On Sunday the 6 Oct it will be the 200th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Birmingham proof House .
I wonder how many guns have passed through there doors since then ?

and of those that have, how many are still in use!

Well, according to my copy of The History of the Birmingham Proof House the busiest year appears to be 1868 with a total of 961,459. Between then and 1885 there were only two years when the total went just under half a million per annum. There were significant peaks during the American Civil War and the Austro/German and Franco/Prussian wars. They keep very details records so I suppose someone there may know the answer. Lagopus.....