I recently purchased a used Belgium made SA22 rifle. When checking the serial number I noticed one of the digits had been overstamped with a different number - changed a 6 to a 7. That caused the rifle with the original serial number of 3T58760 to become 3T58770. I called Browning and they suggested the original number might have been stamped incorrectly by machine, (the 6 not rotating over to a 7) and when the operator discovered it, he stamped in the correct number. They looked both serial numbers up in their microfiche records. Both serial numbers were listed as valid, but no reason given why it had been changed. The customer service rep said they would send me a letter indicating the serial number of the gun I purchased, 3T58770 was a valid number. He also said they located the original sales receipt to a retail store. It had the corrected serial number listed for the gun. In June 1963 the gun was sold to the local Western Auto store here in my town, 3 blocks away from the gun shop I purchased the gun from. Pretty interesting to discover that 1963 gun might have been right here in town for its 56 years. Glad I found this little gun. It's in excellent condition and shoots really small, cloverleaf 5-shot groups at 25 yds with iron sight. Not too bad for my 70 year old eyes that suffer from vitreous membrane detachment. Rod
Very interesting. The 6 looks like a light strike, but they meant business when they overstamped the 7. Thanks for sharing.
