Markings on firearms can take several forms.

First, there is the category of manufacturers’ or dealers’ markings. In most cases, these are genuine indicators of the manufacturer or reseller of a firearm. In many cases, however, they are not: manufacturers’ or dealers’ markings are sometimes faked or can be “made up” for several reasons. Well-known are the markings on Spanish-made pistols in the early twentieth century: to boost sales, they were marked similar to products of reputable companies from Belgium, the United States, or other countries. Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Grande Precision

was a blatant attempt at confusing buyers with Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre products from Liege, as was “Smith” as a tradename, followed by a line of text using the original Smith and Wesson tradename as part of a superfluous recommendation to use a specific type or ammunition.

Import markings are a particular subcategory here: sometimes, national law requires a separate indication of the country of origin of a firearm or an importer marking.

Second, there are serial numbers. It must be remembered that serial numbering was no standard practice in the late 1800s or early 1900s. In the USA, serial numbering became law with the Gun Control Act of 1968, although most major manufacturers had been doing so from very early on. Still, finding unnumbered guns or similar firearms with identical numbers is entirely possible. This is because ranges of serial numbers were habitually reused by manufacturers, with a letter attached or not. Also, please be aware: in some countries the receiver is not the most important part of the gun but the barrel, and that part will display the serial number.

Third: model names. A considerable variety exists, and they are often not unique identifiers, as manufacturers often gave completely different models the same model designation.

Forth: markings that indicate issue or use. Primarily a military practice, these markings indicate the unit the weapon was issued to, often with a new weapon number added.

Unfortunately, there is a huge variety of such markings, and interpreting them is difficult.

Fifth: privately added markings. These can vary from scratched, stamped or electro-pencilled names or other markings to elaborately engraved owner markings,

gift markings, or others.

Especially these markings should be regarded with caution, as they can raise the price of an item considerably.

Sixth: proof marks. They are the markings, indicating proof of function during and after assembly. They can be government markings or proprietary, or both. Firearms are sometimes reproofed resulting in different sets of markings on a gun. And they can be faked, too, given a good reason.

Seventh: refurbish or conversion markings. A firearm’s functional or technical life is sometimes limited, indicating refurbishing or even conversion. Usually, that leads to new markings being added.

Eight: often overlooked is the absence of markings. Sometimes (parts of) firearms need to be marked in a specific way. The absence of such a marking is information. Below a view of the front of the barrel lug of an AC44 marked WWII P38 pistol. The barrels in these pistols were serial numbered to the gun. This one is not, indicating likely replacement.

Finally, Nine: Small markings, usually letters in different styles and sometimes enclosed in shapes like circles or rectangles. They are not official proof marks or trademarks. Generally, they are identification marks of individual specialised workers who worked on specific parts.

Work on a gun was shared within the factory, among workers only making or fitting barrels or action parts, or stocks or often to outside manufacturers. In most cases, they left their marking on the part they were responsible for, so it was possible to identify the maker of a less-than-satisfactory part. These markings served no public purpose. They are also very hard to identify properly now, if at all.

From all this, it is clear that markings should be examined and interpreted with a healthy dose of caution. It is ALWAYS necessary to inspect the gun as a whole, as it is the combination of the gun, its markings (or the absence of markings), its condition, and its provenance that should be the basis of its identification. At the same time, they are essential to the proper and professional identification and description of a firearm, certainly within legal proceedings.