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1911 Experts....info??? WWI lunchbox S# added

Locust Fork
My guess on this one is that it either never had a serial number or it was removed and the new number was given later (obviously).

If you guys see anything I need to add to this one any info given is appreciated.

https://www.GunBroker.com/item/780542796
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • perry shooter
    hello I will try to help just got home from work do you have a copy of Charles CLAWSON"429 page book [?]I will look at your pictures and then give you some pages to look at after I do some research CHEERS from the skinny old man from VA.
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  • perry shooter
    Hello I have a lunch box 1911 that does not have a serial number but it has never had one I can prove it was made before 1939gun control act because of the heart shaped cut out in grip frame only made in 1916 as well as measurements of slide where serial number would be. I have a letter from BATF stating I can own as well as sell it any time with a copy of the BATF letter about the pistol
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  • NeoBlackdog
    Danged unfortunate first three letters in the serial number![:o)]
    I'll bet that ol' pistol could tell some stories...
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  • WMClark
    It took me a little digging but there was a discussion on another forum back in 2009. The serial number was IRS 8149 on the one being discussed then. one possible answer was at one time, a gunsmith who removed a serial number in the process of working on a gun (or who encountered a gun with no serial number) could apply to what was then the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD) of the Internal Revenue Service for a number which would make the gun legal. He could then record the gun in his book under the new number. That is one of those IRS numbers.
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  • mrmike08075
    Yes - there at least used to be a formal method to apply or reapply a serial number to a firearm receiver - a formal legal govt. Approved process...

    For say a restoration or refinish - and in the case of many removed or altered numbers there were methods to raise or restore or positively determine what the ser # had been (chemical raising or X-ray type metal analysis)

    And we have one of those 1911 variants were the serial numbers are lost from records or may have overlapped / been duplicated or repeated by manufacture(s)...

    It can be seen as a toxic item or actively avoided by some ffl holders / dealers who should know better or by individuals who don't trust the process or the govt.

    IMHO

    Mike
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  • Locust Fork
    quote:Originally posted by WMClark
    It took me a little digging but there was a discussion on another forum back in 2009. The serial number was IRS 8149 on the one being discussed then. one possible answer was at one time, a gunsmith who removed a serial number in the process of working on a gun (or who encountered a gun with no serial number) could apply to what was then the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD) of the Internal Revenue Service for a number which would make the gun legal. He could then record the gun in his book under the new number. That is one of those IRS numbers.



    That is great to know. I figured the number was assigned by the ATF, but didn't think about them being part of the IRS back then. That explains the IRS prefix.

    I know there were a large number of these guns that had "US Property" removed because the owners didn't want to get in trouble for having something they thought they'd get in trouble for having. I forgot totally about the heart shaped cut out on the grip frame being an indication for the lunchbox era guns. I thought they probably removed the US Property mark, but I've never seen one with the serial number removed and replaced. (Until now)
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