Adding waiter to a small volume of HCL in a tall graduated column eliminates the risk of splashing from boiling caused by the exothermic reaction. That’s my guess anyway.
Your guess is correct, mainly because of the large water content that is already in the acid: at standard conditions you can not concentrate HCl more than 37%, so it is already heavily diluted. The only really dangerous acid for splashings is concentrated sulfuric acid
Backyard Ballistics yes concentrated H2SO4 will definitely splash. Even a very small volume added to water will cause a sharp rise in temperature. Strong bases like NAOH and KOH will also cause splashing very easily. The bases are more of a splash risk.
i used to think the restoration technology was super advanced, but it turned out, most criminals are just morons who don't know how to deface the serial numbers properly
Grind and weld over the numbers. A tool rental company in my town bought a backhoe at auction. Owner found out the feds were coming after it. He ground the numbers and welded over them several times. He paid legitimately for the tractor , and was about to loose it to an insurance company. I knew several of the mechanics , they told me about the tung lashing he got about grinding and welding the numbers. But being they couldn't prove he had done it or that it was the stolen backhoe the left without it.
A buddy of mine worked with the "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge" (German War Graves Commission) and they used x-ray machines to identify unreadable dog tags. Basically worked in a similar way like your edging solutions, because x-rays penetrated the tags differently in the imprinted parts, so abrasion or corrosion did not matter.
So if you "overstamp" the original Serial-Number untill it is unreadable and grind it away afterwards it should be almost unrestorable? Thanks that was very helpful. Jokes aside great Vid, discovered your Channel yesterday and I really like it.
@@kylethedalek Because I don't f***ing plan on grinding away any Gun Serial-Numbers or Serial-Numbers in general. Pretty sad that I need to clarify this...
Very interesting video. This is some behind the scene police work that you never really think about or know as a civilian. Good work, keep up the content!
@@angeloc1340 I believe it was a concession that the US government gave to the Japanese Emperor after the war because that mark signified it was from the emperor who was considered a living god. Very few war trophies have a complete mark because of this.
Angelo, because the Japanese were ashamed they had lost the war. It was the sign of the emperor and they removed it before turning in their rifles as a small way to save face.
You mentioned a way to increase the contrast and make the numbers more obvious but I can't find the follow up video if there is one. What can you do to improve contrast? Does using nitric acid between treatments work?
The "don't add water to acid" thing applies only to concentrated sulfuric acid (especially oleum or fumans, that are both "over100%" concentation) since it's exothermic enough to break some glassware or splash. Sodium hydroxide does the same for example (drain cleaner), bringing room temperature water to over 70c. Also the etchant attacks the letters faster since metal structure is pushed down, and it tends to react in layers (edges of a crystal are more likely to react, and the ground surface of the bent in area by the die exposes all those)
So what if you over punched the area with multiple different digits 0-9 over each number then grinded them off. It would be virtually unreadable and this etching process wouldnt work? Thanks for the Video.
The best way to obliterate a serial number would probably be to stamp a load of random numbers over the top of the originals, and/or use a center punch to completely chew up the whole area of metal. Some guns could just have the whole area removed by driling holes in it. Many polymer pistols have a stainless steel insert for the serial number embedded in the polymer, which could be completely dissolved away with ferric chloride.
Question for you, I’m a metal detectorist and often come across worn-smooth copper coins. Would this process work for revealing details on them as well? (As long as the metal is stable enough). I believe ferric chloride would be the correct solution to use for copper. Let me know if you have any suggestions And great video!
Forget grinding wheels. Try this with a diamond coated abrasive wheel or a ceramic coated wheel. I realized those ridges are essentially the numbers,these wheels would completely destroy the serial number beyond recovery within 5 passes i bet.
It doesn't work in most cases. Magnafluxing to probably 20 times better, but as I posted, the FBI recovers less than 1/3 of the serial numbers they test, and by far, the most are on stolen vehicles.
@@Walkercolt1 That is the sad truth about ballistic forensics. For the vast majority of cases they are useless and only reveal information already known. In many cases a firearm is not recovered at all, and even when a firearm is recovered, many times matching is more of a qualitative exercise than a quantitative one.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj yep just like fingerprints. more of a pseudoscience than an actual scientific method that is reliable enough to be admissible in any court
@@jhanks2012 An acid etching recovered serial number is admissible in court. Particularly as quite a few guns have serial numbers on multiple locations (including ones you have to completely disassemble the gun to get too).
"there are also techniques to further highlight the results obtained but thats the topic for another video" Did you make another video? I want to restore the lost VIN on my cast iron engine block.
Would this work on a neck plate of a Fender guitar which I assume is soft steel originally chromed or would it be too caustic.? Thanks for the video will check out your others.
Hi guys im trying this method on a steel motorcycle frame .i have copper ii chloride dehydrate and deionised water but only have 28% hci will this work ifso do i need to adjust the formula?
@Backyard Ballistics I have an old Colt dated to 1882, it has the serial number filed off the frame and restamped with a single digit. The trigger guard and backstrap have different, but matching numbers. I would like to recover the frame serial number. It is a black powder saa frame. Is the procedure in the video accurate for a frame this age? Is 320 grit the only sand paper I should use? What polish do you recommend? I plan to do everything by hand if it is recommended. Since I have a black powder frame what is the best solution concentrate for an iron material this age? Thanks!
the solution I gave the recipe for will work on any low alloy steel, so unless the frame is made of brass it will work. Polishing is very important, you will need to start with 320 grit and go all the way down to polishing paste and a buffing wheel until you get a mirror-like finish. At that point you etch and after a few applications you should start seeing the "ghost" of the original numbers, unless the original abrasion was too deep. you won't find anything old under the newly stamped digit however, since that overrode the original stamping. Keep in mind that at the end of the procedure the surface remains etched and rusts very quickly, so you would need to repolish it after the etching. In short you have to be careful not to do more harm than good. This technique is usually used for criminal investigations
Inspiring video, I need to raise a frame number on a motorcycle will: Heavy Duty 36% Hydrochloric Acid - Brick Acid - Muriatic Acid - North Star Supplies-5 LTR be ok to use with the Copper (II) Chloride Dihydrate and distilled water?
It works, i used concrete etch, but from memory it was not that concentrated. You can work out the mol of the acid in his mix, and adjust yours with distilled water to match
QUESTION! Fantastic video, thank you. I was wondering whether you could produce aesthetic results that will last using this method. I collect old straight razors, and often the old maker's marks stamped into them have been partially or entirely effaced by time or grinding. Do you think this method could be used to deepen shallow or effaced marks, or reveal them, in a way that would "restore" the pieces and produce the kind of result a collector might be after? Thank you!
Hey there, sorry for the late reply. I'm pretty sure it is impossible to obtain an aestethically pleasing result with this or any other forensic technique. Also, the etched area becomes very rough and prone to corrosion. The only think I can suggest is using this technique to recover the original serial number, re-stamp it with punches of the same size and shape and finally polish the etched part to get it smooth again. Hope I answered your question
I bought a 1963 corvette split window.... we believe the engine is numbers matching ...there was a engine rebuild done 25 years ago and the serial numbers on the block did not survive the rebuild... lifting the numbers would add 25k to the value of the car. Which method would you suggest for a 1963 Chevy motor serial number to be lifted?
what's the material it was stamped on? If it is steel the recipe I gave is good. Just keep in mind that what it does is simply making the numbers visible, but with very little depth. Also, the etched surface is very rough and prone to corrosion ,so you would need to have punches of the appropriate size and font and re-stamp the numbers on top of the "ghost" of the old ones. Then polish everything up. Good luck
@@Backyard.Ballistics thank you for your reply... im trying to lift the numbers off a 1963 chevy block made of cast iron. Do you feel the process in your video is the right one for cast iron? Thanks
That was very interesting! I have 30% H2O2, 16-18% HCl, and CuOH in separate bottles. Can I use these materials to restore serial numbers? And how to mix it?
@@Backyard.Ballistics Thank you for answering! It says: copper oil fungicide copper hydroxide, 155 grams per liter. I used it for my plants last year and I do not know if it formed carbonate, but the bottle was closed tightly and does not look differently since it's last use. It is still green/blue.
@@Backyard.Ballistics After I make copper (II) chloride, should I change proportions of material compared to yours listed on the screen, since I have 16-18% HCl? Than I should not add distilled water?
I'm wondering if this works for laser etched numbers or only stamped numbers since this etch works by reacting to the different grain patterns in the steel?
How would you go about recovering the number for a modern firearm where it is a laser etched sheet metal plate inserted into a polymer? Also, would love to know if this works on laser etching on all steel firearms which have been laser engraved/etched.
Depending on where you are in the world they are easier or harder to get. Hydrochloric acid is used to etch concrete, so a building supply store usually carries it, the copper oxide is used by potters to dye their glazes, so a pottery supply store usually has that too.
I don't really have a great understanding of this sort of chemistry, this just kinda popped in my reccomendations.... but if the criminal made sure to erase the serial number by working the material first then grinding would it not ruin the results? Like say pounding it for a while with a hammer before grinding out the numbers? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you said
Anything that stretches or compresses the interatomic bonds in a metal will increase their tenedency to corrode, since more energy is released when the atoms react with the etchant. This affects how "noble" the metal is going to be in regard to corrosion. Also, since our less noble region is neighbor of the more noble, undeformed material, galvanic corrosion arises, which means that the corrosion speed of the less noble metal will be further increased, while in the more noble it is slowed down. As for the reason that causes the stretching and shortening of the interatomic distances, they are due to two factors: the residual stresses and the increased number of dislocations in the crystal lattice associated with the work hardening.
Yea, I heard of this technology back in the 80’s-90’s, that’s why I would use an engraving tool to remove numbers from firearms. The engraving tool has a carbide tip, and uses quick impacts to remove all numbers. Statute of limitations are way pass, so I can speak about it now. I NEVER had a firearm traced back to its original purchaser. Let’s NOT forget to run a drill slightly in the barrel to change land and grooves, slightly sand paper the firing pin and extractor, AND sandpaper the bolt face for a totally untraceable firearm.😉
What if you put another serial number on top of the first one, or add more numbers before grinding it off? When I have some sensitive information, like a password, on a piece of paper, I write a few random letters on top of each letter, then fill in the whole area with ink. If someone tried to get a crayon rubbing on another piece of paper they would get a confusing bunch of letters.
You were adding water to a dilute acid if it were concentrated acid it would boil rapidly. Most commercially available hydrochloric acid is around 30% concentration
hi im having trouble restoring a number on a engine block thats been machined off . i made a mix of 30g copper 200ml 3% hydrogen peroxide and 32% hydrochloric acid . i let the mix brew for about 10hrs to dissolve the copper and tryed to restore the number and its just put a coating of copper over the part im trying to restore . its a cast iron engine block. any pointers on what im doing wrong
what you are doing is preparing the copper (II) chloride in situ, but that makes it hard to keep track of the exact composition of the mixture. I would suggest to first extract the copper (II) chloride by boiling everything off until you are left with the (reasonably) pure copper salt, and then use that to prepare the solution with the recipe I provided in the video. By the way, the working surface becoming copper plated usually means that the concentration of HCl in the solution is too low.
@@krisspiller8838 fry's reagent works, but in my experience the recipe I use gives better results. I suggest to just buy some copper (II) chloride online and replicate the recipe
I'm curious if this could be used to restore proof marks and other filed off markings from bringbacks and other rifles, if not to restore them, at least make it easier to find the location of the original mark for restoration.
Hello, thank you for your educative clip. Trying to recover the serial number of my 1984 Breitling watch. Bought it second hand and after 30 years of being worn by previous owners the serial number on the case back has been worn out and is unreadable. Was wondering, if your solution works on stainless steel or if there is another technic to recover serial numbers. Don't want to buy a whole forensic kit to figure out the 6-7 digits. Wondering about an easy and cost effective solution. Kind regards! Charles
As most serial numbers on firearms in the US are laser engraved, could a criminal use a laser engraved at a deeper depth to remove the serial number or would that still be recoverable
Can you email me the specifics? I inherited my father's hand gun when he passed away, but prior one of my siblings took it and scratched the numbers in an attempt to look cool.
My guess would be, that if you theoretically wanted to get rid of the numbers, you first should put some numbers over the original ones, and THEN remove the whole contraption. I guess it would make this quite more difficult, won't it?
@Fat kid from Up Yeah, if you wanted to actually get away with something like murder. You'd need a whole team of people to research the best forensic methods.
@Nigel Lush Most criminals simply just don't get caught at the scene of the crime. I don't think many criminals even try to remove serials since if they are illegally in possession of the firearm, no one will know they own it to begin with. Most don't care what the serial is because they obtained the gun illegally in the first place.
"Not unless you ground a hole clean through it, acid will recover it." "That would be true, but I follow up with a pass through a random stipple machine presses . Hides the patterns in the metal density. Should throw off your x-ray diffraction and some other high end methods. Nothings perfect of course but, this is close."
![[Part 1] ทารกน้อยถูกทิ้ง👶 หญิงชราเก็บขวดขายเลี้ยงดูเขาจนโต #โลกการละคร](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nPTDvFCExks/mqdefault.jpg)
Can you show how to recover guns lost in fishing accidents.
@Fat kid from Upnah we taking the truck-boat-truck to pcb to get buck wild sheriff!
@Fat kid from Up not now chalky face devil!
@Fat kid from Up clowny whats and such
😂
Look up “Adventures with Purpose”. They have quite a collection of “lost” guns. (Usually found under bridges - with safes and ATM’s)…
Adding waiter to a small volume of HCL in a tall graduated column eliminates the risk of splashing from boiling caused by the exothermic reaction. That’s my guess anyway.
Your guess is correct, mainly because of the large water content that is already in the acid: at standard conditions you can not concentrate HCl more than 37%, so it is already heavily diluted. The only really dangerous acid for splashings is concentrated sulfuric acid
Backyard Ballistics yes concentrated H2SO4 will definitely splash. Even a very small volume added to water will cause a sharp rise in temperature. Strong bases like NAOH and KOH will also cause splashing very easily. The bases are more of a splash risk.
@@Backyard.Ballistics If the serial number isn't being deeply etched, none of the solutions would be able to bringing it back.
never add water to HCl, in my opinion the best way is to slowly drip the HCl into water using a buretta
They aren't engraved, they're stamped, which is why this works. The metal is compressed.
That´s what happens when a forensic expert gets bored, he shares knowledge throught internet. Great video as always!
Lol
Us criminals thank him
i used to think the restoration technology was super advanced, but it turned out, most criminals are just morons who don't know how to deface the serial numbers properly
Grind and weld over the numbers. A tool rental company in my town bought a backhoe at auction. Owner found out the feds were coming after it. He ground the numbers and welded over them several times. He paid legitimately for the tractor , and was about to loose it to an insurance company. I knew several of the mechanics , they told me about the tung lashing he got about grinding and welding the numbers. But being they couldn't prove he had done it or that it was the stolen backhoe the left without it.
A buddy of mine worked with the "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge" (German War Graves Commission) and they used x-ray machines to identify unreadable dog tags. Basically worked in a similar way like your edging solutions, because x-rays penetrated the tags differently in the imprinted parts, so abrasion or corrosion did not matter.
Interesting video, I found your channel after seeing your add on a forgotten weapons video
So if you "overstamp" the original Serial-Number untill it is unreadable and grind it away afterwards it should be almost unrestorable?
Thanks that was very helpful.
Jokes aside great Vid, discovered your Channel yesterday and I really like it.
Cyclotrimethylentrinitramin how is it a joke?
@@kylethedalek
Because I don't f***ing plan on grinding away any Gun Serial-Numbers or Serial-Numbers in general.
Pretty sad that I need to clarify this...
Cyclotrimethylentrinitramin I didn’t mean it in that way.
Europol would like to know your location.
Or you can just weld over the grind of serial number
Saw your advertisement a few days ago, and oh my word this stuff is so interesting
Very interesting video. This is some behind the scene police work that you never really think about or know as a civilian. Good work, keep up the content!
Dude I just watched the bullet finger printing and now this. Youre awesome for making this common knowledge
Could you restore a scratched out imperial Japanese Crysantnum mark on Japanese rifles with this technique ?
Damn why would someone scratch that out?
@@angeloc1340 I believe it was a concession that the US government gave to the Japanese Emperor after the war because that mark signified it was from the emperor who was considered a living god. Very few war trophies have a complete mark because of this.
@Max Paine That is pretty interesting if it is true.
@@brealistic3542 Surrendered guns have the Mum defaced. Combat captured guns do not.
Angelo, because the Japanese were ashamed they had lost the war. It was the sign of the emperor and they removed it before turning in their rifles as a small way to save face.
This is my favorite TH-cam channel !! I'm so glad you where able to get a TH-cam add (some how lol)
This is very interesting I'd love to see more of these types of videos its very interesting. This video like Nilered,& this old tony had a baby
I remember hearing about that when I was a kid like in the 90s.
It’s very cool to see it in action!
You mentioned a way to increase the contrast and make the numbers more obvious but I can't find the follow up video if there is one. What can you do to improve contrast? Does using nitric acid between treatments work?
The "don't add water to acid" thing applies only to concentrated sulfuric acid (especially oleum or fumans, that are both "over100%" concentation) since it's exothermic enough to break some glassware or splash. Sodium hydroxide does the same for example (drain cleaner), bringing room temperature water to over 70c. Also the etchant attacks the letters faster since metal structure is pushed down, and it tends to react in layers (edges of a crystal are more likely to react, and the ground surface of the bent in area by the die exposes all those)
Do you know the process to do this with aluminum?
On an AR 15 lower, what would stop a person from using a Dremel router to completely roves all of the metal from the serial area?
Absolutely nothing, except maybe a small decrease in reliability
So what if you over punched the area with multiple different digits 0-9 over each number then grinded them off.
It would be virtually unreadable and this etching process wouldnt work?
Thanks for the Video.
Neat making the glue gun cradle edge. I am going to try this on an engine block. Thank you for sharing.
did it ever work on the engine block??
The best way to obliterate a serial number would probably be to stamp a load of random numbers over the top of the originals, and/or use a center punch to completely chew up the whole area of metal.
Some guns could just have the whole area removed by driling holes in it.
Many polymer pistols have a stainless steel insert for the serial number embedded in the polymer, which could be completely dissolved away with ferric chloride.
Yeah that's what I thought just punch random complex figures like 8, X, #, $ etc
What formula do you use for aluminum? I wanna try recovering a VIN on a motorcycle frame.
I tried this the other day on an engine number on a motorcycle. Household bleach, I just swabbed some on and left it for a while and it came back
Question for you, I’m a metal detectorist and often come across worn-smooth copper coins. Would this process work for revealing details on them as well? (As long as the metal is stable enough).
I believe ferric chloride would be the correct solution to use for copper. Let me know if you have any suggestions
And great video!
Forget grinding wheels. Try this with a diamond coated abrasive wheel or a ceramic coated wheel. I realized those ridges are essentially the numbers,these wheels would completely destroy the serial number beyond recovery within 5 passes i bet.
How is it done on modern firearms, since most are applied with laser or machine engraving, instead of stamping
BackyardBallisticsCo. It’s popular with homemade firearms than need to be registered in some states.
It doesn't work in most cases. Magnafluxing to probably 20 times better, but as I posted, the FBI recovers less than 1/3 of the serial numbers they test, and by far, the most are on stolen vehicles.
@@Walkercolt1 That is the sad truth about ballistic forensics. For the vast majority of cases they are useless and only reveal information already known. In many cases a firearm is not recovered at all, and even when a firearm is recovered, many times matching is more of a qualitative exercise than a quantitative one.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj yep just like fingerprints. more of a pseudoscience than an actual scientific method that is reliable enough to be admissible in any court
@@jhanks2012 An acid etching recovered serial number is admissible in court. Particularly as quite a few guns have serial numbers on multiple locations (including ones you have to completely disassemble the gun to get too).
I always wondered how that was done, thank you for your videos, they are always interesting.
@backyard ballistics super Nice video i have a Old moped frame where the vinnumber is rustet Can i use the celution on iron ? Best regards Andreas
"there are also techniques to further highlight the results obtained but thats the topic for another video"
Did you make another video? I want to restore the lost VIN on my cast iron engine block.
I’ve heard of the technique before but the chemistry is new to me.
Fun video 🙂
Good video. Thanks for sharing the details!!! From Georgia, USA😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
My pleasure!
Would this work on a neck plate of a Fender guitar which I assume is soft steel originally chromed or would it be too caustic.? Thanks for the video will check out your others.
I know this is like years later but I have an old 84 atc I'm trying to pull the vin from, can you link me the product? Thanks
So have you made a video to highlight the numbers afterwards?
Hi guys im trying this method on a steel motorcycle frame .i have copper ii chloride dehydrate and deionised water but only have 28% hci will this work ifso do i need to adjust the formula?
@Backyard Ballistics I have an old Colt dated to 1882, it has the serial number filed off the frame and restamped with a single digit. The trigger guard and backstrap have different, but matching numbers. I would like to recover the frame serial number. It is a black powder saa frame. Is the procedure in the video accurate for a frame this age? Is 320 grit the only sand paper I should use? What polish do you recommend? I plan to do everything by hand if it is recommended. Since I have a black powder frame what is the best solution concentrate for an iron material this age? Thanks!
the solution I gave the recipe for will work on any low alloy steel, so unless the frame is made of brass it will work. Polishing is very important, you will need to start with 320 grit and go all the way down to polishing paste and a buffing wheel until you get a mirror-like finish. At that point you etch and after a few applications you should start seeing the "ghost" of the original numbers, unless the original abrasion was too deep. you won't find anything old under the newly stamped digit however, since that overrode the original stamping. Keep in mind that at the end of the procedure the surface remains etched and rusts very quickly, so you would need to repolish it after the etching. In short you have to be careful not to do more harm than good. This technique is usually used for criminal investigations
Super cool vid. I knew this was possible, but i had no idea how it was done, i thought with some kind of xray measuring density or something.
Backyard ballistics what size is that number stamp kit you have in the blue box in your video pal
Inspiring video, I need to raise a frame number on a motorcycle will: Heavy Duty 36% Hydrochloric Acid - Brick Acid - Muriatic Acid - North Star Supplies-5 LTR be ok to use with the Copper (II) Chloride Dihydrate and distilled water?
It works, i used concrete etch, but from memory it was not that concentrated. You can work out the mol of the acid in his mix, and adjust yours with distilled water to match
great video! you've earned another subscriber!
QUESTION! Fantastic video, thank you. I was wondering whether you could produce aesthetic results that will last using this method. I collect old straight razors, and often the old maker's marks stamped into them have been partially or entirely effaced by time or grinding. Do you think this method could be used to deepen shallow or effaced marks, or reveal them, in a way that would "restore" the pieces and produce the kind of result a collector might be after? Thank you!
Hey there, sorry for the late reply. I'm pretty sure it is impossible to obtain an aestethically pleasing result with this or any other forensic technique. Also, the etched area becomes very rough and prone to corrosion. The only think I can suggest is using this technique to recover the original serial number, re-stamp it with punches of the same size and shape and finally polish the etched part to get it smooth again. Hope I answered your question
Underrated channel
I bought a 1963 corvette split window.... we believe the engine is numbers matching ...there was a engine rebuild done 25 years ago and the serial numbers on the block did not survive the rebuild... lifting the numbers would add 25k to the value of the car. Which method would you suggest for a 1963 Chevy motor serial number to be lifted?
what's the material it was stamped on? If it is steel the recipe I gave is good. Just keep in mind that what it does is simply making the numbers visible, but with very little depth. Also, the etched surface is very rough and prone to corrosion ,so you would need to have punches of the appropriate size and font and re-stamp the numbers on top of the "ghost" of the old ones. Then polish everything up. Good luck
@@Backyard.Ballistics thank you for your reply... im trying to lift the numbers off a 1963 chevy block made of cast iron. Do you feel the process in your video is the right one for cast iron?
Thanks
That was very interesting! I have 30% H2O2, 16-18% HCl, and CuOH in separate bottles. Can I use these materials to restore serial numbers? And how to mix it?
@@Backyard.Ballistics Thank you for answering! It says: copper oil fungicide copper hydroxide, 155 grams per liter. I used it for my plants last year and I do not know if it formed carbonate, but the bottle was closed tightly and does not look differently since it's last use. It is still green/blue.
@@Backyard.Ballistics After I make copper (II) chloride, should I change proportions of material compared to yours listed on the screen, since I have 16-18% HCl? Than I should not add distilled water?
Is it also possible to restore numbers da,aged by corrosion over the time in this way?
Do you think this would work on a vintage pipe wrench's branding stamp?
Only if the letters were imprinted when the material was cool (not while hot forging)
I see that you used copper II chloride in powder form. Can i use it in solution form? If so how much?
I'm wondering if this works for laser etched numbers or only stamped numbers since this etch works by reacting to the different grain patterns in the steel?
It doesn't work on laser etched numbers
How would you go about recovering the number for a modern firearm where it is a laser etched sheet metal plate inserted into a polymer? Also, would love to know if this works on laser etching on all steel firearms which have been laser engraved/etched.
Can this technique be used to restore faded rusty logos
on metal?
Where do you get the substances to make the chemical mixture to show the numbers?
Depending on where you are in the world they are easier or harder to get. Hydrochloric acid is used to etch concrete, so a building supply store usually carries it, the copper oxide is used by potters to dye their glazes, so a pottery supply store usually has that too.
I don't really have a great understanding of this sort of chemistry, this just kinda popped in my reccomendations.... but if the criminal made sure to erase the serial number by working the material first then grinding would it not ruin the results? Like say pounding it for a while with a hammer before grinding out the numbers? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you said
You are perfectly right, so you understood perfectly😉. But luckily very often criminals are brainless, so they rarely do it.
Why does the work hardened steel react faster than the the rest?
Anything that stretches or compresses the interatomic bonds in a metal will increase their tenedency to corrode, since more energy is released when the atoms react with the etchant. This affects how "noble" the metal is going to be in regard to corrosion. Also, since our less noble region is neighbor of the more noble, undeformed material, galvanic corrosion arises, which means that the corrosion speed of the less noble metal will be further increased, while in the more noble it is slowed down.
As for the reason that causes the stretching and shortening of the interatomic distances, they are due to two factors: the residual stresses and the increased number of dislocations in the crystal lattice associated with the work hardening.
@@Backyard.Ballistics holy crap that was an amazing answer! I can see I'm going to like this channel! 😎
Personally, I'd use some cutting fluid, a drill press and drill holes all the way through, for instance the serial number area on an AR's magwell
I would just stamp digits 1-9 over each digit so no one can tell what the original number was.
SPLENDID MAESTRO
Goddamn this is so interesting and so happy I got recommended your videos
Yea, I heard of this technology back in the 80’s-90’s, that’s why I would use an engraving tool to remove numbers from firearms. The engraving tool has a carbide tip, and uses quick impacts to remove all numbers. Statute of limitations are way pass, so I can speak about it now. I NEVER had a firearm traced back to its original purchaser. Let’s NOT forget to run a drill slightly in the barrel to change land and grooves, slightly sand paper the firing pin and extractor, AND sandpaper the bolt face for a totally untraceable firearm.😉
That was awesome!
Thank you. Great video.
I came here after seeing Mike peruse guns from the gun dealer in better call Saul. Just had to know how acid can restore serial numbers.
Simple solution: first punch few times new numbers on original ones and then grind ;)
Just use a punch to obliterate the numbers, don't even grind them,
@@bills6093 grinding gives you more safety and leaves only 2 dimensions out of 3 if you know what I mean. Punch have it's depth while eaching does not
@@alanowa123 Given the way the acid process works, the grinding is a waste of time, imo.
What if you put another serial number on top of the first one, or add more numbers before grinding it off? When I have some sensitive information, like a password, on a piece of paper, I write a few random letters on top of each letter, then fill in the whole area with ink. If someone tried to get a crayon rubbing on another piece of paper they would get a confusing bunch of letters.
That's exactly how to do it. luckily criminals usually aren't that smart
If you cannot see it with the naked eye, using a scanner (all-in-one printer bed) can sometimes reveal what the maked eye might miss.
I guess heating the metal red hot is probably necessary for a full clean. I assume that would change the crystal structure enough to erase the marks
Glooks bro, ty for letting me know how y’all move 🦍
So does backyard ballistics work with CSI or the Mafia?
Good job
You were adding water to a dilute acid if it were concentrated acid it would boil rapidly. Most commercially available hydrochloric acid is around 30% concentration
that's correct!
Thanks for the tutorial. I’m check mine if visible or not. I dont wanna get in trouble
How if its grinded deeper?
You have a great channel. There is a lack of firearms chans run by P. Eng's.
hi im having trouble restoring a number on a engine block thats been machined off . i made a mix of 30g copper 200ml 3% hydrogen peroxide and 32% hydrochloric acid . i let the mix brew for about 10hrs to dissolve the copper and tryed to restore the number and its just put a coating of copper over the part im trying to restore . its a cast iron engine block. any pointers on what im doing wrong
what you are doing is preparing the copper (II) chloride in situ, but that makes it hard to keep track of the exact composition of the mixture. I would suggest to first extract the copper (II) chloride by boiling everything off until you are left with the (reasonably) pure copper salt, and then use that to prepare the solution with the recipe I provided in the video.
By the way, the working surface becoming copper plated usually means that the concentration of HCl in the solution is too low.
Will fry’s reagent work as I’m no chemistry person lol just trying to get a engine number back .
@@krisspiller8838 fry's reagent works, but in my experience the recipe I use gives better results. I suggest to just buy some copper (II) chloride online and replicate the recipe
Thank you im going to try this
I'm curious if this could be used to restore proof marks and other filed off markings from bringbacks and other rifles, if not to restore them, at least make it easier to find the location of the original mark for restoration.
It's exactly the same, bring back a stamp
Plzzzz reply..........what is this chemical.....
Hello, thank you for your educative clip. Trying to recover the serial number of my 1984 Breitling watch. Bought it second hand and after 30 years of being worn by previous owners the serial number on the case back has been worn out and is unreadable. Was wondering, if your solution works on stainless steel or if there is another technic to recover serial numbers. Don't want to buy a whole forensic kit to figure out the 6-7 digits. Wondering about an easy and cost effective solution. Kind regards! Charles
@@Backyard.Ballistics
Hello, just messaged you with the pictures and a short video of the watch and the unreadable serial number.
Thanks!
As most serial numbers on firearms in the US are laser engraved, could a criminal use a laser engraved at a deeper depth to remove the serial number or would that still be recoverable
The laser engraving is too shallow so it doesnt come back like a stamped number
Trust me u gotta go deeper he ain't go deep fr 💯
that is what i was looking for thank you very much but which Acid do i need for a sterling silver item i have ton bring back a russian hallmark
I’ve seen many guns now come with the serial numbers printed onto the plastic part of the frame.
Hello there, do you know what solution is best for recovering numbers from steel frames? (like those old Japanese motorcycle frames.
so instead of grinding the serial numbers off, it'd be better to overstamp them with a dozen other numbers?
How do recover it after filed down and welded over??
You don’t
well how about the oak island stone ? you would think someone copied it though
Thanks for learning me
Can you email me the specifics? I inherited my father's hand gun when he passed away, but prior one of my siblings took it and scratched the numbers in an attempt to look cool.
nothing cooler than a felony charge
Incredible
You could add water if the temperature is correct
Niceee chaneeel
Would you know how to do this to Aluminum?
There are apposite formulations for aluminum, but it is generally harder to recover. If you need them I can provide you additional information😉
Look on Sirchi. They sell different applications for different metals.
Next restore a gun using just the serial numbers
How can we do the same with aluminium?
All then murders are watching this right now 😂
wow thats amazing
and that is why you buy a polymer80 kit
Smart criminals X out the numbers before grinding them off. Luckily usually they are not smart haha
My guess would be, that if you theoretically wanted to get rid of the numbers, you first should put some numbers over the original ones, and THEN remove the whole contraption. I guess it would make this quite more difficult, won't it?
Yes you're totally right😉
@@Backyard.Ballistics I thought so 😉 many regards from another sport shooter (ipsc) from Germany!
so the best way to remove a serial number is with more numbers
@Fat kid from Up Yeah, if you wanted to actually get away with something like murder. You'd need a whole team of people to research the best forensic methods.
@Nigel Lush Most criminals simply just don't get caught at the scene of the crime. I don't think many criminals even try to remove serials since if they are illegally in possession of the firearm, no one will know they own it to begin with. Most don't care what the serial is because they obtained the gun illegally in the first place.
What’s the solution called?!?
I don’t think it would work if they grind too deep, would it?
"Not unless you ground a hole clean through it, acid will recover it."
"That would be true, but I follow up with a pass through a random stipple machine presses . Hides the patterns in the metal density. Should throw off your x-ray diffraction and some other high end methods. Nothings perfect of course but, this is close."
Mcq of this topic......where to find.