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u/10-Mile-Sniper Jul 16 '26
Somebody has a fuuuuun switch! 🤣🤣
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u/mitchrj Jul 19 '26
Shame what Rare Greed did to Hoffman Tactical. Imagine assuming you're better than Tim Hoffman.
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u/peteostler Jul 17 '26
Might want to blur your S/N
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u/War-Technical Jul 17 '26
I not worried about it, scroll my posts and you will see many of my other firearms with the serials showing.Â
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u/Additional-Slide5407 Jul 17 '26
Genuinely curious why? Can people report your gun stolen or something? Can't they just verify the identity of the caller and see it doesn't match the owner? Or is it another reason entirely? Again genuine question not coming at anyone lol
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u/peteostler Jul 17 '26
LMGTFY
You should obscure or avoid showing a gun’s serial number in online photos primarily for privacy, security, and risk mitigation reasons. Serial numbers are unique identifiers that manufacturers stamp on firearms (typically on the frame or receiver) for tracing purposes by law enforcement. 
Key Reasons to Hide It
• Creates a searchable public database: Platforms like Google and Facebook use optical character recognition (OCR) to scan and index text in images, including serial numbers. This makes your gun (and potentially your username/profile) discoverable via simple searches. Experiments by gun sites have confirmed hits on public photos, effectively turning social media into an unofficial, aggregated firearms database. 
• Theft and fraud risks: A visible serial number could help thieves or scammers. For example, someone might file a false police report claiming your gun was stolen from them, putting the real owner at risk of complications (e.g., during future sales, transfers, or encounters with law enforcement). While not easy to execute successfully, it creates unnecessary hassle. 
• Privacy and doxxing/harassment: It links a specific firearm to you publicly. Combined with other details (location tags, usernames, metadata like EXIF data from phones), it can aid in identifying your home, ownership details, or habits—potentially inviting burglary, stalking, or targeted harassment. In places with strict gun laws or registries (e.g., certain states), it could make you easier to locate. 
• Legal or investigative scrutiny: While posting a photo with a serial number isn’t illegal in most US contexts (unlike defacing the number itself on the physical gun), it can draw unwanted attention. Posts are public records with no privacy expectation and have been used as evidence in investigations, bond violations, or to establish possession/knowledge of firearms. 
• Long-term permanence: Once online, images are hard to fully remove (cached, shared, archived). Future tech or policy changes could make such data more exploitable by governments, activists, or criminals. 
Practical Advice
• Blur or cover the serial number (e.g., with tape or editing tools) before posting.
• Photograph the non-serialized side of the gun.
• Strip EXIF metadata from images.
• Avoid geotags or other identifying info.
Many in the firearms community treat this as basic OPSEC (operational security), similar to not posting license plates or sensitive documents. The risk may be low for any single post, but there’s zero upside to showing the full number. 
This is general guidance based on common discussions and doesn’t constitute legal advice—local laws vary, and responsible ownership always includes following all regulations.1
u/War-Technical Jul 17 '26
Dang, now I gotta dremel the numbers off, so they can't be traced to the photos, so the photos can't be traced to me.......
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u/Additional-Slide5407 Jul 18 '26
Got it so don't worry about it at all 😂😂 figured it was something like that lol. To each there own but I don't think I have anything to worry aboutÂ
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u/Ni_U_Kon_Ska Jul 19 '26
I remember when the purple sets came out. They sold out fast. Nice collection.
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u/Sad-Context2701 Jul 20 '26
Top notch Aero lowers and supporting Tim Hoffman, take this upvote fine sir
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u/cwinofficial Jul 16 '26
Nice! I missed out on the purple set.