hey, I'm new here and love the site!

So in cleaning up my parent's basement, I found 2 rifles. They are old. Probably WWII or earlier. One is a Remington and I forget what the other is off the top of my head. Both are 22s. The Remington has patent dates of the 1920's. Basically I am wondering what i need to do, if anything, to make them legal. Also where can I bring them (Bergen County Area) to make sure that they are safe and can be checked to see if they will actually fire. I don't have my FID yet, but I am about to start the paperwork. Not looking forward to the wait...

Do your parents have any paperwork on them?

Do your parents have any paperwork on them?

 

 

No, they were probably my grandfather's. He's been dead for almost 35 years so any trace of paperwork is long gone. if it ever existed.

There probably never was any paperwork.

 

If they are bolt rifles and everything seems to work, they'll probably shoot just fine. Definitely get them inspected by someone if you're not comfortable with it.

 

Next, get a firearms purchaser ID, fill out a certificate of eligibility, hand it to whoever inherited the guns and take them home and you're done.

 

If your grandfather left them to you, you don't even need to fill out a COE.

 

As for a Smith, the only one I can recommend is Mastadon Ammo and Camo in Highland Lakes.

 

Now, I'm not a smith, but personally, if the gun isn't a rusty or plugged up POS and the firing pin fires, I wouldn't be afraid to put a .22 round in there and pull the trigger.

Thanks for the advice. They weren't really left to anyone. They were put up on a shelf in the basement and forgotten about. no papers to say they were willed to anyone. Does that make a difference?

Thanks for the advice. They weren't really left to anyone. They were put up on a shelf in the basement and forgotten about. no papers to say they were willed to anyone. Does that make a difference?

 

Legally they were left to someone, that's technically the owner of them. A certificate of eligibility is a piece of paper that whoever owned it signs, and you would sign. The reality is you could take them to the range and shoot them as much as you'd like and it wouldn't matter at all. Legally, the estate of your grandfather owned them and his estate was disbursed to some persons. Whoever the default "everything else" was, they're the owner of the guns. You fill out a COE, sign it, the inheritor signs it, file it away and the guns are 100% legal.

 

You need a Firearms Purchaser ID before you can fill out the COE and file it away. The paperwork is not sent to the police, it's just kept between the two parties.

 

If you ended up taking the guns to the range and shoot them the police aren't going to spring out of the weeds and demand to see your papers but if something ever were to happen, you could prove that you legally transferred them.

Thank you for the response. I really appreciate it! I just want to make sure that everything is in order as a CYA. Now I want to see if they are in good working order and get them cleaned up a bit. Then it's off to the range!!!

Thank you for the response. I really appreciate it! I just want to make sure that everything is in order as a CYA. Now I want to see if they are in good working order and get them cleaned up a bit. Then it's off to the range!!!

 

Get your Purchaser ID ASAP and you'll be fine.

Pics!

This thread's title got me thinking. Originally I thought you were going to say that you found a rifle on the street or something. So does anyone know what would be the law for that?

 

Suppose you are, I don't know, digging in your backyard, and find an old rifle. According to property law ("finders keepers"), it would probably be "yours." Especially if there is no way to find out whose it was (previous owners died or whatever.)

 

So two questions: can you keep the gun, and do you even need an FPID card to do so?

 

Again, this is assuming that no one else could possibly make a legitimate claim of ownership.

This thread's title got me thinking. Originally I thought you were going to say that you found a rifle on the street or something. So does anyone know what would be the law for that?

 

Suppose you are, I don't know, digging in your backyard, and find an old rifle. According to property law ("finders keepers"), it would probably be "yours." Especially if there is no way to find out whose it was (previous owners died or whatever.)

 

So two questions: can you keep the gun, and do you even need an FPID card to do so?

 

Again, this is assuming that no one else could possibly make a legitimate claim of ownership.

 

Depending on where you found them, if it was in the city area and you dug up your rose garden and found a gun, I'd be concerned. Now if it was out in a rural area and it was an old WWII type I wouldn't be worried.

 

Either way, I'm interested to seeing what some of the more knowledgeable folks around here have to say. Initially I'd want to find out of the gun was every involved in something that could land me in trouble, but also know the crap we see on TV isn't real either, but with my luck sometimes I'd like to err on the safe side.

 

Harry

This thread's title got me thinking. Originally I thought you were going to say that you found a rifle on the street or something. So does anyone know what would be the law for that?

 

Suppose you are, I don't know, digging in your backyard, and find an old rifle. According to property law ("finders keepers"), it would probably be "yours." Especially if there is no way to find out whose it was (previous owners died or whatever.)

 

So two questions: can you keep the gun, and do you even need an FPID card to do so?

 

Again, this is assuming that no one else could possibly make a legitimate claim of ownership.

 

A few years ago some SWAT team somewhere left an M4 laying in someones yard after an altercation in the neighborhood .. I think the homeowner found it the next day and called the cops and reported it. That would be a nice find.

A few years ago some SWAT team somewhere left an M4 laying in someones yard after an altercation in the neighborhood .. I think the homeowner found it the next day and called the cops and reported it. That would be a nice find.

 

There's a thread I had on here where I found some 9mm ammo in the park across the street from my house. I spent the next 20 minutes looking for a pistol, but to no avail.

If I found an AR or something, I'd problably turn it in as well.

This thread's title got me thinking. Originally I thought you were going to say that you found a rifle on the street or something. So does anyone know what would be the law for that?

 

Suppose you are, I don't know, digging in your backyard, and find an old rifle. According to property law ("finders keepers"), it would probably be "yours." Especially if there is no way to find out whose it was (previous owners died or whatever.)

 

So two questions: can you keep the gun, and do you even need an FPID card to do so?

 

Again, this is assuming that no one else could possibly make a legitimate claim of ownership.

If you found something on your property, and you own the property, I would think it would be yours if it has been there for any length of time (such as buried in the back yard), provided it's not stolen property. I believe when you purchase property, the papers you are signing state that you are now the legal owner of whatever was left behind by the previous owner, but I'm not going to swear this is true.

 

That being said, if someone did bury a gun, unless it's a Glock or was really well waterproofed, it's probably going to be destroyed from corrosion if it's been buried long. Soil is some of the most corrosive stuff around.