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Palmetto State Armory
Glock 19 Gen5 MOS
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Non-Latin, transliterated and re-stamped serials
Some serials contain letters that are not Latin, and some have been re-marked after leaving the factory. Both break a lookup that expects Latin characters in the manufacturer's original format — but for different reasons, and only one of them is benign.
Date your firearm by its serial number
Every result names the documented threshold it came from, so you can check the reasoning yourself.
Open the serial number lookupTransliteration: the same letter, two alphabets
Firearms made in Cyrillic-using countries carry serial prefixes stamped in Cyrillic. When a vendor, an importer or a previous owner records the number in Latin characters, the letters are transliterated — and Cyrillic has a number of characters that look identical to Latin ones but transliterate to something else entirely.
The consequence is that a number read straight off the gun as A ZH may correspond to the Cyrillic А Ж, so entering AZH and entering the correct Latin transliteration can give different strings for the same firearm.
| Cyrillic | Looks like | Transliterates to | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| А | A | A | identical |
| В | B | V | looks like B, sounds V |
| Е | E | E | identical |
| К | K | K | identical |
| М | M | M | identical |
| Н | H | N | looks like H, sounds N |
| Р | P | R | looks like P, sounds R |
| С | C | S | looks like C, sounds S |
| У | Y | U | looks like Y, sounds U |
| Х | X | H or KH | looks like X, sounds KH |
| Ж | }| | ZH | no Latin look-alike |
| Я | R (reversed) | YA | mirrored R |
So the practical rule: if the prefix you read contains a character that could be the Latin look-alike of a Cyrillic letter, try the transliterated form as well. If the number still fails, work from the model and the proof marks rather than the prefix.
Re-stamped and re-numbered firearms
Re-marking is a documented practice in the surplus trade. Firearms imported in bulk have been re-numbered to a single consistent sequence, rebuilt from mixed parts and re-stamped to match, or refinished in a way that removes the original marking and adds a new one. Some of this was done commercially and openly; some was not.
A serial that is not in the manufacturer's published chart, on a gun whose other markings are correct, is one of the signals of this. It is not proof — the number may simply fall outside the documented run — but it is the reason the lookup refuses to force a match.
How to tell a factory stamping from a later one
- Depth and consistency. Factory stampings are cut in one operation. Depth is even across the characters, and the spacing is regular. Later stampings often vary in depth character by character.
- Font. Compare the characters against the maker's other markings on the same firearm. A serial in a different typeface from the rollmark is a warning sign.
- The metal around it. Look for a polished patch, a different surface texture, or a shallow depression where an older marking was removed before the new one was cut.
- Position. A stamping that sits slightly off from the factory location documented for that model, or that has been cut through an existing finish edge, is suspect.
- Alignment with the model. If the number implies a year the model was not in production, one of the two is wrong.
If you suspect a re-stamp, stop before any transaction. In the United States, possessing a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number is unlawful under 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), regardless of who did the alteration. This is a question for a specialist, not for a website.
My serial contains letters that are not in the chart at all.
Then the prefix block is not published, or the letters are a transliteration of a non-Latin original. Try the Latin transliteration first, character by character, and check the maker page for the list of prefixes the chart actually documents.
Can the lookup handle Cyrillic input directly?
No, and it should not pretend to. The published charts are in the maker's own format, which for these arms is transliterated. Entering the Latin form keeps the comparison honest; converting at random would invent a correspondence the source does not establish.
The number looks recently stamped. Does that mean it is fake?
Not necessarily — a legitimate importer marking, a factory re-work or a warranty replacement can all look fresh. But a fresh-looking serial in an unexpected font, over a polished area, is a documented warning sign and worth a specialist opinion before money changes hands.