Need help from C&R collectors
I am trying to get this info on as many gun collector/ auction sites as possible. I am looking for my dad's Vietnam bring back pistol. It is a Chinese/CHICOM 'Tokarev" Type 54 (K-54 per Vietnamese export license). The serial # is 13000041. That would put the manufacture date at 1966 (early 1966). He brought it back in 1971. It was stolen in the early 80's from my childhood home in Spruce Pine, NC. My dad passed several years back and I am trying against all odds to see if I can locate the gun. I am offering a reward of double the gun's value, no questions asked for it's return. I have all the original capture documents and export licenses, including the Vietnamese version typed on rice paper. Again, it is a non-import war trophy, so there are no U.S. import stamps, and no manual safety. It would have the three Chinese symbols on the top slide along with the serial #. The serial # would also be on the left side of the frame, along with the arsenal/factory #, which is 66. The manufacture date of 1966 would also be next to the factory #. I am pursuing all law enforcement avenues that I can, but I figured getting on as many of these sites and getting the info out to as many collectors as possible couldn't hurt. I realize this is a one in a million shot, but it definitely won't show up if I don't try. It would mean a great deal to get this gun back. My dad promised to pass it down to me shortly before it was stolen. Thus, the sentimental value is what is driving this improbable mission. Thanks for reading and passing along to others.
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The odds are slim, unless your dad filed a police report when it was stolen. If so, it will be on the Treasury Dept stolen gun registry, accessible only by law enforcement. Have you asked your local police to check? 0 -
As Neal said, pretty much your only hope is if your dad filed a police report when it was stolen. Then it will be in the computer system as stolen. Then it would have to be encountered by police during a traffic stop, search warrant or other contact, or if someone tried to sell it thru an FFL dealer. 0 -
Like looking for a needle in a haystack. If it was me, I would work back to the theft. How? When? Where? Possible suspects? Try to run it down from that end. But most likely long gone but you could try. Good luck! 0 -
I'm not too far from Spruce Pine. I will keep a look out for the pistol you are looking for. 0 -
Thanks for the suggestions. I am doing everything I can on the law enforcement side. My dad did report the theft to the county sheriff and I remember them coming out to the house the night of the theft. The problem is, I could not find a copy or even a case # in my dad's personal belongings. The current local sheriff of that county, was able to run the serial # to see if it showed up as stolen in the NCIC database. It for whatever reason did not. He has related that there is nothing more he can do and did not think he could track down a case# or police report that far back. I thanked him for his time and moved on to my local sheriff's office out here in Kansas. I was completely taken back by the response I got from them. They have really taken this on as a pet project of sorts. They are bringing in the local ATF agent, who is a good buddy of theirs. They are doing everything they can to track down a case # with the state of NC, as local police reports would have been filed with the state DOJ or SBI. They are going to do an offline database search to see if the gun info was ever in the system at some point. They think it may have been entered and then subsequently purged, if the reporting LE agency didn't regularly validate the information. They are also contacting the recently retired police chief of the town the theft occurred in. He would have been the sheriff at the time of the theft. The hope is that if we can track down a case #, then they could possibly re-enter the info in the database. So, my impossible odds may have at least improved to improbable. Regardless of the odds, I will keep trying. 0
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