1876 cases found with metal detector

[coyote nose]

Okay, its 2006 and I am in the bighorn mountains of Wyoming, metal detecting where my brother and I are camping. Have been doing this a dozen years and never ever find anything important. Well, its raining and I am ready to turn off the detector, having only found a few modern pennies and the usual beer can tabs, etc. when find this 1892 penny. Pretty good! next I find a 1926 quarter! my first silver in 12 years and its an osolete design to boot! Detect a few minutes more and find, of all things....an old (copper?) cartridge case! About 4" deep, out she comes. I clean it off and can barely read "45" and "WRA". Flattened..it looks like a 45-60! Awesome!!!! Not my favorite cartridge (yes..I have a favorite cartridge!) which is 45-75, but close. Well, I go over the area what i thought was real good and find nothing more. Head back home to Ohio, and slowly straighten the case out.....turns out it is a 45-75!!! Now I am excited! So someone was there with either an 1876, an 1885, or a Colt Lightning!!! Fast forward 2 years....head back out and revisit the site in 2008. Would you believe I find absolutely nothing except another case! This time I can read the headstamp (barely): 45-60 WRA. So.....either 2 guns were there or someone was firing the 45-60 in the 45-75 rifle! This one is flattened too but i cannot straighten this one out as it is badly split. Still, it was neat to stand there and try to go back in time .
Anybody know when the WRA headstamp stopped being used???
Hope the photo comes out, thought fellow levergunners would appreciate this photo.

[PaperPatch]

Awesome find. If only they could speak...and tell us their stories!

[Ysabel Kid]

Very cool!

I don't know the answer to your question but someone here should!

[deerwhacker444]

Very cool. My dad bought a metal detector to try and find some of his arrows that miss the target and bury up in the bermuda grass in the back yard. Although he hasn't found his arrows, he's found a PILE of junk, unfortunately none of it is worth anything.

[Hobie]

That is wicked cool.

[1886]

That is wicked cool.

Wicked cool? Are you a displaced New Englander Hobie?
Those are great finds. That kind of stuff is so interesting. Regards, 1886.

[38 WCF]

I was detecting at Fort Douglas, Utah a few years ago and found a 50/70 case. It was inside primed and had no headstamp.
In Wyoming a few years back while hunting Antelope, my buddy found a 45/75 case lying on the ground. Cool.

[coyote nose]

I also wonder if the reason the 45-60 case is split so bad is because it WAS fired in a 45-75 chamber! Wonder what the owner was shooting at? game? Maybe a target or a stump set up somewhere??

[Griff]

Neat find.

[Leverluver]

Hey 86, that's whey there were only 49 in the bag. I forgot that's where I dropped it

I've found Benet cup primed 50-70s and 45-70s as well as 40-82s, 35 Wins and 348s (old ones) in several places around the state. Even found a 44 rimfire, which are pretty rare as they are pretty delicate and rarely survive the ravages of time. Virtually all of the old black powder ones are split some. The years and the black powder and primer residue conspire to make them brittle and few if any survive in their original round state, especially in places with significant snow loads. Always neat to set on a ridge that is a good lookout for elk and look around and find an old casing knowing that the ridge was also good 150 years ago.

[adirondakjack]

"WRA Co" was used until from 1866 until 1932. From 1932 to 1950, the mark WRA was used, without the "Co". If it's centerfire, boxer primed, yet appears to be "copper" (red brass), it's gonna be after 1880 or so, but prior to WWI or so. After that, modern type "yellow brass" prevails.

[TedH]

That's a great find.

[Sixgun]

Neato---excellent post----Now I gotta go buy me one of those babies!---------------Sixgun

[scr83jp]

When I was a wildlife mgt biology student at the univ of az in 1961,1962 & 1963 we'd take field trips to southeast az and on occasion find old crushed brass ,one of the wildlife students was a history buff and told us about the crushed brass.The reason one finds flattened old rifle brass is all troopers were told to crush their spent shells to keep the indians from reloading them.

[RSY]

That is too cool. What it the other coin in your photo?

When I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, the rifle range always provided some interesting finds. Without too much effort, one could find cases for 5.56mm NATO, 7.62mm NATO, .30-06, and if you looked hard enough probably some .30-03 and .30-40 Krag. The entire timeline of 20th century US infantry rifles was right there on/in the ground. It really made me feel a connection to Marines of the past.

Scott

[Ben_Rumson]

All kinds of cool old shells could be found at Fort Sill when I was there in 1967..