Jon, welcome to the forum - I have bought guns and wondered if they ever were stolen, but its only a slight worry if you know the owner now. As said, I would just run the number, there are also a few law enforcement on the forums and years ago they said they could run a number, however if they do so, it has to be reported if found stolen. Realize that serial number blocks for most military and police ran in blocks of 10,000 - so its possible it could come up as 'stolen' and its not.
A true serial number includes any possible 'suffix', its manufacturer etc. so - as an example:
Mauser dated 1940 marked 42 sn 1234
or if it had a suffix
Mauser dated 1940 marked 42 sn 1234b
I collect bring back stories, US, German, Japanese etc
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Edward Tinker
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Co-Author of Police Lugers - Co-Author of Simson Lugers
Author of Veteran Bring Backs Vol I, Vol II, Vol III and Vol IV
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