SN on Kansas Mass Shooting Suspect's Facebook Glock a Mismatch?

Gun Watch ^ | 1 March, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The recent horrific shooting in Kansas has drawn national attention.  On the facebook page of the dead suspect ( I will not mention his name here) was this picture of a Glock pistol.  It is a bit unusual. If you look closely, and enlarge the picture, you can almost read the entire serial number.  The serial number on the slide and the barrel appear to match, but they seem to be mismatched to the frame.  The frame seems to be a generation 3; the serial number on the slide and barrel, a generation 1.  You can see the accessory rail on the slide, as well as finger grooves.

As best as I can make out, the serial number is BC 2475.  The first character is a best guess.  It is not very clear; the other five can be seen on the barrel as well as the slide, and are much better defined.  Looking on the Internet, it appears that nearly all six character serial numbers are of the first generation. From a discussion of Glock Serial numbers on Glocktalk

 AZ - G-17 - December 1986 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings
BA - G-17 - December 1986 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings
BB - G-17 - December 1986 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings
BC - G-17 - December 1986 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings
BD - G-17 - December 1986 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings
BL - G-17 - July 1988 - 1st Gen. - has Austrian markings

This is speculation, of course.  The records that I have seen are no encyclopedic; it is possible that special runs of Glock pistols were done for generation 3 models, with two alphabetic characters to start, followed by four numeric characters.  In at least some models, the letter characters are said to follow a code indicating the month and year of manufacture.

I have talked to a Glock trained armorer; he said that mismatched slides and barrels with frames are not unusual.  They are pretty interchangeable in models of the same frame size; and it is not unusual for slides and barrels to be placed on frames that do not match.

This close up shows the serial number a bit better.  At some point, night sights were installed on this slide.

 I suppose that authorities somewhere have done research on this serial number.  I cannot be certain of the first character, but there are limited possibilities.  We do not know if this pistol was used in the infamous crime, or if it is another.  It would be interesting to know if it were stolen, or purchased from legal channels.  From dailymail.co.uk:

It has been reported that the mother of the suspect's children has been charged with one count of  Sarah Jo Hopkins, 28, of Newton, Kansas, legally purchased an AK-47 type semi-automatic rifle and a Glock Model 22 40-caliber handgun and gave them to Ford, despite knowing he was a convicted felon who was banned from possessing a firearm, an affidavit claims.

It seems likely that the Glock pictured is the one reported to have been purchased from a pawnshop, but without police reports from Hesston, Kansas, we cannot know for sure.

It would be interesting to know if the serial number on the frame matches the serial numbers on the slide and barrel.

I do not have the authority to make official inquiries about the serial number, but there are many who do. I am sure that due diligence will be followed.

If you come across information on this issue, please let us know.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

A reader at TTAG had this to say. I think he explained it well:

On the Glock pistol in the photograph:

That is a Gen3 pistol, indicated by both the fingergrooves in the frame (barely visible due to the angle) and the type of extractor (LCI). The LCI extractors were not used on this model/frame size until the E-series (E**###), so that means the serial number probably does not start with “B”.

My guess is the serial number is ECZ475, or perhaps FCZ475 or PCZ475; the “E”, “F”, or “P” are all similar in shape to a “B”, the “Z” is similar to the number “2”, and all those serial numbers fit the range for the LCI extractor use in that model (ECZ is a bit early, based on the list I have, but probably still close enough).

[Vermont Lt]

I have a mismatched gn 2 top and a gen 3 bottom.

Nothing odd about it.

[Paine in the Neck]

The frame is the firearm for ATF purposes so that’s the only serial no. that matters.

[The KG9 Kid]

I understand what I read, but the point of this article being what exactly?

[super7man]

Not sure what the point is. Does mis-matched serial numbers make a gun more likely to jump up off the table and just start killing people?

Nonetheless; interesting analysis.

[backwoods-engineer]

Correct. I have a Gen 3 G22 and the frame looks just like that.

[riverrunner]

Most likely to try and determine where when and how the felon received his Glock.

[marktwain]

I think that the TTAG reader had it right; it is not a mismatch.

If it were, it might be interesting to see if the serial numbers on the slide and barrel are from a stolen gun.

As others have noted, the frame number is the one that counts for legal purposes.

[JoeFromSidney]

For collectors, matching serial numbers on all parts are important. A match implies that the gun is "as manufactured," not a "parts gun" assembled post-manufacture.

for anyone else, matching serial numbers are irrelevant.