[dust_101]

Folks, I'm looking at picking up another 1927 Sistema (1911A1) but this one has some serious wear on it. The checkering on the mainspring housing is nearly smooth! My concern is the markings on the slide, and the serial number on the frame/barrel/mag floorplate. Some of these are so worn you really need to look at it to read the serial number. I may look at blasting and blueing this pistol, but I'm worried about losing the serial number.

Is there a way to deepen the serial number without making it look like a hack job, or have you ever glass beaded something with light marks, and what did you do to keep the marks from being washed out to much?

[rcmodel]

Well, you could carefully hand polish the frame in the area of the serial number, then mask it off with electrical tape before bead blasting.
You would be left with just a high-polish blue rectangle containing the serial number.

It won't make it any better, but it certainly won't make it any worse either.

The others on the barrel, magazines, etc. are not important from a legal standpoint and could be buffed off, or left as is and bead-blasted.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[230RN]

Doesn't the BATFE have some provision somewhere for refurbishing a serial number?

[1 old 0311]

Gunsmith can restamp the ORIGINAL numbers. Had a local guy do that with a old Colt vest pocket .25 a few years back.

[Javelin]

Doesn't the BATFE have some provision somewhere for refurbishing a serial number?

Only that it needs to have one if it was manufactured with it.

[230RN]

I thought there was some rigamarole you had to go through to either get a new number assigned or the old one restamped. You had to touch base with them, though, somehow --paperwork was involved.

Maybe the gunsmith mentioned did in fact go through the steps for you.
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ETA: This is the best research I could do on this subject with my current time limitations:

http://www.tacticalcourses.com/lite/topic.html?b=5&f=4&t=52660

[dust_101]

Thanks guys, as I figured there is no 'simple' answer to this one. Of course the original stampings are done with a bit of a slanted lean to them, so I can't just get normal number stamps to deepen the current ones.

I like the concept of taping off the serial number on the frame. I have yet to bead blast (or sand blast) anything but stripped metal, what sort of material can hold up to glass bead or sand blasting? I'd imagine you'd more protection out of say duct tape vs. scotch tape.

[rcmodel]

Like I said, use (black vinyl) electrical tape.

I have used it for probably 30 years or more for sand-blast mask.

Get the good 3M kind, not the Chinese .99 cents a roll kind.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MElectrical/Home/ProductsServices/Products/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20OES1_nid=T3638XVG40be70Q1MK7N3Ngl

You might want to practice on a piece of scrap steel first and see what you can and can't do with that small a mask first.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel