Stolen revolver question

[27Ranch]

I have a question that's just been gnawing on the back of my brain for a number of years maybe some of you can help me with. About 20 years ago in Oklahoma City someone broke into my vehicle in a hotel parking lot along with a number of other vehicles and about all the got from me was two briefcases..luckily they dumped out the contents and that was what was important to me but they also got a S&W .38 spl and a box of ammo. The police came out and I filed a report along with the serial number. They didn't give me any high hopes of recovering it unless it happened to be used in another crime...okay, fast forward to about 6 or 6 years ago I get a call from some police department in Indiana and they ask if I'm me. I respond yes and they ask i'f I had reported a firearm stolen with the serial number XXXXXXX...I responded yes I did. Then this is where it gets strange to me. They ask me what agency I reported it to then what kind of firearm it was...I tell them OKC PD and ot was a S&W MODEL XXX-XX. Then they tell me that the one they have is a Browning Shotgun.
I've owned browning shotguns before and I still own some Brownings before and when I happen to sell or trade one I just draw a line though it in my serial number book and jot down where it went. The numbers on any of my Brownings and my Smiths aren't even similar. Therefore I'm calling BS on the officer from Indiana that called me and I firmly believe that my revolver is in the safe of one of them up there. I wish I had written down the agency in Indiana because now I can't remember it. Can anyone here confirm or deny that S&W and Browning EVER used duplicate or even similar serial numbers so I can finally just put this to bed in my mind?

 

[mohavesam]

Call Browning.
Then call Indiana back and tell the officer you'll be in the area and would like to drop in, buy him a donut, and ID your gun. If he balks, buy a plane ticket.

 

[Jim Puke]

Call Browning.
Then call Indiana back and tell the officer you'll be in the area and would like to drop in, buy him a donut, and ID your gun. If he balks, buy a plane ticket.

Did you happen to read what the op said? He does not know who called him...

I wish I had written down the agency in Indiana because now I can't remember it.

 

[k22fan]

27Ranch,
You didn’t write if insurance covered the loss of your S&W. If it did your old insurance company is the owner of the stolen S&W and the police would return it to them without involving you. If that happened it was easier for the officer to not waste time dissuading you from trying to claim your old S&W. The officer might have found the insurance company's claim after contacting you then blown you off.

 

[pawncop]

There can be different guns with the same serial number. I run across this all the time. When I run certain serial numbers through NCIC I can get up 10 to 12 different "hits". This tends to happen when the serial number is less than eight (8) digits.

I hope you find this helpful. Feel free to contact me off board if you have further questions.

 

[contender]

Maybe a call to the Indiana State Attorney Generals office will get you on track to see if a firearm that was stolen & recovered is yours. It may take a bit of investigative work, but remember, it was your gun, and you do not want it to come back to cause you problems later.

 

[Jim Puke]

it was your gun, and you do not want it to come back to cause you problems later.

How would that happen?

It has not been in his possession since being reported stolen, 20yrs years ago. He has signed nothing stating the gun has been returned to him.

 

[WIL TERRY]

THIS is a common occurance as many MANY guns from all different makers have the same serial numbers. That number is what the NCIC goes by come 'ell or high water.

 

[27Ranch]

They asked me if the insurance had paid me for it and I told them no because I didn't include it in the claim in hopes of it being recovered. That's why I didn't include the model number or the one of a kind distinguishing feature that would make me recognize it a block away. That alone was the main reason to make me doubt the agency that called me.

 

[wixedmords]

I wonder if that WAS the PD in Indiana that called 5 or 6 years ago.