Dean unfortunately you are correct. Unless guys like George do the right thing it may never surface. A little more to my story. the neighbor two house down told me it was a good chance it was his grandson. It seems that his grandson got out of prison the day before my gun disappeared. The grandfather told me he was a drug addict and a thief, as much as it pained him to tell me this.
Long story short the detective assigned to the case had put this guy in prison after a physical altercation, so he took an extra interest in this theft.
I received a call a few weeks ago the suspect in back in prison for parole violations, of course no gun recovered and he would not admit to taking it. Here is the interesting things I learned from the detective.
Most of these drug addicts have $500 a day drug habits with no job. Only a few ways to get this money and stealing guns especially is the easiest. Many stand out by Wal-Mart and approach guys asking if they want to buy some guns at a price that is hard to pass up. Once the guns are purchased rarely do they surface. Pawn shops are supposed to report all gun purchases. There are a number of crooks in the Pawn business here and what they will do is report the S/N only placing one number out of order. This way if they get busted they claim it is a clerical error, and of course the SN never pops up as stolen.
Once again George thanks for being an honest guy.

George
What about the guy who sold it to you was he the one that stole it ? If so why wasnt he charged with anything ? Sounds like hes free to do it again !

On that one yes, but you would have to get close enough to see the serial number as it was a production gun. But no one has ever heard of a 28 L.C. Smith so "Loose lips sink ships."

Only one 28 gauge ever built by Hunter Arms and still in the family. My gun was an exact replica built from a 20 gauge ejector gun. I keep hoping someone will talk about it, see it at a gun show, etc.

You don't have to prove he stole it, the charge would be " in possession of a stolen firearm". It is unfortunate that you did not contact the authorities and have them present when he showed up to sell you the gun. You were playing with fire in the time period when you purchased the item from him and finally had it released to you. In that time you were in possession of a stolen firearm, and could have been charged with such. I assume your friend who has access to NCIC was either a law enforcement officer or a police dispatcher of some sorts. Did those folks try an initiate a case on this, and find the person who you purchased this from? Glad in this case it turned out well, but it could have ended up to be your worst nightmare. But when you are dealing with a stolen firearm it is not your right or duty to take possession of it and try and find the rightful owner. Quite the contrary, you are now breaking the law yourself. Your duty is to alert the correct authorities and help them find the original seller so that person can be prosecuted and to let them take care of finding the rightful owner. Plus there is a federal NCIC offense if your person did not open a case # on the "hit" on the guns serial number. NCIC Terminals face yearly in house audits by the FBI, and if that hit is queried by the auditor they will want to see the case file generated by the hit. Sorry, JMHO.

I just read your original posting on this stolen gun. I now wish you had been caught and prosecuted.

I have the exact opposite side of the story. I bought a S&W M57 41 magnum from an older gentleman in Idaho. No problem got the gun it was as described. I paid a fair price for it. Michigan is one of only a few states that requires registration of a hand gun and as I have a concealed carry license I did the right thing and registered the gun. About a month goes by and the Sherriff's detective calls me asking questions about the transaction. Turns out this was stolen in 1986 from Tacoma Washington. The gun was sent back to Tacoma and I will not get it back or will I recoup any of the money paid. I did the right thing by registering the gun but was turned into a victim.:cuss::cuss::banghead:

No good deed goes unpunished. Coming back from Africa, there was a hit on one of my rifles, but it turns out it was a hit on a lever action with the same serial number.

I've told this story before but it fits here also. In 1986 I received a call to my gun store from a man who wanted to sell a Parker shotgun. I asked him to describe it and he responded that "it was engraved and was HUGE so it must be a 20 gauge!" I asked what he wanted for it and he answered $200. I told him I wanted to see it but that I would likely buy it. After the call ended I called the local police dept and told them a man was bringing a stolen firearm to my store to sell and asked if they would send an officer over to apprehend the gent when he arrived. The dispatcher said to call when the man arrived and to call them then, which I did. The gun turned out to be a magnificent CH 8ga with 36" damascus barrels and skeleton buttplate. I of course told him I would buy it but it would take a while for me to "write it up". He asked if I would want to by a couple of handguns he had also. Sure, I responded, bring them in. He went to his car and brought in a pair of nickel plated and engraved 1st generation Colt single action army's in a vintage hand tooled double quick draw rig. I took all these gems to the back room where they would be safe and spent about a half hour admiring all these gems waiting for the police to arrive, while my employees kept watch on the seller. The police did finally arrive and started questioning the seller. It turned out the guns were stolen the day before from a judge in a neighboring county. I received a thank you call from him a few days later. He was one lucky man, as I have over 60 firearms that were stolen in burglaries over the years that have never been recovered.

David, we want to know what happened to the CH eight gauge. Do you still own it? $200 is a good price for a CH eight.

I guess it went back to the lawful owner. From there, who knows, but I believe a friend Bill knew well had a CH 8 among his many 8's