Originally Posted By: PALUNC
I will name a few again for your viewing pleasure, Atkin Grant and Lang, William Larkin and Moore, Vintage Doubles. If there had been an issue or some doubt I think they would have brought it up. In fact all were willing to take in in trade.


"So and so said" again. Sure, that's a perfectly relevant point when you're trying to sell it to AGL, WLM, or Vintage Doubles, and when you do, you should damn sure remind them of what they said. It's totally irrelevant when you're trying to sell it to someone else (Gunbroker.com), or when you post a question on this board asking what it is worth.

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So why would they take a pig in a poke if there was any questions?


Again, irrelevant. Seriously PALUNC, if you believe that to be true, then the relevant question is why are you not trying to sell it to one of those three instead of to the general public via Gunbroker? If you wish to sell it yourself and get max value out of it, you've got to be able to answer the kind of questions that have been asked here in response to your query. "So and so said" won't even get you out of the gate with a well-informed buyer. If you bought this gun without knowing the answers to those questions...no I wouldn't laugh. Quite the opposite. I have experience with those you mentioned, plus many more. It is EASY to get bit, even when everyone is honest. With all of them, caveat emptor. With better quality British doubles of this age, you need personal expertise, and if you don't have it, you need help from someone who does other than the seller. It's obvious you don't have that expertise. That's not an insult, just an honest observation. Lots of folks don't, and you'd be surprised at how many well-known sellers in the trade don't have it either. This is a good place to get educated feed-back. Most of us that have responded are trying to help you, but you seem resistant to providing the data we need to do so. To start, you need to get the barrels measured and post the dimensions here. Then...

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Now I do not claim to be the most knowledgeable person about "proof". If you can tell me how to tell if it is then I will look and let you guys know.


...yeah, the proof marks are crucial here, and that method usually doesn't work. You're clearly not familiar enough with them to adequately describe what's there. The only sure way is photos of the water table and barrel flats, and they need to be crisp enough to make out the marks.

The Birmingham re-proof (or new proof if the barrels are a replacement) will be easy to interpret and are usually easy to date precisely, as Birmingham instituted a date code in 1921 that ran until the Battle of Britain in 1940, and was restarted again in 1950. Given your characterizations of the comments on the proof marks you've received so far, I have to wonder about the expertise of those who have previously looked at them.

"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."