[Guest]

First post here, I tried searching for this question but couldn't find anything that was relevant. Hopefully I can get some answers from you experts about my situation...so here it goes;

I'm selling my very first HK that I bought, it's a AB date HK USP45 full size, variant 1. I purchased it from my friend, so I'm the second official owner of this fine handgun.

I'm having problems selling it though. The slide and the barrel both have the same serial numbers, however, the frame has a different number. What happened was that one of the hot rounds my friend shot off blew up and damaged the old frame. He had it sent in to HK and got a brand new one back...with a different, much higher serial number. This happened a while back.

I was in the process of selling it to a local Sheriff who planned to carry it as his carry weapon, but unfortunately his department wouldn't allow a mismatched weapon to be registered within his department.

We didn't know about the different serial numbers until the dealer was DROSing it...I cannot believe I was completely oblivious to the mismatching numbers the entire two years I owned it. I then proceeded to ask my friend about the numbers and he told me the story behind it which is written above.

My question would be....how would it affect this gun? I now know that it's going to be hard to sell, but which numbers would a dealer register it by?

Has anyone had this happen before?

Sorry for such a long post, but I couldn't find a shorter way to describe the entirety of this problem.

BTW; when I DROSed it the first time around, it went through without any problems whatsoever...I'm going to give that shop a call to see which number they ran with.

 

[Reoze]

If I was buying it it wouldn't affect me.

 

[sfguard]

If I am not mistaken the # they will use is on the lower because that is the part that can only be sent to a FFL holder. As for the rest I probably couldn't be of too much help.

 

[AGG]

Would make sense that the serialization on the frame (or lower) would be utilized. The slide, etc. (or upper) are merely "replacement" parts.

The quandry would lie in the gun being transferred under the "original" number and you transferring under the "subsequent" number.

With Reoze, such would not matter to me.

I will give you $100.00 for it.

 

[Big Bore]

As said there is only one serial number that matters, the one on the frame. As a shooter the mis-match has no consequence but the fact that the gun was involved in a KB is enough to scare many buyers off, even if the gun was checked out by HK and declared sound. I know it would not bother many people buying as a shooter but I am paranoid enough that I would not want one that had been involved in a KB unless HK would warrant that nothing else was wrong with it, and they are not going to do that on a third owner sale.
Good luck on selling it and if I were you I would not discount it any, just be aware that it may be harder to move than one that matched and had not been involved in a KB.

 

[USMCMP5A3]

The serial number on the frame is the one to go by. I went to buy a USP FS in .40 and as the dealer was calling it in to ATF, I realized the serial number on the slide and barrel was different than the frame. After the dealer got of the phone he said the frame number was the one that mattered. I got her home and was uncomfortable about the whole thing and called HK. They could not give me much, other than there COULD have been a warrantee issue and they could help no further.

Well, I could not live with it and asked the dealer if he would take it back. He did without a hassle. Sold it about a month later. So is there an issue, most likely not. My personal situation I could not be settled without the numbers matching.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for all the information everyone!

Thanks for the respones. You guys are right, they do go by the lower receiver when they register it. The first shop I DROSed it at just went by the lower frame's serial number.

The person I was selling it to made a big deal about it, so it got me curious as to how this weapon would be registered.

AGG: Yeah, right, add another zero to that offer and it's your's hahah.

Well, it'll be tough to sell but I'm in no rush so it's alright. Thanks for all the advice...I'm not gonna ask much for it to begin with since it's pretty used.

 

[MT Bri]

I am a proud owner of a mismatched Tac. Blew up on me and I had HK replace the bottom end... with ambi safety and a 12 rounder it came to I think $240. Friends reloads blew it.

I now have maybe 3,000+ rounds thru it, works fine, I am very comfortable with it. I imagine if your a collector the numbers should match. I am sure HK made sure it was a fully functioning pistol before they sent it back due to their rep and liability.

Before buying any used pistol I would recommend shooting it to make sure the seller isn't getting rid of a problem.

I am a very happy HK Tac owner and have all my fingers on both hands after the Kaboom, thanks HK