Working in two gun shops in the last few years it makes me sick to see what cosmetic damage people have done to firearms with these.

Previous shop I worked at dealt in antique/C&R and military firearms. I lost count there of how many guns that came in with initials, SSN’s, driver’s license numbers and signatures on them, all poorly done and very prominently in plain sight, many times adjacent to the manufacturer’s name, model name and the serial number so it precludes removing them by machining. Things like a Remington 552 circa 1966, a model with the added attraction of the owner’s “signature” below the factory’s 150th anniversary logo on the left side of the receiver.

So at the shop I’m at now, the other day in comes a Colt SA revolver in .22 Magnum circa 1967. For a 56-57 year old revolver it’s in pretty decent shape, minimal holster wear, grips good and undamaged, good mechanical condition and finish. Well, except for the initials that appear to have been Dremeled into the frame below the cylinder, again large, prominent and poorly done.

I keep trying to figure out how to save it for a reasonable amount but I think it’s a lost cause. And it would bug me if I bought it and left the personalization on it. Honest wear and tear I can live with.

Many many moons ago it was highly recommended to engrave your guns in the name of theft recovery.

I did it on all my guns from an early age. I still have most of those guns and will never sell them.

I stopped the practice in the 80’s and would never do it to another gun.

From what I remember it was pretty popular in the 1960’s to do that.

My dad did that to an old Winchester pump shotgun. Thankfully he put his drivers license number on the trigger guard. I got the gun when he passed away, and was able to replace the trigger assembly.

If it was the trigger guard on that Colt I’d take a chance on it an that’s replaceable, four screws attach it, but on the frame, milling it down is going to change the countours on that one side and of course that’s the S/N’ed part…..

I still have a pocket knife, a Western Barlow, from 45+ years ago that has my name scratched into the bolsters. I remember sitting at the kitchen counter and my dad and I did it to his knife and mine at the same time.

I would never do that now. My dad though looked at things much simpler. It was a tool. That’s it. He didn’t collect anything ever to my recollection. He used everything. Scratching your name poorly into a tool meant to be used was perfectly reasonable to him.

That guy who did that to the Colt didn’t give a shit about collectors value. Sucks for us but he bought it so he got to sign it. Lol.

I get it to some extent, especially considering the mentality of the era, but why not put it somewhere discreet like under the grips? Not only does it not "uglify" the gun so much, but if it ever is stolen there's a better chance the thief might not ever discover it and attempt to remove or alter the markings.

Yep. Very common on military surplus rifles back in the 1950s-1970s (as well as chopping them up to make them handier hunting rifles).

As mentioned, they were viewed as tools, not collectibles or investments.

I have a WW2 bringback German K98k bayonet where the new GI owner had carved his name into the spine.

My Dad and Mom got divorced, my Dad was remarried twice. The kids of his third wife carved the name in large crude letters into the stock of the single-shot .22 rifle that was supposed to be mine—the first gun I ever shot. Needless to say, I never want to see it again.

I have a vague recollection around 1970-ish of the police department encouraging people to put permanent identifying marks on property. It would, I suppose, make it easier to identify (assuming it was recovered in the first place). Still, with guns, they could have showed a little more common sense, like putting them under grips, or even better, keeping a record of serial numbers (virtually all guns have them).

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Very common on military surplus rifles back in the 1950s-1970s (as well as chopping them up to make them handier hunting rifles).

Such a rifle (stock reshaped, hand guard removed) has been in my family or extended family for ~60 years, an Enfield something, I assume from World War II, .303 British cartridge.

In ASAC course (Army CID) the course portion of evidence and crime scene taught to engrave the barrel Bolt and Receiver of the recovered firearm. I told the E7 if he engraved a Colt Python recovered as part of a investigation, he'd have a lawsuit for diminished value in the case of a civilian firearm. Military firearm doesn't matter. But a Purdy Shotgun or Weatherby Rifle and you get it back with elctric pen all over it, the owner is going to flip. That was over 20 years ago. I hope they changed the protocol for it.