybe just a rusty receiver/barrel. Or could the metal part be completely gone as well?

Our dive team will be using metal detectors to look for it.

Anyone ever found an old gun or something made from similar material that had been underwater for a long time?

We found a pistol last year that had been under for 21 years but it was stainless with a rubber grip. It was in suprisingly good shape.

After cleanup:



Before cleanup:

[gator89]

I dunno it could be just fine. They pay high dollar for those sunken logs so I don't see why a wood stock wouldn't survive.

[wassaw]

on the bottom, lots of vegetation. probably going to be several inches under muck and mud. keep it in water when they find it until it can be cleaned properly (it will rust fast once the air hits it). I'm betting it will still be together but fragile (the wood)

bet it's between 20-40 yards out if the perp held it by the barrel and gave it his best 2 handed hammer throw
Good luck and hope you find it!!!

[Chew]

on the bottom, lots of vegetation. probably going to be several inches under muck and mud. keep it in water when they find it until it can be cleaned properly (it will rust fast once the air hits it). I'm betting it will still be together but fragile (the wood)

bet it's between 20-40 yards out if the perp held it by the barrel and gave it his best 2 handed hammer throw
Good luck and hope you find it!!!

Good job, detective! We put that pistol in some of the lake water when we got it. It was under the muck. I'm just hoping we can get a serial number.

[hellbndr23]

It will probably be in surprisingly good shape. YouTube some metal detecting videos where they find guns. I've seen videos where civil war guns came up with no wood and a lump of steel, and I've seen them where they come up with wood and rust but look like they could be used with a good wire brush cleaning.

[LivinADream]

I would think as long as it is underwater and has been the whole time you should be able to get a serial # off of it

[Javelin]

as long as it is never out of the water it really will not rust much, but If it sinks into the mud and muck it could.

[Texastaxi]

Aren't you detective types supposed to KNOW this kind of stuff?

[Chew]

I'm a detective. Not a metallurgical engineer or decomposition analyst. These cases come up once or twice in a career.

=)

[Artos]

good luck chew...if I had to gamble on a blued 870, I would think the pitting would be deep as the roll stamps especially if it was an older one...some are very shallow.

Really just gonna depend on how deep the stamps were and the quality of the steel...let us know if you find it!!

[Jackson357]

Lets hope they were not too bright. Hope they didn't file the # off. Good luck in your hunt.

[Chew]

good luck chew...if I had to gamble on a blued 870, I would think the pitting would be deep as the roll stamps especially if it was an older one...some are very shallow.

Really just gonna depend on how deep the stamps were and the quality of the steel...let us know if you find it!!

Will do. The victim has ties to TBH so it's a special case.

[cattlelackranch]

I'm in for updates.

Hope you find it and can give some history later as I'm sure you can't now.

[TX_Kevin]

My bet, if it's just a plain old blued 870, is that the barrel and receiver will be pitted to the point where very little, if any of the serial number can be identified. I don't think the wood would be in particularly good shape. Much of the internals of the gun will be of lesser quality steel and it will completely disintegrate. But, who knows?

Now that you brought this up though Bobby, you have to tell us how the story ends!!!

[Daniel75]

Chew, isn't there an acid you can pour on the serial numbers to help make it appear more clearly?