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How to Restore a Gun's Serial Number

Every gun has its own unique serial number that provides information on the date and model of the manufacturer. Usually a gun's serial number is located on its handle, receiver or trigger guard. Criminals often remove the serial numbers on their guns to make it more difficult to trace the weapon back to the registered owner. Even if the serial number has been completely etched off the gun, there are a couple of methods to recover it.

Things You'll Need

Permanent magnet
Oil with suspended metal particles
Chemical etching solution
Cloth
Protective rubber gloves

Instructions

- 1
  Remove any bullets from the gun.
- 2
  Search the gun for any traces of the serial number. If it is a semi-automatic gun, the serial number will most likely be on the barrel and slide inside the gun. If it is a revolver, check for vestiges of the number on the barrel or metal piece beneath the gun's grip because the person could have missed one of these spots in his attempts to remove the number.
- 3
  Use a permanent magnet to magnetize the gun. This creates magnetic waves on the surface where the number was removed. Spray oil with suspended metal particles on the gun's surface. The oil causes the smallest metal particles to go into the indentations where the number was, displaying the number.
- 4
  Daub etching solution on the surface where you expect the serial number to be. The solution will eat through the scarred surface and display the serial number.

Gun Collecting