Thread: Barrel and serial number engraving Christchurch ?

So I have just rung two of the larger Engraving companies in CHCH about getting the caliber engraved on a new ( not on the rifle ) barrel before I do the slow rust bluing.

Flat No from them both
They will not engrave firearms of parts

That's pretty ironic with the new registration requirements and for those of us who do have a few vintage firearms with No serial number at all

So rather than ring around the lot I thought I would ask if anyone knows who will engrave firearms and parts

Got mine done by a bloke in the mall. No worries at all, just had to explain what size etc. I wanted the lettering. After all a barrel is just a piece of pipe............

This is a can of worms just waiting to be opened. Does the engraver need to have a FAL? Under the act, do they need to register with police? Are they required to have safe storage?

Please wait while I whip up a bowl of popcorn...

Funny you should say that, someone else put forward an educated opinion recently that the action of permanently marking identification numbers onto firearms and firearms components does come under the the definition of 'service provision' so requires one to be a gunsmith/dealer to provide the service commercially. Same as taking a critical component to an engineer and getting them to copy it to repair something...

The concept of more control of who has does with etc etc for firearms stuff is nice and we all support the safer communities regarding criminal use of firearms objectives but implementation vs ideas seems to be leaving a lot to be desired it would appear.

Greg maniatis just got a laser engraver if that suited you

Originally Posted by No.3

Funny you should say that, someone else put forward an educated opinion recently that the action of permanently marking identification numbers onto firearms and firearms components does come under the the definition of 'service provision' so requires one to be a gunsmith/dealer to provide the service commercially. Same as taking a critical component to an engineer and getting them to copy it to repair something...

The guy in the mall just wants to turn a dollar. Did it while i waited. Perhaps you are overthinking this and tryting to make it a problem! No offence....

Any CNC machine shop would be able to do it. I used to do it for a guy importing handgun frames into Aussie. As mentioned there may be legal issues but smaller shops probably won't be bothered by them, as mentioned it's just engraving a bit of pipe.

I have always stamped barrels and it is easy to do neatly if you know how. First, you must have a set of good quality letter and number stamps. I find 2mm is about right for most jobs. Write out the desired text on a piece of paper, eg; .30-40 US GOVT. Next lay a straight strip of plastic insulation tape to form the bottom edge of the stamping. Finally start stamping from the right hand side (ie; right to left) using one short sharp hammer blow after carefully positioning the bottom of the stamp against the tape. Note that I recommend having several practice goes on a piece of mild steel to get used to the correct hammer blow and spacing. The spacing varies with individual letters and it is not based on the thickness of the stamp body (the letter I sits much closer to the previous letter than W as an example). By working from right to left you get the spacing more accurate (if you are left-handed it may work better the other way!). If you cock up a letter you can overstamp it with an O then an X then go over the area with a 3mm flat punch and carefully restore the surface by displacement before restamping. It is an invisible repair if done properly.

If the guy at the mall engraved it while you wait, I can't see an issue.

As an aside, stamping is far better than engraving, as far as forensic recovery of filed or ground off serial numbers is concerned. Stamping changes the metallurgy and numbers show up again using corrosives and magnetic methods.

Not quite as reliably as they would have you believe!

Originally Posted by NZ_noddy

The guy in the mall just wants to turn a dollar. Did it while i waited. Perhaps you are overthinking this and tryting to make it a problem! No offence....

Not me - if you read that bit you replied to you would have seen that I started it with 'someone else put forward...' and it was someone who should know. My viewpoint on it is that the guy in the mall has every right to turn a dollar, the issue isn't with him. The issue would be with the regulations that capture what is and isn't work that can only be done by a dealer licenced person. At the mo it would seem like a lot of the regulation changes that this one is not really that clear - I don't think that there is a current definition of where the limits fall. In that context, can't blame people for turning away firearms related work if its a tiny percentage and possibly more hassle than its worth.

Originally Posted by gundoc

I have always stamped barrels and it is easy to do neatly if you know how. First, you must have a set of good quality letter and number stamps. I find 2mm is about right for most jobs. Write out the desired text on a piece of paper, eg; .30-40 US GOVT. Next lay a straight strip of plastic insulation tape to form the bottom edge of the stamping. Finally start stamping from the right hand side (ie; right to left) using one short sharp hammer blow after carefully positioning the bottom of the stamp against the tape. Note that I recommend having several practice goes on a piece of mild steel to get used to the correct hammer blow and spacing. The spacing varies with individual letters and it is not based on the thickness of the stamp body (the letter I sits much closer to the previous letter than W as an example). By working from right to left you get the spacing more accurate (if you are left-handed it may work better the other way!). If you cock up a letter you can overstamp it with an O then an X then go over the area with a 3mm flat punch and carefully restore the surface by displacement before restamping. It is an invisible repair if done properly.

I always remember that the 'I' and '1' stamps don't require as much of a thwack as the 'W' and 'M' - right after I thwack them... There's something in that!