I have tried everything I can think of to find a family heirloom. Here’s how it goes. My brother & I bought guns & shared them when we were young. I joined the service & I left all the guns with him. Some I bought, some he bought, some our parents bought. None of them were very special except for a Colt MKIV Series 70 [specific gun not shown]. He bought it, we both used it. It was special-we used to shoot it, clean it, disassemble & assemble it. It was the first big gun we had . . .
While I was stationed on the right coast, he died in a motorcycle accident, 1974. After the funeral I explained to his wife about the guns & how I really would like to get the .45. It was the only thing of his I wanted. I was willing to pay whatever. Not only would she not sell it, she wouldn’t let me have any of the other guns which I paid for.
Years later I contacted her again about the Colt. She had remarried & her husband sold all the guns. I really want to find it but I DON”T HAVE THE F****ING Serial Number. I know where & when it was purchased & contacted the owner about the 4473. He said he went out of business when there was a fire, so he never sent his records to ATF.
I contacted the ATF to make sure & they naturally stonewalled me with the story that they only research guns that have been stolen or used in a crime so they wouldn’t even tell me if they had the store’s records.
So you’ve heard my sad tale of woe. What I would like to know is with all your vast experience, do you know a way I could find the serial number which would give me a start on recovering the gun. This is kind of like the search for the Holy Grail to me- it’s been just about as impossible.
Thanx for listening