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Firearm record card

One page you can hand to an insurer, attach to an estate inventory, or keep with the gun. Enter what you know — leave blank what you do not. The card states plainly what is established and what is not determinable, because that is what makes it usable: an identification that cannot be supported is worse than one that admits its limit.

The lookup can date Browning and Ruger directly. For every other maker the card will tell you where the records are held instead — which is a real answer.
Include prefixes and hyphens as they appear. If it is only partly legible, enter what you can read and note the rest below — a partial number with its limitation recorded is better than a tidy one that is wrong.

An identification that cannot be supported is worse than one that admits its limit. Insurers and appraisers deal with uncertainty constantly; what they cannot use is a number that looks authoritative and is not.

"Not determinable" is a legitimate entry. So is "the serial number suggests 1928–1931, from the maker’s published chart, which gives ranges and not exact years".

Photographs of the markings are worth more than a photograph of the gun. A whole-gun photo proves the item exists; a marking photo proves what it is.

This card documents what you have established; it is not an appraisal, a legal opinion, or a professional identification. Compiled 2026-10-14.