Читать книгу Standard Catalog of Military Firearms. The Collector's Price and Reference Guide онлайн

21 страница из 162

Import Markings

Under the terms of the Gun Control Act of 1968, all firearms imported to the U.S. must be marked with certain information. This includes importer, model, country of origin and caliber. While this does not have any effect on new sporting firearms, it does add non-original markings to vintage military guns. In 1986, when military surplus firearms were once again legal for importation, most importers put all the required information in a very small stamping on the side of the barrel. In the mid-1990s, the government established new size criteria for the markings and most importers had to enlarge them. They also required that military surplus firearms be marked with a unique serial number on the receiver. This was because it was discovered that original serial numbers could have been duplicated on similar models. This new number is the one that gets recorded in the transfer records for a particular firearm.

In cases where identical models were imported in both pre-1968 and post-1986 eras, the non import marked examples might bring a higher price to some collectors.