NYDN - Go ahead, send junk mail. A New Jersey man’s .44 Magnum mailbox would make Dirty Harry jealous. Roger Buchko, 49, built an oversized replica of a Smith & Wesson firearm to replace his old letter box, drawing attention from across the globe. “I got people commenting from England,” the semi-retired cabinet maker told the Daily News. The truck-sized sidearm weighs about 350 pounds and sits on a 1,200-pound steel base on his front lawn in the Lopatcong Township in rural New Jersey. Buchko said he saw a similar project online and thought he could build it better. His neighbor donated the eight-inch PVC pipe for the barrel, and he built the rest from plywood scrap he had lying around. The business end of his faux firearm points out onto the road with the mailbox installed in the muzzle. The cylinder, mounted on ball bearings, spins in a good breeze. Buchko said the unusual lawn ornament wasn’t designed as a political statement. He was just hoping to pick up work for his cabinet-making and metal fabrication business. “It’s just to drum up business, because I’m broke,” he said. That hasn’t stopped people on all sides of the gun debate from weighing in. Long-distance Web commenters claim it gives them nightmares or tell Buchko to slap an orange cap on the tip to identify it as a fake. “You can’t even believe it,” he said. “I got nothing but compliments,” he said. “I had one person throw eggs on it, but I’m sure that was just kids.” He estimates 500-700 people have stopped to take a picture of the gun. It hasn’t earned him any more business yet, but he’s hopeful. “I built it because I can,” he said. “You know what I mean?”
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