I know that I promised not to post any more on this thread, but this is getting interesting, I think. I do not know too much about how the London or Birmingham or, for that matter, other proof houses work, but I do not think that the proof marks necessarily indicate the maximum pressures for a gun. I believe that the proof houses prove guns as and to the pressures instructed by the manufacturer or other person requesting the proof. In fact, it may be that a manufacturer would ask that its guns be proofed for significantly less than the maximum pressure, so as not to fail proof. Put another way, because a gun has proofs for, say,
850 bars, it doesn't necessarily mean that it could not be proved to a higher standard. For instance, I purchased an Italian pigeon gun some time ago at an auction in London. I believe that British proof marks are required to sell a gun in an auction in England. Accordingly, immediately before it was auctioned, it was proved in London and Is so marked for 900 bars. Given the heft of this baby and considering that it is a pigeon gun, I cannot believe that it could not have been proved to higher standard, but there was no real need for the consignor or auction house to request a higher proof.
Last edited by HOS; 01/26/13 04:24 PM.
