Mark 4 No 1 serial number recovery

[masterdiver330]

The receiver marking is pretty worn down, what is the best way to to try and bring it back up to view ID. I was thinking magic marker but that didn't work well. Any information would be helpful.

Thanks

Information

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[ssgross]

china marker? I've used a white crayon on windage graduations before with success.

[browningautorifle]

For simple viewing, sometimes a macro picture will bring up detail the human eye can't get. Real good clear closeup with natural light?

[Alan de Enfield]

Chalk can 'bring back the markings'.
Rub in into the the markings and 'blow-off' or gently brush-off the loose powder.

[Roger Payne]

That's useful to know. There's another useful technique that might help as well, used in the jewellery & watchmaking/restoring trade, called 'taking a smoke'. You get a small 'tea light' type candle, light it & hold it against the area where the serial is located. Get it good & sooty & then remove the candle flame & allow to cool down (it won't get really hot anyway, as it only takes seconds). Once cooled carefully press sellotape across the area & then stick the sellotape onto some plain white paper. All the low areas, such as dings, but also such as stamped or engraved letters & digits, will appear in white against the black background. I've used it on many occasions over the years. It is also useful if you want to keep a record of rifle or scope markings that is life-size.

[Warren]

You can also get a special crayon used by the forensic people to enhance serial numbers.
They are found on many of the websites advertising forensic material and cost about $6.00 ea., plus shipping.
Plus, many hobby shops stock them.
Common white pastels work almost as well but lack the bit of wax to stay semi permanent.
The old way of doing it was with white lead and linseed oil but white lead powder is almost impossible to find now days. It was declared a hazardous material.
It's for the children.....
A plumbers white lead stick is also great and some of the older hardware stores still have them around.
Just tear back the paper and you are good for years.

[Rick]

My brief stint in the cop biz before deciding jumping out of airplanes was more fun is about 40 years in the past. But I remember watching the ident guys using some kind of mild acid/caustic to raise serial numbers on stolen stuff where the serial number had been removed by thieves ie with a file. It was pretty amazing watching the serial number appear in the middle of the tool marks from the file or whatever. It was pretty mild stuff, whatever it was, because you didn't see anything happening on the exposed surface, other than the stamped numbers and markings starting to appear.

But I don't know whether acid or caustic, what it was, or what the strength was.

If you've got friends in the local cop shops, you could ask them if there's local ident members, and if so, were they open to helping you with your hobby.