Well I spose it happens to everyone, even one of the founding members & biggest posters on the old forum. Shady if you can hear me please come back!
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Yer, Last I saw of him on here was late last year. I know he was shifting around a fair bit, maybe just not enough time. Hopefully all is okay.
The number of old hands dropped a bit when the forum moved I think.
Just natural dynamics of the web population maybe. Seen it on another forum Iâm on, where maybe a dozen âbig namesâ with a post tally in the order of 7,000 - 10,000 have faded away. Only a few of the core group still play there now but the crop of bright-eyed neophytes is always flourishing.
Seeing the same here with new users coming on stream.
Love following the progression from their early excited posts where they show their first finds (tent peg, 2c piece etc), through their first silver, then the ring, silver ring, gold ring etc.
When they start digging Sovs, thatâs where I lose interest 
@ShadyShane Time to dust off the doorbell and feed it some silver bro. 
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Yeah hit the nail on the head Mr Wiggle, natural order of things I guessâŚfrom out every spare moment, living & breathing detecting to once a week then a month then before you know it youâve taken up stamp collecting!
Have to admit I skipped the tent peg & 2c in my first ever post & went straight to a whopping 20g 14k ring!
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We lost some to bookface.
But hopefully that will be turning into a pyre soon, and theyâll return here.
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You mean Friendface
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Hi everyone.
Im still here. been watchin but havnt logged in of late - wot a slacker.
Been real busy this year gettin our new fuddy in order.
Havnt been hunting for a while but i have a extra neat find to show you all. will try put it up this week.
Nice to be missed all the same. happy hunting all.
Shady
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Awesome! Good to see we havenât lost you to stamp collecting shady haha.
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Great to hear your still around was thinking I would have too take up the âget a garrettâ line lol.
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Nice one. Go hard all the same. Garrett rules for sure.
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Heh, your devotion has affected me - just added a mighty Ace 250 to my stable.
Straight off the block going to mod it for ground balance and volume 
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Hey there Muddy. 
Take it for a few walks first youâll luv it.
Check this find out from south of here
(tried to do a big post earlier on but after half an hour the reply button bummed out)
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Yeah, will likely get it out and have a play first, itâs what you do with new toys eh?..then Iâll rip the warranty sticker off!
Ha ha, poor little Ace⌠Be kind to it.
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Just seen the pic - Beauty! Nothing else there? Would have thought there would have been some more hardware if that was in the dirt.
Hi Shane. Is that a trigger guard?
MK
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Yep, sure is MK!
Gold rings get tiresome all of a sudden when you see something like that.
Going through (what little ) info I have, I think itâs off a 1853-1864 Enfield or Snider. Doesnât match a lot of the pictures I have as yours seems to be missing the hole for the sling loop (or whatever itâs called) although no doubt there were variations.
No doubt someone will be along shortly to blow my ID out of the water and say, âOh, thatâs a pattern 2 guard off a Buckfield Thundertube, manufactured in Manchester on a Wednesday afternoon in October 1849 by Bert Wilkinthropâ !
To pinch a @Lammerlaw catchphrase, Iâm severely Jellyarse.
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Hey me jellyarse as well - a good find - be great to know its history BUT if you find that part then who knows what else is there. The fact that it is brass might well indicate that it was designed for sea service - Some weapons designed for the Navy and sea service had what was termed âBrass furnitureâ - Brass being used because it did not rust.
As for exactly what it is from I dont actually know - an Earsplittenloudenboomer and thats for sure! - was that Led Zeppelin or Steppenwolf
Hey maybe its from Kawitis musket and was used at Ruapekapeka - could be worth untold - do you want the address of a good forger who can write an authentic 150 year old tag and age it - then put it on Trademe!
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Hi Chris, hi lammerlaw.
yes it be a trigger guard, my suspicions are itâs off a rifle. It was found down near Whangarei by Crisyboy. he said there were other targets below this dig and would return to see whats there.
A firing mechanism with serial numbers would be real cool.
Not sure what he plans to do with it but doubt he would part with it.
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I initially thought it was a musket or Snider one and that did seem logical but I checked against my Sniderâs and the musket and Snider tangs are longer so my guess is now a single barrel Sea service or Military hand gunâŚonly a guess.
Two things for certain is the fact that it is not from a toy and it was not lost yesterday. Its definitely from an older Military type handgun or musket/rifle.
You just have to look for the rest. It could have been lost over board or coming ashoreâŚwho knows.
Either flintlock or percussionâŚthey were real hand cannons.
I do think that if it could talk to you then it would amaze youâŚaboard a sailing shipâŚmarines coming to NZ to fight the MaorisâŚKororarekaâŚdeath, doom and destruction.
You have to go and look for moreâŚmaybe the rest of itâŚa skellington or two, Maori dommyknocker (mere) Hone Hekes false teeth and a purse of sovereigns.
Dammit I keep looking at the photos - NOW I notice that it is the tang end that is broken so the tang WAS longer - Hmmm Snider? Brown Bess? Tower Pistol? I do know that mudwiggle is close to the mark. The front end âappearsâ a bit long for a Snider and no provision for the sling swivel that some have OR the nipple protector ring that others have.
I would bet that it IS British military thoughâŚany one for a ten cent bet? I cant afford to lose too much.! This is typical of the British Military pistols of the time and there was a fair bit of difference in the brass trigger guards but I do think that it is from one of those variations, pistol or long arm - flint or percussion.
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Are there any marks stamped on the underside of the âloopâ?
Thereâs a bag of sovs in a carpetbag lost overboard somewhere in the ooze off Onerahi wharf if Crisyboy fancies a swim