That is not the only VIN plate on a vehicle.
Model 60 with Missing Serial Number
- Thread starter Josephmorris7
- Start date
That is not the only VIN plate on a vehicle.
dsf
Member
Model 60 Smiths haven't been around all that long. Like many here I have guns +100 years old and the serial numbers are strong and generally look like they were stamped yesterday.
A photo of the gun would be helpful.
A photo of the gun would be helpful.
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With a car I can sell the motor and its components, the sub frame, the transmission, the axles, wheel, the seats, the windows, electrical system the doors, trunk, hood, front fenders and lights without a title. The body however will need a title to license. Think chop shops. By the way the VIN in the dash is just a tag pop riveted on in most cars even if it was stamped right into the steel. It would not be that hard to change. Cut it out, tack weld another one from a wreck in its place and cover the cut and weld with the dash upholstery. I can never remember anybody looking at even the one on the dash, during a traffic stop even on my 75 Trans Am which was painted black and the title and for some time the registration, was the original white. When I moved to WA I did have to take my MT truck in for inspection and they checked the VIN, the non matching door wasn't even a hick up. In Montana I have never done anything but present a title from which ever state and got a new one.
I have also never had a LEO ask me to see the serial number on a gun. In this state at least he could ask, but not demand without some kind of probable cause or warrant. I would bet 90+% of LEOs would not know it was a proper S&W serial number, right font and alignment if a number was neatly stamped on the butt, unless it was sent to an actual forensic lab.
On a revolver I can stick any thing but the frame in the US mail. A firearms dealer can sell me anything but that bare frame with no 4473. On a semi auto it is the bare frame.
If during the sale or say a police search it turned out that a car door with a vin or a revolver cylinder with a serial number it somehow came out to be from a stolen car or revolver, it would be considered stolen property and I am sure there would be questions on how I got it.
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That's what I would do. It's a parts gun for sure. Not worth the time and expense to change that.
The last thing I would do is involve law enforcement
OOPS!
I too had an M60 entered into the system using an assembly number.
I had traded away an M60. Several years later I was contacted by the state's attorney general's office. I was asked if I ever owned a 40 foot flat bed trailer with serial number XXXXXXX. It turns out LEO firearms were registered with the AG's office!
Of course, I never owned that trailer. It turns out the M60 changed hands again and the system caught the error.
When I made the transfer I fully expected the transfer to be "legal" since I was a Deputy, and the department FFL made the transfer (4473)!
Yes, the serial number was on frame under the rubber Pacmayr grips! Yes, the assembly number must have been used.
Since that experience I always double check ser. numbers!
Smiles,
I too had an M60 entered into the system using an assembly number.
I had traded away an M60. Several years later I was contacted by the state's attorney general's office. I was asked if I ever owned a 40 foot flat bed trailer with serial number XXXXXXX. It turns out LEO firearms were registered with the AG's office!
Of course, I never owned that trailer. It turns out the M60 changed hands again and the system caught the error.
When I made the transfer I fully expected the transfer to be "legal" since I was a Deputy, and the department FFL made the transfer (4473)!
Yes, the serial number was on frame under the rubber Pacmayr grips! Yes, the assembly number must have been used.
Since that experience I always double check ser. numbers!
Smiles,
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