Help finding stolen gun

[Aim1]

My cherished .338 Winchester was stolen a few years ago. We were packing our truck to move in a nice residential area late at night with no one around so I figured that we'd be safe. We were only there for about 20 minutes. I'm assuming on one of our trips to the basement someone walked passed, grabbed it, and walked off. I filed a police report as soon as I knew it was missing. The problem is that we had multiple gun cases and it all went to my brothers house where I wasn't living. It wasn't until awhile later when I noticed that that one gun was missing. It has a lot of sentimental value as it was given to me by my father.

I checked local gun stores, Cabelas, Gander, Gunsamerica.com, and Gunbroker.com to no avail. I recently noticed the thread on stolen guns and thought I might put it up here.

It's a stainless Winchester model 70 with black stock, silver Leupold Vari-XII 3x9 scope, with silver Leupold dovetail rings, trigger job, and Gentry muzzle brake. It's serial number is # G115342 .


Can anything else can be done to find it?

 

[jmr40]

The best chance is to just let the police do their work. If you gave them the SN and it was entered into the data base it may turn up sooner or later. Maybe not. I had a gun stolen just over 3 years ago and was able to provide the SN. The officer that took the report told me that roughly 1/2 turn up eventually if the SN is provided. But over 1/2 of the gun owners here cannot provide a SN. When that happens the chances of recovery are slim.

My gun was recovered in the next county exactly 1 month later, but I still haven't gotten it back. They are dragging their feet with a criminal investigation on the guy who had it and will not release it to me until after the trial and all appeals are over. I used to call about once every 3-4 months and see how things were progressing, but I've heard no news in about a year. Fortunately for me it is a Glock with no sentimental value.

I have a friend that lost a prized S&W 27 in a case very similar to you. He got a call almost 10 years later to come pick up his gun in a town almost 100 miles away.

 

[lemaymiami]

There are actually one or two things that you can do... First things first, contact whatever agency took the original report and verify that they still show your rifle as being stolen (not recovered) and that it's still listed in the federal data base as a stolen item... Next ask to submit additional info - and make sure that the original report notes your current address and contact info... If and when that weapon is recovered, the originating agency will use that updated info to contact you. Remember that they're not mind readers and they'll only try to contact the listed owner based on the info they have... If that doesn't work, they'll send out a written notification (at least that's what I did years ago when I ran my agency's property room...). By the way, if your gun is recovered in another state or jurisdiction... their only obligation is to notify the originating agency from the info in the stolen message. It is then up to that agency to notify the victim of the recovery....

Seriously, stolen firearms are recovered all the time and that rifle might be recovered some day ( I actually handled and returned weapons reported stolen years before I got into police work in one case....). The other side of the coin is that folks move and rarely think to notify the original reporting agency of their new contact info.... You don't want to hear what we did with recovered stolen firearms when no owner could be located....

 

[Aim1]

There are actually one or two things that you can do... First things first, contact whatever agency took the original report and verify that they still show your rifle as being stolen (not recovered) and that it's still listed in the federal data base as a stolen item... Next ask to submit additional info - and make sure that the original report notes your current address and contact info... If and when that weapon is recovered, the originating agency will use that updated info to contact you. Remember that they're not mind readers and they'll only try to contact the listed owner based on the info they have... If that doesn't work, they'll send out a written notification (at least that's what I did years ago when I ran my agency's property room...). By the way, if your gun is recovered in another state or jurisdiction... their only obligation is to notify the originating agency from the info in the stolen message. It is then up to that agency to notify the victim of the recovery....

Seriously, stolen firearms are recovered all the time and that rifle might be recovered some day ( I actually handled and returned weapons reported stolen years before I got into police work in one case....). The other side of the coin is that folks move and rarely think to notify the original reporting agency of their new contact info.... You don't want to hear what we did with recovered stolen firearms when no owner could be located....

Thanks.


I did give them the serial number, they have my current contact info, and they know it's still stolen. Contacted them about a month ago.