He finds bullet casings by the seashore

Tom Dougherty was in the shallow waters of Whitney Beach about a week after Tropical Storm Debby, when he thought he stepped on a seashell. The “shell” turned out to be a shell casing. It is a 50-caliber casing fired from what he believes to be a Browning M2 50-caliber machine gun. The S.L. 42 stamped on the base of the casing suggests it came from the St. Louis Ordinance Co. and was made in 1942. This was another reminder that Longboat Key was a shooting range and gunnery in its early history.