I would like to buy my dad a gun made in 1948 as that is the same year he was born.  I guess I will have to go by a serial number more then anything.  Can anyone give me an idea of what kind of gun I should get him?  I have been trying ot find different databases of serial numbers to find where I can find a gun like this.

He is into old gun liks Winchester lever guns and double barreled shotguns.  He loves 1911's as well.  Thanks for any help.

how about a CMP garand?

My dad has a Remington 720; those were made from 1946 to some time in the 50's or 60's I believe. Good guns too.

Maybe a Remington Sportsman 11-48 shotgun?  First marketed in 1948, it was designed from the Browning patent, a more streamlined version of the Remington Model 11 (which looks and works like a Browning A-5*).  The 11-48 was the predecessor to the Remington 1100**, and looks very nearly like it.

*    Browning A-5, Remington Model 11 and 11-48 were recoil operated.  Unlike the Browning, the 11-48 had an interesting bushing that was self-adjusting for various loads.

**  Remington 1100 was gas operated.

Theres alot available here just to name a few of the top of my head, Yugo M-48 Mauser, Mosin Nagant M-44, SKS-45 (Soviet....), Swiss K-31, possibly French MAS 36, and many others, ask around at Parallaxbills Curio & Relic and Millitary Surplus Firearms Forum, you'll have to open an EZboard account if you haven't already but it's free....