Lebel Mle 1886 M93 Barrel Serial Number Question

[Correus]

Pat -

Spot on in regard to all of it!

I thank you for your help with this. You have no idea how grateful I am.

You might find this interesting....I asked the FFL holder near me, the one we have talked about using, about this. He said it made sense to him and he agrees, but that he has no experience with antique firearms, so didn’t feel comfortable telling me they guy could ship directly to me. He said he didn't want to give us a wrong answer and get us in trouble. He then suggest I contact a gun shop and ask.

WT!?!? One would think that someone who has a valid FFL license would know!!!

[Correus]

Pat -

I forgot to attach the following pics. They are taken from a Lebel on the Liberty Tree website. As you can see, the SN is just about hidden by the stock. It can only be seen, clearly, by looking down on it. I'm hoping this will be the case with the one we've been talking about. I'm hoping the original spot just got buggered up and they just moved it further down.

[PRE]

I really doubt that. The one in question was very deliberately dished out, in a way that makes reconstruction impossible. Looking at the cavity that resulted, there's no way the die penetrated the metal of the receiver that deep. Like I mentioned before, I can't imagine a good intention was behind that due to how thoroughly the 'master' serial number was removed. My collecting focus is German-captured foreign arms, and I've seen many, many examples of re-numbering by way of line-out's, 'X'-outs, so-called lazy 'O's' used to obscure previous numbers, et al., but nothing even close to this. I'd put my money on this being done stateside, and not for innocuous purposes. However, the fact that it's on an antique renders many things legally irrelevant in this case. If it's too much of an uphill battle to get this, just remember there are many other matching examples out there without issues like this one.

[Correus]

It isn't a done deal yet. The missing SN doesn't really bother me, it sort of adds to the story and is definitely an interesting mystery. It, without doubt, makes one wonder "why"?

The price he is offering is one I haven't seen unless I go back at least 5 or 6 years - at least in regard to online gun shops and auctions - unless it's a junker for parts or restoration.

The next couple of days will tell.

[Correus]

This deal may not got through...

I shared with him what you told me Pat, as well as what a couple other dealers told - basically the same thing.

Following is what he said:

"I stopped my my firearm dealer (the one I usually buy from or ship guns to from other dealers) and they basically said the same thing but said I should contact an attorney as ask as you can get centerfire ammo for it commercially."

He then said he was going to check with FedEx. I wonder if he knows that FedEx will only ship between FFL holders. They will only insure it if it is shipped between FFL holders.

I'm starting to feel like I'm beating my head against a rock.

If his dealer "basically said the same thing" they would damn well know about the centerfire aspect.

Found out what the deal was with the missing serial number. At some point, before he got it he says, someone buggered up the number using a pipe wrench. They almost destroyed the date stamp as well! They made matters worse by trying to fix it.

I wonder if he realizes that if it were a "regulated firearm" it's would be illegal for him to sell it with that number missing.

Other than the SN issue the rifle is in really great shape and it doesn't bother me. Yet with the way he is going about this...just don't know.

[PRE]

People like that insist on creating complication where simplicity reigns. It isn't worth it, and it's not the only one out there.