Checking a rifle's SN

[hitman13]

ok, i have a good friend at work that just had his grandfather die. they found an old Enfield Rifle in the house while cleaning it. His dad is not very firearm savvy and told him that he doesnt know anything about it so that he ( my friend) can have it. The problem now lies in this:

My friend vaughly remembers someone talking about a stolen rifle within the family once ( about 20 years ago). His father doesnt know anything about the story but says it is possible knowing how some of the other family members are. How does he go about seeing if this rifle is stolen before he takes possession of it?

Thanks

[bobfried]

Well considering rifles (especially rifles like an Enfield) are not registered with, nor recorded by any government organization that would be a pointless chase.

He could spend a few thousand dollars and hire a private detective to find the leads, or realizing that it's worth maybe a few hundred dollars (unless it's a super-special variant or a sniper model) he'll just have to take that risk. If there was an import mark he could call the importer (if they're still in business), trace the rifle to a dealer (if they're still in business), pull up the records (if they kept anything at all on surplus rifles and was still in business), willingly find and give those records to him, track down the person they sold it to (if that person is still alive) and find out if it was stolen from him or if he sold it off to someone else. As you can see, that's a long chase for such a rifle. Ownership is 99% possession and in this case it is more than a valid stance.

Who knows, someone could show up and say 20 years ago, somewhere in the United States, someone stole their rifle and here they are to claim it from you, the 3rd owner since such supposed action took place. And if that ever took place they'd have a heck of a time recovering it as the law will be on your friend's side more than the original owner. That owner must produce quite a bit of paperwork, records and photographs to prove their case. And in the unworldy chance that they could, your friend would be in no trouble whatsoever from any entity anywhere on earth and the afterlife. It's as scotch free as you can ever be.

If he's really worried, SELL IT TO ME, I have an 03 FFL and would love to add another Enfield to my collection.