doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question on proof.....

Larry;
Yes I understand that for the muzzleloaders. The gun I spoke of though is a breech loader, proofed under the pre 1887 rules, but not choked, thus not marked "Not for Ball". Both bbls were actually proofed as a 14, though the chambers are 12. I stated in my previous post they were proofed as 13, but realized that was incorrect. These bbls do not have the chamber marks, thus showing the pre 1887 status.

While what you stated is essentially correct, the point I am trying to make is that for pre 1887 guns the range in which the bbls remain in-proof is not contingent upon whether or not they are choked, or marked Not for Baall, but simply upon the time frame in which they were built.

Thus these cyl bbls proofed as 14 (.693") would remain in proof in spite of not being marked "Not for Ball" until they reached a 13ga (.710") purely because that was the sizes then in force. They would not go out of proof upon reaching .701" (14/1) as 14/1 did not exist as a size when they were built.

Although 14/1 (etc) did not exist prior to 1887, something similar did--but only for rifled arms "having choke bored barrels, all or in part rifled". There was a separate table for those. And because they were proofed with bullets, the bore diameters had to be more specific: for a 14, .680, .690, or. 693, in each case taking a bullet .020 smaller than the bore diameter. And 13 started at .700. But you're correct for a smoothbore breechloader. A 14 could measure anything from .693-.709.