too late to read all this, but I have a few pre-1968 firearms that do not have a serial number. Have bought them in person, off GunBroker and elsewhere. When required, they went thru a 4473 and an FFL, no problem.
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It depends on what your meaning is. If you are saying it is illegal to make a gun and to sell the gun, that's not really correct. It is illegal to make a gun with the intention of selling the gun and then sell it. What is not illegal is to make a gun and later decide to sell it. There is no magic number, but the more you make and sell, the more it looks like you made them with the intent to sell them.Everything In life has special circumstances but I can’t just go and make guns and sell them.
That said, most guns DID have serial numbers; it was only the cheaper guns (such as some .22s) that had this step in the manufacturing process omitted.
I have a relatively high dollar custom rifle that has no serial number. Being as it's a one off, I'm not sure how you can prove it's a pre-68 gun.
I' ve been informed that "back in the day" custom gun makers did not use serial numbers because it was "common." Their imprint is what identified the gun.
When in doubt, throw it out (or, in this case, cut the receiver in half with a chop saw). Too many people eating off the FFL to give the Feds any excuses...
Sound advice, I will do that to a $6000 rifle the very first chance I get.