ouch... Robbed in PA

T

Tom Matiska

New member
Today I regret not having a better gun safe.

Had a forced entry last night and they got into my locked steel gun cabinet. Three hunting rifles and three revolvers are now in the data base as stolen.

1894 307 Win ....serial number in the mmddyy of my birth... ain't getting over it in this lifetime

788Rem 308 was a 30+year friend and a tack driver.

Ruger M77 Stainless 358 went also

Virginian Dragoon 44 mag, Taurus and NEF 22 revolvers.


Could have been much worse. They left more guns than they took, and a bag of silver coins in with the guns. Cops may come for the prints being hand guns were taken... maybe not...

I think a better safe and alarm system may come before I replace any of my toys.
 
Sorry - this isn't fun. Before you do much else. you probably need to figure out who knew that you had guns..
 
Sorry about your misfortune, Tom. I don't know how often such things are recovered, but I do hope that you get them back, especially those that hold sentimental value!
 
Not sure the thief knew about the guns. I'm guessing the theif broke in the basement, started off rumaging through the workbench, then saw the gun cabinet under the stairs and lost interest in the power tools.

He left the plain jane 1894(30-30), and took the fancy XTR (307)with checkered stock. He will soon find out 30-30 rounds won't chamber and 307 isn't common on the shelfs.

Older 22 Win bolt (before serial numbers were law) would have been a good pic for a thief, but was left also.

May have had a near miss with the thief when I came home from work late last night, and may have been upstairs when he was in the basement. I didn't discover the theft until this morning.
 
Might not be a bad idea to browse "Back Page" and see if some unusual items come up for sale or trade.

Don't overestimate the cleverness of thieves.

I had a friend do that and he managed to run across a guitar that had been stolen from him...

Geetarman:(
 
good idea... but I see 11 ammo listings on Gunbroker that say no ffl required.... hope the thief (or the guy he sells it to) isn't too smart and buys locally.
 
The meth heads here in Kansas often are armed when then break in. You easily could have lost more than a few guns. Also, thieves here do not travel far. Often, they are teen kids next door or they worked on something in the house in the past.

Another issue is that they come back for the stuff they could not carry away during the last break in.

When you have unemployed neighborhood kids, they have little else to do beside casing places.

A friend of mine was broken into twice. The second time, a neighbor saw it, called the police and discretely followed them. The police found the thieves' house full of stolen items. One dropped his bug out bag as he ran and recovered a handgun stolen years ago and hundreds of miles away.

Anyway, thieves sometimes have an armed lookout not actively stealing. You have to watch your back if you catch them.

If I did not have kids, I would rescue some unfriendly big dogs from the pound. I have three very alert dogs in the house. They bark a lot but love everyone.
 
Craig's List doesn't allow firearm sales and they'll get flagged off quickly by all the anti's that virtually live on the list.

Check armslist.com and as has been stated ask around at LGS for a lookout for someone seeking to procure 307 ammo.

I'm sorry for your misfortune. I believe that a security system and better gun safe are indeed in your future. Perhaps you should invest in a well trained guard dog too (I have one and I wouldn't trade her for anything). If you do decide on a guard dog though invest in one that is actually trained as a security dog... the extra investment is well worth it.
 
Warnings about a return vist are spot on. Enough was left that I'm sure I'm on their return list.

My next two "gun" purchases will be a better safe and an alarm system.
 
Tom, sorry for your loss I know the felling. Add a nanny cam, or hunting cam to the purchase list. Leave it on in the basement maybe you'll get lucky and get a picture or two.
 
sorry

Hate it for you. Since you did have serial numbers, something may come of it yet. The NCIC database has turned up lots of stolen guns. A sharp officer may make a routine stop and run the guns, or they may turn up at another arrrest, etc, etc.

+1 on a good safe, and to all, record your numbers.
 
I had a friend get burglarized, years ago, and his burglar (a friend's stepbrother) proved to be far from clever. He had already fenced some loot, but when he went to another pawn shop to try to fence more, the pawn shop owner thought he looked - interesting - and had him show ID to complete the transaction.

Shop owner thought he looked interesting in part because he had used some of the money from the earlier transaction, elsewhere, to buy (and he was wearing at the time) a Douglas Fairbanks / Dread Pirate Roberts type black outfit with silk shirt, and he had a parrot on his shoulder.

That was stealth...

So, yes, do check Craigslist, Thrifty Nickel, etc; do check gun shops; do try to find out if anybody orders .307.

But, also, buy a real safe. The dollar value of rifles you just lost would have paid for a fairly decent one, that would have worked much better than a cabinet.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss, I hate thieves. I hope you get your guns back.

What I did was run a dummy 220 electrical line to the small hole in the back of my safe. Then put a sign on the front reading "this safe is protected by a mercury switch inside and any attempt to move it or break into it will trip the mercury switch and electrify the safe with enough electrical current to kill you, you have been warned".

Thank God I have never had a break in but if I do maybe it will deter them from the safe.
I also have an alarm system on every window and door with an extremely loud siren mounted out side and it calls directly to the police.
I know this doesn't help you much now but it might be some thought for future security.
 
Sorry about your losses as well. I've looked into those security cabinets as well, and all they do is really keep small kids out of your guns. I wound up finding a used gun safe on Craigslist to keep all my guns in. Unfortunately if a thief has the time and determination they will get into it as well.

I'd check with the LGS and Pawn Shops, and probably go out at least 100 miles. Be prepared to offer a reward, as if most places will not take in property they suspect to be stolen because then they are out the money when the property gets returned to the owner. So offer to pay back whatever the amount is that they buy it off of the thief. Unfortunately it is like buying your guns back from the thief but you are more likely to get your firearms back if the thief tries to dump them off for quick cash.
 
There's a lot of good advice here, safes, security system is something I would deffinately check into.
Security dogs may be a good ideal but keep in mind the liability aspect if someone gets bit.

Also if you have all your serial numbers of the stolen guns I would make a list and take them around to the local gun stores, pawn shops and shooting clubs in your area.
However if they are professional thieves they are most likely taking the guns out of the local area to sell.

I had a friend whose place was burglarized, he figured the thieves may come back so he installed some trail cameras in stategic locations.
Sure enough he got some very good pictures of the thieves in action.
Turned the pictures over to the Sheriff and the boys were busted.

I was burglarized one time and it does make one feel less secure in their home.

To the OP, I hope they catch the thieves that stole your items and I hope you get them returned to you.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
That sux. But most break ins aren't random. Your place was chosen for a reason. Maybe lack of a dog was enough but some reason your place was a target. Many times talking about your possessions at work is enough to put you on a thief's list. Or somebody talking about their buddy's new computer, saw, rifle or whatever.

A dog that barks at strangers is the best deterrent. Doesn't have to be a killer, just barks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top