Serial Numbers

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Freightman

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My brother in law is a long time insurance adjuster, he told me that very few people have there serial numbers recorded. The result is a denied claim and upset people.
I just took pictures with SN and recorded them on my HD and a CD and put the Cd in a fire proof vault. If you have firearms you need a record for police and insurance purposes do not put it off.
He said that less than 1/3 of the claims are paid not because the insurance co. is no good but because the people have no idea of what the have and no proof of ownership. He said he has never denied anyone who has the records.
RECORD YOUR SERIAL NUMBERS saves a lot of worry and hard feelings that might be your fault.
 
I hold every gun, tell the make model, condition, read the serial number, and describe the scope if necessary, while the wife films. Then we take the film to a relatives house in case the place burns down. Ditigal pictures emailed would work.
Your right not near enough guys have the numbers written down.
 
as someone in the IT world... i can tell you this... your best permanent record is developed photographs and physical paper... CDs will melt to the point of being unreadable at less than 250 degrees...the ink in CD's will degrade naturally after about 5 years or so... film and video tapes are the same thing... hard drives go bad all the time... best bet is written or typed on paper, with 35mm film accompanying them and stored in a bank safe deposit box... failing that, a fireproof safe should work, but probably not as secure as a bank... an internet based photo storage site like photobucket.com is ok, they have redundant backup servers... but they might at some point decide that pictures of guns are against their TOS and start deleting them without warning like they do nude photos...
 
well in MA we have FA10 forms, record of sales. so if its stolen, i have a form. if its destroyed in say a fire. i doubt in case of fire i would be too concerned with my rather limited collection. but it seems a copy of FA10's w/ pictures or a list of numbers w/ pictures stored/mailed to an off site location.would be good. safety deposit box. your brother/sister or parents house
 
"...very few people have there serial numbers recorded. The result is a denied claim and upset people."

You hire a lawyer then and start costing the insurance company money.
They tend to turn around.
 
pictures of guns are against their TOS and start deleting them without warning like they do nude photos...
Click to expand...
Great, so all the pictures of me holding my guns in the nude are gone now? I'll have to find another way to record them I suppose. :)
 
I just took pictures with SN and recorded them on my HD and a CD and put the Cd in a fire proof vault.
Click to expand...

Not to split hairs or anything but the shelf life of a CD is about 5 years and then they start to foul due to oxidation of the surface (ok too technical just know that your CDs can stop working after 5 years)... so I would use hard copy prints of your photographs as they last for... well centuries.

:)
 
Nothing wrong with preserving your data to CDs. As previously stated, they don't last forever, so remember to back up your back ups on a regular schedule (my data CDs/DVDs get duped every three years).
 
I hold every gun, tell the make model, condition, read the serial number, and describe the scope if necessary, while the wife films. Then we take the film to a relatives house in case the place burns down.
Click to expand...

What if your relative`s place burns down? Do you have multiple copies? :)
 
a good camera will do wonders for getting pics like that... i got my wife a nikon D40 for xmas last year... best investment ive ever made... if you really want to be able to take pics of damn near anything, you cant beat a DSLR... cannon, nikon... any of the major brands will work fine
 
My dad had almost all of his guns stolen - didn't have any SNs written down. :(

I couldn't get a pic of the numbers on mine either, but I figured a pic of the guns themselves wouldn't hurt, along with the numbers and make of guns written down.
 
Basic pictures of the guns with serial numbers written down should be adequate. I made a spreadsheet I could print out a while back and took pictures. Needs to be updated though.

I printed out the spreadsheet and emailed the file to parents. At least then a copy is somewhere else.
 
I take digital photos of my guns as a whole, then the a closeup of the part of the gun with the serial number on it, and my photo drivers license in the picture as well. I should print these and put them somewhere safe, though.

I also have them all on a small database called "gunsafe" that someone wrote. Probably someone here on THR. :) REcords date bought, amount, date sold, amount, serial number, finish, maufacture date and a bunch of other stuff.
 
My gun club has mine stored off site, but most home owners insurance here only covers $1000 worth without a rider.
 
Cheap photographs (4x6/$.38) will fade in time.

Cheap CDs (50/$10) will degrade in time.

High quality paper/CDs will last a long time. Good archival paper can last for 100 years, and so can CDs from a company like Sony, Imation, or Hi Space.

My point is that you can use whatever method of record keeping that you want to. If you're worried about something not being legible in 5 years then just don't buy cheap stuff.
 
I use the Gunsafe software as well, which I back up to a flashdrive, also have very good photo's of each which I also keep backed up on a flashdrive.
 
Mine are all stored on my harddrive and on CDs in the local bank.
Pictures with SNs listed with each pic.
 
I use MAM-A Gold Archive CD-Rs for long-term digital storage. They have a theoretical lifespan of 329 years. Somehow, I don't think I'll care by then.

I've seen a number of cites on the web that this is what many museums use.

I agree with the OP, record your serial numbers. I'dd additionally suggest to keep multiple copies - away from the firearms (not in the same safe, or even the same building).
 
i have my digital pictures on several types of media they are also saved
online at my website and 1 other online location.
 
the ink in CD's will degrade naturally after about 5 years or so
Click to expand...

SD cards don't. And they're much smaller/tougher for storage.

I have all my firearms recorded with S/N and place/date of purchase, along with the pictures and written descriptions, including accessories.
 
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