the whole thing could have been avoided by entering the following in the serial# block of the 4473. "none pre-1968".

As I recall, the decision to send the rifle to the lab in Ca was the atf agent here in WY. If I remember right they examined the rifle and thought they could see indication that a # had been removed. So off to the lab it went to try to raise the #. I gathered from the agent that the main concern was to make sure that it wasn't stolen or had been used in a crime.
What happened at the lab, if anything, I don't know. Nor do I know whose decision it was to issue a #, I am glad that a # was issued rather than they "dig" for a # and damage the rifle. Its too bad it took so long to work out, but I guess I'm lucky it didn't take longer.

Tony,

HOLY SHIT! You finally got it back! Any chance you can post a mess of pictures so we can see what the shop owner had a fit about?!

I am still willing to have NDT performed to show if there ever was. NON Destructive Testing.

With all the Federal money involved I really can't believe ATf doesn't have NDT available. Or maybe, just maybe one of the agents in the lab has the knowledge to know what he had in his hands.

Call me when you can.

Wonder if you could have it "magnafluxedd" to check for the non-existant s/n's. The greenish dye used might show one way or the other and is non-destructive. It uses electricity to create an intense magnetic field, of course, the gun might be magnetic afterwards.