There are two different issues with lack of a serial number.
First. some rifles and shotguns have never HAD a serial number. They were not required by US Federal law until 1968.
Second- it is a Federal felony to remove a serial number, or possess a gun with a removed serial number. So if the gun never had a serial number- not a problem. If it has been removed- BIG problem.
not likely
To identify and account for otherwise identical guns.
None of the existing ORIGINAL guns have serial numbers.
1968
Inventory tracking for firearms. BTW, ammunition does not have a serial number.
Theoretically, yes. For instance, it could be stolen by an employee. However, such a gun would be illegal to sell in most countries. In US, there are some guns that may be made legally without serial numbers. It is legal for any person to manufacture a firearm for their own use, provided they are not barred from owning guns by law and the firearm in question does not fall under NFA regulation. Such guns do not need serial numbers.
SOME guns had serial numbers in the late 1800s. They were required by law on handguns and machine guns in 1934 (in the US) and on rifles and shotguns in 1968.
They were required after the Gun Control Act of 1968.
barrel, butt, receiver, under forearm.
Firearms don't have registration numbers, they have serial numbers. No way to know who was the first to put a number on a firearm. Military firearms have had serial numbers for many years, to aid in the accounting for large numbers of identical guns. Serial numbers were not required by law in the US until the 1934 National Firearms Act reqired them on machine guns and handguns. The 1968 Gun Control Act required them on newly made rifles and shotguns.
A lot of older lower end rifles and shot guns didn't have serial numbers. The fed didn't require guns to have unique serial numbers until after WW2
Yes.