Were these stock on all w116 300SD's?

[WrightSounds]

Sooooo, I was cleaning the interior of my 1980 300SD the other day and decided to put the nice floor-mats back in the car since the rainy/muddy season is coming to an end here. While I was vacuuming the driver seat floor I noticed something under the seat. I couldn't reach my hand in from the front so I moved the seat all the way forward and reached under from the backseat. Once I grabbed a hold of whatever it was I was startled by how heavy and solid it was. I pulled a little but it seemed stuck. So I then put my head to the floor to look under the seat and this is what I found:




And these...




...that were IN THE GUN. Yes, a fully loaded gun (there are five bullets in the pic because I've since given one of them to my 80 year old neighbor). It was tied up with some sort of bungee cord and connected to the springs under the seat. It wasn't resting on the floor.

Needless to say I was beyond shocked. I mean, I've been driving the car for 7 months with a loaded gun under my seat?! And my 5-year old daughter in the back?! CRAZY! I got the above mentioned neighbor to unload the gun for me since I have ZERO experience with handguns, or any gun for that matter.

On the barrel is Police Positive Special 30-22. The serial number is 39615 which dates it to 1911-12. Pretty neat.

Anyway, glad I didn't take my car in to have the seat-tilt fixed!

I've yet to contact the previous owner. He got the car from his father after he passed away. His father bought the car from his brother who was in WWII. It was probably his. And I'm guessing it's been in the car for YEARS!

[ZCarFan]

Sure that doesn't say 32-20?

I never find anything good like that in my cars, just junk.  The last 300SD I got did have some rotten .303 on a charger though.

[WrightSounds]

Sure that doesn't say 32-20?

oops. Yeah, 32-20. Already have the thing locked way and was going by memory. My wife has declared it our first family heirloom and demands that we keep it. I wanted to sell it and buy some new tires. Or tire. 

[JasonP]

These cars a real treat. Look what I found under MY car seat:



I think these date from 2008-2009.

[Beastie]

That's pretty cool! There's a lot of ways it could have been not cool at all... Like if it had gone off. Or what if you got pulled over by the police and they found it, loaded. 

I don't know much about guns either but are those hollow point bullets? The gun has a nice patina.

Weirdest thing I ever found in one of my cars was a Euro one cent coin and that's not even remarkable, really, compared to this.

[Squiggle Dog]

I found a death certificate under the seat of a 1977 Euro-spec 450SE parts car I had. Every other time, I've seemed to find a dollar or two in change.

[adamb]

Americans sure have a different attitude to guns. Finding that in UK would lend you an automatic 5 year prison sentence.


But the big question is why it took you so long to clean the car properly, you d*rty b*gger   

[Squiggle Dog]

Americans sure have a different attitude to guns.

Haha, you should have been here in the 1950s. Watching old movies like Perry Mason, everybody kept a gun in their glovebox.

[Casey]

Awesome!!  That sure looks like a nice collector item.

At least you didn't accidentally shoot yourself pulling it out, but revolvers aren't so easy to accidentally fire - that's a great find.  Wish I found something like that in one of my cars.  I got excited once because I found a diamond underneath the rear floormat of one of my cars, but then I found out that diamonds have no real resale value. :/  I got a pretty good payout for a platinum wedding ring I found in a parking lot once - around $750.

[WrightSounds]

That's pretty cool! There's a lot of ways it could have been not cool at all... Like if it had gone off. Or what if you got pulled over by the police and they found it, loaded. 

Seriously, I drive everyday on a road with speed bumps and now all I'm picturing is going over one and shooting myself in the arse.

Americans sure have a different attitude to guns. Finding that in UK would lend you an automatic 5 year prison sentence.
But the big question is why it took you so long to clean the car properly, you d*rty b*gger   

I can't imagine what would have happened had I been pulled over. My answer of "I didn't know it was there. It's not mine" probaby wouldn't have gone over too well!

And the reason I haven't given it a proper cleaning is because the thing was spotless to begin with! I mean immaculate. You should have seen the guy's garage I bought it from. And remember, it was tied up to the springs under the seat... it wasn't on the floor so it wasn't sliding around or very visible.

Awesome!!  That sure looks like a nice collector item.

It seems it's worth between $400-$600. While I am a collector (baseball cards, comics, guitars, golf clubs, LPs, etc) I am not a gun guy but this story is just too much so I'll have to admit I'm pretty excited about having this.

At least you didn't accidentally shoot yourself

Oh my god you should have seen me taking it out. It was tied up so it wasn't a matter of me just sliding it out from the seat. I had to untangle it and I did that while lying completely across the back seat. No way was I going to shoot my fµçk!ng shin bone to bits!

[oversize]

I love buying and old car and searching through it.....  The best I've found so far is loose change dating back to when the car was new.  Other than that it's been the cars themselves that've given me the most surprizes!   

[oversize]

Dare I say have you checked the SN with the police?

[Casey]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Police_Positive_Special

[JasonP]

That really is a way cool find in your car, Wrightsounds. It would be great to try to learn the history of that piece. Has the previous owner responded yet? Maybe you should google his last name, make sure his family wasn't mob. (just kidding  ) (actually, I'm not  )



Portland, Oregon, Mob, circa 1910.

[WrightSounds]

Has the previous owner responded yet? Maybe you should google his last name, make sure his family wasn't mob. (just kidding  ) (actually, I'm not  )

I actually haven't contacted him yet. I really have a feeling he didn't know it was there (as opposed to him being the one that put it there but then later forgetting about it) and he might think I'm a little off. I mean, I can't believe I drove 7 months not knowing. That guy owned the car for 7 or  8 years! Imagine his shock of realizing there was a loaded gun under his butt the whole time he owned the car 

Plus, I don't want him to ask for it back  I've also sent two text messages to him since buying the car, one about the flavor of oil he used and the other was a question about the stereo. He didn't respond to either.

I did some more inspecting today. Nothing under the passenger seat. But using a mirror and flashlight I looked under the driver seat again. The rubber bungee cable that he had the gun tied into was attached at two different places with those plastic zip-tie things. I swear it had to be done with seat out of the car. I'll try to take a picture.

Anyway, yeah, this has been really weird but fun. I've forgotten who've I've told the story to so I'm already finding myself with friends saying, "Oh man I didn't tell you what I found under my car seat?!"