Conservative. Idaho. Software engineer. Historian. Trying to prevent Idiocracy from becoming a documentary.
Email complaints/requests about copyright infringement to clayton @ claytoncramer.com. Reminder: the last copyright troll that bothered me went bankrupt.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." -- Rom. 8:28
When are the first firearms with serial numbers? I know GCA68 required manufacturers to number every firearm. This suggests that the practice was not yet universal. Can anyone with antebellum firearms look for serial numbers?
Not antebellum, but I have an Iver-Johnson break-top .32 S&W revolver made in 1906, a Fitchburg Cycle Works break-top .38 S&W also made in the early 1900's, and an S&W K-22 Outdoorsman made in 1935 that have them. It was my understanding that serial numbers were purely optional and provided manufacturing and service info only. An owner could certainly record them for recovery in case of theft. I have several pre-1968 long guns that are not serialized. (GASP! "Ghost Guns!")
THEY WERE NEVER INTENDED TO BE FOR GOVERNMENT REGISTRATION OR TOOLS TO "SOLVE" A GUN CRIME!
Not in darkness or fog. They usually sneak aboard on ladders not fire on a cargo ship. Sailors in inflatables approached the dhow first and came under fire.
Colt was serial numbering their guns in the 1800's - "Serial numbers of the SAA started with #1 and by 1940, when production ceased for the first time, ended at 357,859. During the early and mid-1870s production, that 7 ½” barrel length dominated. However, the civilian market expressed a desire for shorter lengths. In 1875 a 5 ½” barrel length was made standard."
Until the 68 GCA, shotguns and .22 rifles weren't required to have S/Ns. There are still a lot of them around. I don't know when other firearms were required to carry S/Ns, though.
Colt numbered its pistols in the 1870s; presumably for their own reasons. It occurs to me that other manufacturers may have done so quite a long time before that, especially makers of luxury hunting weapons. (Perhaps in Europe in the 1600s?)
Not antebellum, but I have an Iver-Johnson break-top .32 S&W revolver made in 1906, a Fitchburg Cycle Works break-top .38 S&W also made in the early 1900's, and an S&W K-22 Outdoorsman made in 1935 that have them. It was my understanding that serial numbers were purely optional and provided manufacturing and service info only. An owner could certainly record them for recovery in case of theft. I have several pre-1968 long guns that are not serialized. (GASP! "Ghost Guns!")
ReplyDeleteTHEY WERE NEVER INTENDED TO BE FOR GOVERNMENT REGISTRATION OR TOOLS TO "SOLVE" A GUN CRIME!
Can you photograph those guns in detail to demonstrate thaat they have no serial numbers?
DeleteI'd seen that video but never watched it.
ReplyDeleteI'd assumed that they'd simply been confused, and attacked a warship thinking it was a cargo ship, perhaps at night or in the fog.
I never imagined that anyone would be stupid enough to knowingly attack a warship with an RPG.
Not in darkness or fog. They usually sneak aboard on ladders not fire on a cargo ship. Sailors in inflatables approached the dhow first and came under fire.
DeleteColt was serial numbering their guns in the 1800's -
ReplyDelete"Serial numbers of the SAA started with #1 and by 1940, when production ceased for the first time, ended at 357,859. During the early and mid-1870s production, that 7 ½” barrel length dominated. However, the civilian market expressed a desire for shorter lengths. In 1875 a 5 ½” barrel length was made standard."
Ante which bellum? :-) My 1920's S&W .32 Hand Ejector and 1916 Remington 11-R shotgun both have ser #s. However my two 1950s .22 rifles do not.
ReplyDeleteCivil war, or ideally Revolution.
DeleteCan you photograph in detail those .22 rifles to show the absence of serial numbers and send them to me?
DeleteUntil the 68 GCA, shotguns and .22 rifles weren't required to have S/Ns. There are still a lot of them around. I don't know when other firearms were required to carry S/Ns, though.
DeleteYes, I am trying too see if this was lack of serial numbers was common before the 14th Amendment.
DeleteColt numbered its pistols in the 1870s; presumably for their own reasons. It occurs to me that other manufacturers may have done so quite a long time before that, especially makers of luxury hunting weapons. (Perhaps in Europe in the 1600s?)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nps.gov/spar/learn/historyculture/firearm-serial-numbers.htm
ReplyDeleteNo serial numbers prior to 1865 at the Springfield national armory.