I can,t tell you when spurious guns of English make first entered the market. It must have been significantly ealier than the report in the 1887 article in the magazine "Shooting". The problem must have been serious enough to provoke concerted response by the principal gunmakers of the day. Below is the summation of the issue, printed in "Shooting magazine":-
"We wish to thank the majority of gunmakers for their assistance in helping us to put a stop to the spurious gun trade.The means we have adopted[ that of informing the public how gunmakers mark guns of their make] renders it well-nigh impossible for dealers to sell guns as genuine which bear names and addresses nearly, but not quite, like those used by the makers whose guns they are intended to represent. The only source left to them is to use the exact names ,and this,we are happy to say, brings them within reach of the criminal law.
The few Gunmakers who have not given us information have been those who make for the trade, and whose names,there-fore,are not usually found on guns in this country."
