Is this true?

[gun'sRgood]

I'm not sure if this goes here but here goes. I was watching a show where the bad guys had filled off the serial numbers on a few guns. The good guys had the "lab" do x-rays with the thought that when serial numbers are put on guns, the numbers somehow pernitrates the metal and can still be found. I'd never heard of this. So true?

 

[mcb]

In theory with the right equipment you can make out the serial number even if it has been ground off, this is due to the distortion to the steel's crystal structure below the serial number. This is assuming they did not grind too deeply and that the numbers were originally put into the steel by stamping and not machined or laser etched as these do not displace the crystal structure in the same way.

One technique shown here:

 

[H&R Glock]

Maybe the Gunny can answer this with some expertise. His job was in police ballistics etc.
Yeah, I kinda figured that if the bad guy stamped random characters over the defaced serial numbers that the original numbers could not be raised. Could be wrong tho.

 

[55fairlane]

You can also use acid to etch the metal and read the s/n

 

[Tirod]

A lot of felons don't bother - what serial number is on a potentially stolen gun doesn't rise to the level of them illegally possessing one.

What is intended by removing the number is to make it as hard as possible to trace where it came from - more of an organizational issue. The reality is that if you did have the number, one cash transaction will break the chain and a lot of investigative time would be expended to discover who and where. Which is exactly what happens with a lot of stolen guns - arms traffickers don't keep books.

Despite the anti gunners intent to track every sale whereever it might lead, the reality is there's not really much to know if you do trace it. Consider the number of murders in Chicago, if that administration really wanted stolen guns off the street, it would already have been done - decades ago. Sting operations, mandatory jail for possession, etc and it would be cleaned up.

Historically - this all started with the switchblade ban in 1959. The response was - move to small caliber handguns. It was a test campaign to see if they could pull off a ban, and did. From there, they refined the process, and in 1968 they got the Gun Control Act passed, and only THEN was it required to serial number guns by the manufacturer. Up to then, it was more a requirement in large organizations just to correctly inventory them - like the Army.

Their next step we already know, every firearm transfer - even between family members - to be processed thru an FFL with a record of the transaction to file available to the ATF and if stolen then a criminal charge for losing it.

Which requires a serial number.

All that to explain why some by 80% firearms - just to put a stick in the spokes on their agenda. No serial number = freedom. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. It is their very deliberate intent to use serial numbers to infringe our rights thru records, control, forcing us to buy a permit (= a poll tax) and eventually removing them from us.

Aint gonna work.

 

[gun'sRgood]

A lot of felons don't bother - what serial number is on a potentially stolen gun doesn't rise to the level of them illegally possessing one.

What is intended by removing the number is to make it as hard as possible to trace where it came from - more of an organizational issue. The reality is that if you did have the number, one cash transaction will break the chain and a lot of investigative time would be expended to discover who and where. Which is exactly what happens with a lot of stolen guns - arms traffickers don't keep books.

Despite the anti gunners intent to track every sale whereever it might lead, the reality is there's not really much to know if you do trace it. Consider the number of murders in Chicago, if that administration really wanted stolen guns off the street, it would already have been done - decades ago. Sting operations, mandatory jail for possession, etc and it would be cleaned up.

Historically - this all started with the switchblade ban in 1959. The response was - move to small caliber handguns. It was a test campaign to see if they could pull off a ban, and did. From there, they refined the process, and in 1968 they got the Gun Control Act passed, and only THEN was it required to serial number guns by the manufacturer. Up to then, it was more a requirement in large organizations just to correctly inventory them - like the Army.

Their next step we already know, every firearm transfer - even between family members - to be processed thru an FFL with a record of the transaction to file available to the ATF and if stolen then a criminal charge for losing it.

Which requires a serial number.

All that to explain why some by 80% firearms - just to put a stick in the spokes on their agenda. No serial number = freedom. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. It is their very deliberate intent to use serial numbers to infringe our rights thru records, control, forcing us to buy a permit (= a poll tax) and eventually removing them from us.

Aint gonna work.

Awesome oration! I think the NRA could use you. Thanks!

 

[Riomouse911]

To answer your question, sometimes a filed-off serial number can be “raised” as mcb and 55fairlane mentioned. I’ve seen it work in a few cases over the decades, certainly not every one. As was said above it needs to be stamped and not etched onto the steel underneath and the filing has to be rather shallow. The pressure from stamping can leave a deep imprint from the pressure of the stamp on the metal.

Since possession a gun with damaged serial numbers is already a crime, many times numbers are filed for several other reasons. If the crook hung onto the gun he stole, a common reason is to hamper the possessor from being connected to other crimes. EX: If the gun was stolen during a home burglary, identifying the stolen gun may help to put the guy with the stolen gun at that crime, and any others associated with it. Others have said they won’t buy a shady gun with serial numbers on them, so the thief will scratch them out before selling them, etc.

Stay safe.

 

[gun'sRgood]

I was watching a gun being x-rayed for this, pretty kool tech.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I actually own a gun that had the serial number ground off. I bought it from cabelas of all places. They, and I at the time, assumed the number under the crane was the serial number.

Once I realized the serial number was supposed to be on the butt of the grip, I started trying to reveal the number without harming it. I took it to a buffing wheel, as i could barely make out some markings. This revealed the number just enough to read and find it was made in 1897.

 

[BBBBill]

I actually own a gun that had the serial number ground off. I bought it from cabelas of all places. They, and I at the time, assumed the number under the crane was the serial number...

For a private individual I can understand not knowing, but it's inexcusable for an FFL to not know. But there are a bunch who wouldn't.

 

[BigBlue 94]

For a private individual I can understand not knowing, but it's inexcusable for an FFL to not know. But there are a bunch who wouldn't.

My thoughts exactly, and from the gun library... Where they have "professionals" dedicated to it.