To discover if your sporting firearm is listed in the records, click on the of the sporting firearm in the list below. Then enter your serial number and model if needed or search the list of complete serial numbers for each Make. Additional Makes and serial numbers will be added as the project progresses.
If you discover that your sporting firearm is in the records, Griffin & Howe will be happy to verify the model, if applicable, and the date when the sporting firearm was first entered into inventory. Please send an email request to or call Griffin & Howe at +1.908.766.2287.
Griffin & Howe will also provide a and a photograph of the original page(s) on which your sporting firearm appears. The information on the certificate will vary depending on the year in which the sporting firearm was in inventory. The cost of this service is $60 per sporting firearm but may be more or less depending upon the amount of information in the record.
For a more detailed description of the records and to see sample pages please click here –.
There are a few exceptions, like machine guns, but if your gun has a serial number and no other additional markings, it was probably manufactured before 2002. When the Serial Number Is Your Only Clue Whether your pre-2002 gun has only a serial number mark or you're sorting through a list of serial numbers for guns to be distributed, for example, in a will, there are ways to figure out the make and model. Do a Google search. Enter the words 'gun serial number' in the search bar, followed by the portion of the number before the first hyphen. This tells you the gun's maker. For example, with a gun serial number of 331-12345, just enter 331.
The search 'gun serial number 331' brings up results for the Ruger SR9, which is the gun's correct make and model. For serial numbers with multiple hyphens, you might need to include additional numbers between the first and second hyphen to get the most accurate results. For an serial number of 16-003-123-95, enter 'gun serial number 16-003' to learn that the number is for an AyA shotgun. Check the manufacturer's website.
Once you've determined the model, go on the manufacturer's website to find which year the gun was made, from the digits following the dash. In this instance, 331-12345 was manufactured in the year 2007. In the case of the AyA number, the gun was manufactured in 1995, evidenced by the last two numbers, and '123' is its identifying number. Check the NRA Museum for antiques. If Google doesn't give you satisfactory information, the NRA Museum online might provide leads through their serialization database. The 47-page PDF lists gun manufacturers and their serial numbers dating back to the 1890s. Checking to See if a Gun Is Stolen Buying a gun through a licensed gun shop will help ensure you're not buying a stolen weapon or one that was involved in a crime, but what if you're buying from a private individual?