RARE Freeman .44 Six Shooter

[DetectorIsMyCoPilot]

I haven't had much to post about recently, but yesterday I made the find of a lifetime. My primary detector (White's VX3) is in the shop, so I have been swinging my back-up (XLT). I went to a spot that I had been to a couple times before deep in the mountains. I got a big iron hit but dug it anyway and it turned out to be a super rare Freeman Revolver!

This revolver was only manufactured for one year (1863-64) and only 1700-2000 were ever actually made. Although they were manufactured in New York during the Civil War, they were not widely or officially used during the war. I'm not really sure how one made it into the California soil, but I'll take it either way.

The first pic is the revolver fresh from the dirt. The second is a side by side with a slightly more well-maintained Freeman. That's after a light scrub with soapy water and a toothbrush. It's currently in an electrolysis bath so I will post more pics when it's ready.

Thanks for looking!

Greg

 

[mudpuppy]

What a great and rare find! Congratulations and thanks for the backstory on it!
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

I bet somebody was bummin when they lost that way back when...

 

[Goldstrike]

Truly a find of a lifetime! That is a rare find!!

 

[doc holiday]

Super--can you imagine the circumstances under which you would lose your iron? Keep us posted.

 

[pilot]

Curious...could you tell if it is loaded?

 

[miffdan]

Really cool find. I'm sure someone was upset about losing that thing...unless he wasn't living to be upset about it. Hope you don't find some old bones nearby! I'd love to see a pic after you take it out of the bath.

 

[Elton]

Awesome............... just plain awesome !!

 

[always diggin 2]

Incredible find congrats!

 

[SIdigger69]

Sweet save!!!

 

[Flanaganj25]

By chance are you in a area that has gold? Quite possible it was lost on a wagon trail west in search of gold back in the gold rush! Who knows but the history of how and when it got there gives us a lifetime of excitement! Thank u for the post. Awesome find!!!!

 

[senda]

Ohh! It is a wonderful find !! and possibly with a fascinating history.
thanks for sharing
buoow! California ...

 

[DetectorIsMyCoPilot]

Finally got the electrolysis working correctly last night (after much trial and error over the last couple days).

Here is the Freeman after a good cook.

There are still some large encrustations and build ups in the nooks and crannies, so I'm going to give it another whirl tonight.

I'll write up a full story in a new post when it's done.

 

[DetectorIsMyCoPilot]

By chance are you in a area that has gold? Quite possible it was lost on a wagon trail west in search of gold back in the gold rush! Who knows but the history of how and when it got there gives us a lifetime of excitement! Thank u for the post. Awesome find!!!!

No gold here, but it was potentially someone who settled in the area after the gold rush.

 

[SeabeeRon]

Great clean up so far!! Man, that is one sweet find!!

 

[PSS1963]

Texas A&M had some good articles posted on their site about artifact conservation, including discussions about electrolysis. I think they recommend a 2% solution of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH, Lye). Always connect the negative to the artifact (make sure its actually DC) so that the metal (+) charged ions get pulled toward the artifact and non-metal (-) charged ions get pushed away. I did this with a very rust-encrusted chisel I dug from my back yard a few years back and it ended up with a beautiful black magnetite finish.

-pete

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Wow ... a very cool piece of history - good job !

 

[wvrick]

WoW!! Nice find