coueswt Report post Posted April 24, 2010 Having a new gun built. Do I need the caliber stamped on the barrel to go down to Mexico? Any info would be great. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatfootdoc Report post Posted April 25, 2010 It would be a good idea as they check caliber, brand and serial number, it will be much easier on you if you get it done. Oh and make sure your gunsmith doesnt just give it a custom serial number, my buddy had that done and they could not find his gun, the serial number was coming up as a remington 12 ga. shotgun!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted April 28, 2010 It would be a good idea as they check caliber, brand and serial number, it will be much easier on you if you get it done. Oh and make sure your gunsmith doesnt just give it a custom serial number, my buddy had that done and they could not find his gun, the serial number was coming up as a remington 12 ga. shotgun!!! That makes NO sense at all. All guns have "custom" serial numbers. They are whatever the manufacturer decides is needed. MANY guns have the same serial numbers- they are NOT issued by the govt. I can't imagine what you mean by "they couldn't find his gun" and "it came up as a 12 Ga shotgun". Who couldn't find his gun? Anyway don't worry about the serial number- there will be a place for it on the gun permit. I never had them look at my caliber stamp. Also. you can't take anything bigger that a "300 magnum" into Mexico unless they have changed their laws recently. I can't imagine why would would not have a caliber stamp on the gun somewhere? If it is not stamped- you can always take it to someone who has a pantograph or laser and have something put on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soazarcher Report post Posted April 28, 2010 Never seen them check calibers. The serial # on the gun only needs to match the # on your paperwork. Not sure what else it would match??? Who would be looking it up? and how? Whatever caliber your gun, make sure it says something less than .322" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benbrown Report post Posted April 29, 2010 I have had them look at both the cartridge designation stamped on the barrel and the ammo (mostly out of curiosity, I am guessing). Nonetheless, why invite questioning about a discrepancy with one or the other? If you ever take the rifle overseas, especially to one of the African countries, they will check to see that the ammo that you have matches the cartridge for which your rifle or rifles are chambered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ajohunter Report post Posted April 29, 2010 It would be a good idea as they check caliber, brand and serial number, it will be much easier on you if you get it done. Oh and make sure your gunsmith doesnt just give it a custom serial number, my buddy had that done and they could not find his gun, the serial number was coming up as a remington 12 ga. shotgun!!! That makes NO sense at all. All guns have "custom" serial numbers. They are whatever the manufacturer decides is needed. MANY guns have the same serial numbers- they are NOT issued by the govt. I can't imagine what you mean by "they couldn't find his gun" and "it came up as a 12 Ga shotgun". Who couldn't find his gun? Anyway don't worry about the serial number- there will be a place for it on the gun permit. I never had them look at my caliber stamp. Also. you can't take anything bigger that a "300 magnum" into Mexico unless they have changed their laws recently. I can't imagine why would would not have a caliber stamp on the gun somewhere? If it is not stamped- you can always take it to someone who has a pantograph or laser and have something put on it. I was there when this happened. When we were all checking our weapons in with U.S. Customs, they checked the serial numbers and his rifle would return as a 12ga shotgun. Luckily it did not cause any problems, just some confusion....lol! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted April 30, 2010 It would be a good idea as they check caliber, brand and serial number, it will be much easier on you if you get it done. Oh and make sure your gunsmith doesnt just give it a custom serial number, my buddy had that done and they could not find his gun, the serial number was coming up as a remington 12 ga. shotgun!!! That makes NO sense at all. All guns have "custom" serial numbers. They are whatever the manufacturer decides is needed. MANY guns have the same serial numbers- they are NOT issued by the govt. I can't imagine what you mean by "they couldn't find his gun" and "it came up as a 12 Ga shotgun". Who couldn't find his gun? Anyway don't worry about the serial number- there will be a place for it on the gun permit. I never had them look at my caliber stamp. Also. you can't take anything bigger that a "300 magnum" into Mexico unless they have changed their laws recently. I can't imagine why would would not have a caliber stamp on the gun somewhere? If it is not stamped- you can always take it to someone who has a pantograph or laser and have something put on it. I was there when this happened. When we were all checking our weapons in with U.S. Customs, they checked the serial numbers and his rifle would return as a 12ga shotgun. Luckily it did not cause any problems, just some confusion....lol! Again, I say that makes no sense. I have NEVER had US customs check my serial number. They were satisfied with the the form 4457 which you can get at any customs port. They only want to know if you are IMPORTING a gun as opposed to returning with it. There is NO database that you can look up guns by serial number to see what they are. There are not "rules" on serial numbers and manufacturers can make them anything they want. When you run a gun serial in the wanted file in NCIC it requires the make, type and in some cases, caliber because there are so many duplicates that they need to know if the stolen hit is really the gun being run. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted April 30, 2010 I am just curious, but why wouldnt you put the caliber on it? And what gunsmith wouldnt put it on their anyways? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimmer Negamanee Report post Posted April 30, 2010 I am just curious, but why wouldnt you put the caliber on it? And what gunsmith wouldnt put it on their anyways? I had the same thought. I think there's no downside to putting it on. Plus, there's lots of upside for putting it on. Safety is probably the biggest plus. There are lots of cartridges that not only look similar but will readily chamber in rifles of slightly different calibers/configurations but you wouldn't want to pull the trigger unless you were sure. And I think it would add to the resale value. (I wouldn't want to take someone's word on something like that.) Or even if you never sell it and pass it on to the kiddos they'll never have to have the "I think grandpa said this was a 280 Remington. Or, was it a 270 Winchester?" discussion. Just my $.02. Let us know what you decide. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bradne Report post Posted May 1, 2010 I was there when this happened. When we were all checking our weapons in with U.S. Customs, they checked the serial numbers and his rifle would return as a 12ga shotgun. Luckily it did not cause any problems, just some confusion....lol! If it was customs, they were probably running the number in NCIC (which contains a list of reported stolen property) to see if it came back stolen. Most likely there was a 12ga that was reported stolen at some time with the same serial number. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 1, 2010 I was there when this happened. When we were all checking our weapons in with U.S. Customs, they checked the serial numbers and his rifle would return as a 12ga shotgun. Luckily it did not cause any problems, just some confusion....lol! If it was customs, they were probably running the number in NCIC (which contains a list of reported stolen property) to see if it came back stolen. Most likely there was a 12ga that was reported stolen at some time with the same serial number. Yes, that is exactly what happened. Luckily they decided that the gun didn't match the description of the stolen 12 ga. But it did take some discussion to get them to realize this was not a stolen weapon presented to them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted May 1, 2010 I wouldn't go to Mexico this year! It could be ugly for Americans in there country since this new bill passed. Imo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunterdude Report post Posted May 3, 2010 Boycott them like they want to do to Arizona! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coueswt Report post Posted May 3, 2010 I had the same thought. I think there's no downside to putting it on. Plus, there's lots of upside for putting it on. Safety is probably the biggest plus. There are lots of cartridges that not only look similar but will readily chamber in rifles of slightly different calibers/configurations but you wouldn't want to pull the trigger unless you were sure. And I think it would add to the resale value. (I wouldn't want to take someone's word on something like that.) Or even if you never sell it and pass it on to the kiddos they'll never have to have the "I think grandpa said this was a 280 Remington. Or, was it a 270 Winchester?" discussion. Just my $.02. Let us know what you decide. The only reason i could think of to not put it on was if the gun was ever stolen, they would have to have someone look at it and that might help catch them. I am getting the caliber put on, don't want to take any chances on having issues going to MX. Now i just have to decide on the scope, i'm going to put on a Kenton turret on it. Reading all of the posts the past year on guns, triggers, turrets, etc...helped!!!! Thanks Red Rabbit, 270, GameHauler, TAM, to name a few for the helpful info... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThomC Report post Posted May 6, 2010 Boycott them like they want to do to Arizona! +1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites