As I speculated, the rebore might have been done here in the USA which may be why there are no reproof marks. In fact the gun may have come over here in the 19th century. There is $260.00 hand-written on the label. $260 would be about £54 in 1900...about 49 Guineas. Reilly advertised top end shotguns about this time period for 40-50 guineas.
Argo, what is your thinking on the inherent safety of an 8-bore rifle being bored-out to literally twice the bore size, a 4-bore? All that metal being removed? Given that the barrels were originally struck for the 8 bore, do you think that after significant thinning they would then be safe for something so much more powerful than the original load? I mean, wouldn't a re-proof be a worthy and logical investment before assuming this gun is safe to fire? Having a chamber burst in your face from a 4-bore load is guaranteed facial destruction, if not death, lingering or instant.
How this once-wonderful gun got so badly butchered and then hyped for sale is a mystery. But part of the answer is its seller, who seemed to have an awful lot of heretofore incredible antique firearms that had suffered some major indignity, only to be discovered late in the auction process or afterwards. It may be simple ignorance and nothing more than that. But the unwillingness to answer questions or provide photos of critical areas demonstrates a desire to hide facts until a sale has been consummated.
Buyer beware.
