On a Brit gun, factory records often are unavailable. Even on the Army & Navy pair I had, when I got all the records from the University of Glasgow, I had no idea about the original chokes--since choke isn't marked on Brit guns. Both were 005 in the R; #1 was O15 in the L, #2 was 040. Pretty sure #2 was original because you can't get much tighter than that. But after patterning it and knowing I wasn't going to use it for turkeys or waterfowl but rather for upland birds, I had it opened to 025. Which does not require reproof under Brit rules. For that matter, on a Brit gun, I don't have much of a problem if it's been submitted for reproof--which tells me it's been shot with proof loads more recently than when it was "original". So that's OK with me too. And if the barrels have been reblacked, which is done quite commonly over there, what's the big deal if it's been done well? No big deal to me.
It's nice that my vintage Lancaster is still 2 1/2" and the bores are still within proof for a 12 bore (by a significant margin), but it would not have been a deal breaker for me by any means if it had been honed to the point that it had passed reproof as a 12/1--assuming sufficient barrel wall thickness.
