I registered a previously unregistered rifle months back...I have not received a certificate yet so I called the 1 800 line to see what was up. The lady transfered me to an officer and they told me that someone else was trying to register the same rifle with the same serial number. It's an Enfield No1. I told her that I could produce the rifle, she went silent and I told her to look into it and to call me back. That hasn't happened yet of course. Is it possible that two were stamped with the same number? Maybe someone screwed up at the armoury way back when, what if this person's Enfield is a different model than mine would they not know? They have made mistakes on my certificates before but nothing like this. Any thoughts on this situation are appreciated.
Duplicate Serial Number???
- Thread starter Dumby
- Start date
enfields way back when where often mix an match deals, from what i gather the serial was placed on the reciever and the bolt to keep track of the pairs,Dumby said:
what might have happened is that the 2 rifles where mixed up before sale and the serials where taken from differnt points *buddy took his from the reciever you got yours from the bolt or vice versa. or sombody is in for a a bit of a hassle LOL
I had a similar situ with a K98 at one point. I just described the rifle for someone at the CFC untill they had sufficient info to separate the rifles. Be nice to the person on the other end of the phone! They have the power to make this easy or a pain in the ass for you!
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
I wonder if both of you just used the numbers instead of adding the letter prefix. Enfield numbers went to 100,000 and than a letter prefix was added.
The chance that two rifles made the same year by the same manufacturer have the same serial is remote. Was your rifle accurately and completely described when you applied to register it? Does your rifle have a letter anywhere near the receiver serial?
Are you absolutely sure that the rifle actually was unregistered? It could be that the rifle was already in the system, and this is the reason for the double hit.
Are you absolutely sure that the rifle actually was unregistered? It could be that the rifle was already in the system, and this is the reason for the double hit.
- Location
- the other side of the river
Give them the year of manufacture, it may help resolve the situation.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
Lots of enfields were produced with the same serial numbers.
The No1 MkIII rifles were serial numbered by factory and when they used up the range of serial numbers they recylced them and started again. Each factory did this so duplicates are not that rare for example you might have a BSA.Co 1917 with a serial number like H1234 and there is an Enfield 1916 also with a serial number H1234
call them back and give them the year and factory that might solve the problem.
The No1 MkIII rifles were serial numbered by factory and when they used up the range of serial numbers they recylced them and started again. Each factory did this so duplicates are not that rare for example you might have a BSA.Co 1917 with a serial number like H1234 and there is an Enfield 1916 also with a serial number H1234
call them back and give them the year and factory that might solve the problem.
The problem is that the registry was put together by bureaucrats and not by people who knew something about guns.
Mausers run through their whole serial number range every 9999 rifles, start a new letter code and run through it again...... and start the whole series again on January 1 of the following year. The registration process does not recognize this simple fact (which jumps up in many cases of war-time production), so you just have to keep on giving them more and more information until, they find somebody who can figure it out. Remember, their word is Law in this country, even if they haven't the faintest idea what they are talking about. I even have an officially-.44-40 revolver that was built in 1862: Gummint sez so and they're the boss!
Mausers run through their whole serial number range every 9999 rifles, start a new letter code and run through it again...... and start the whole series again on January 1 of the following year. The registration process does not recognize this simple fact (which jumps up in many cases of war-time production), so you just have to keep on giving them more and more information until, they find somebody who can figure it out. Remember, their word is Law in this country, even if they haven't the faintest idea what they are talking about. I even have an officially-.44-40 revolver that was built in 1862: Gummint sez so and they're the boss!
One additional thing to what smellie said above.
The German WW2 system also included the factory code, usually 3 lower case letters.
So you could have a pistol, rifle, MG, etc with a 4 part serial number like:
dot
1942
1234
a
and another with:
dot
1942
1234 , but no a, or b, or c, or d etc.
and another one with
byr
1942
1234
c
and most likely, they would all be listed as S/N 1234
The German WW2 system also included the factory code, usually 3 lower case letters.
So you could have a pistol, rifle, MG, etc with a 4 part serial number like:
dot
1942
1234
a
and another with:
dot
1942
1234 , but no a, or b, or c, or d etc.
and another one with
byr
1942
1234
c
and most likely, they would all be listed as S/N 1234
woodchopper said:
Part of the problem is built into the registration system.
Lee Enfield is regarded as a "make" in the online registration form that used to exist in 1998 or so. This would allow Lee Enfields from a number of factories to have the same serial number in the registration system.
And be registered as a Lee Enfield.
No one has ever done a report on "Duplicate" serial numbers in the registry.
I wonder why not?
I had an unregistered K98 that I ran into the same problem. It took a few calls. Luckly, mine had a letter below the serial number and we went with that. All I had to do was talk to the right person at the CFC. He was helpfull when I did track him down.
I have a Long Branch Number 4 in what looks like presentation condition. NO serial number at all....... and they said it wasn't unique enough. Thosre things weren't exactly mass production to my knowledge. Oh well.......
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
John Sukey said:
By each manufacturer
BSA, Sparkbrook, Enfield, Lithgow, Ishapore ect et al.
So the letter prefixes also repeat as well.
Also some early models were upgraded to other models which were also freshly produced....
We went over this specific question last week at the new enhanced verifiers course. The way to differentiate is by manufacturer. She will get it for using the proof marks. There are 80,000 Browning BLR rifle registered by the same patent number! Half the registry data is ####ed.
This stinkin' issue is still not resolved. I got a message today from some woman in Ottawa and of course when I phone back no one knows anything about anything. I explained my self pretty clearly, I'm returning their call but I guess it's confusing to have incoming calls. Must just be on their watch.
