Sad to hear that another member of our community has passed.

I have read (and I see in one case from my previous comment re-read) with interest the attached threads.

The gun appears to have started life as an 8 bore pinfire shotgun (maybe with rifle barrels since lost?) with a 7 bore proof diameter.

It has then been converted to a paper cased 4 bore.

It seems to have been assumed that it was never re-Proofed BUT I notice that the bore size of 7 is stamped twice on each barrel. That is most unusual.

Does that indicate that it went back to the Proof house on conversion and they simply re stamped the bore size to indicate re-Proof?

If it was done prior to 1875, and that is quite likely given the obsolescence of pin-fire cartridges chamber sizes and lengths were not then marked at Proof and I believe the Re-Proof mark was a later introduction