doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Stanford & Laxton--Pics of Proofs added

justin,No my oversight,not your mistake.Just another seniors moment! Reproof marks are normally seen on the barrel flats rather than on the barrel tubes, frankly I missed them!.I think you are likely correct that the gun was rechambered from 14 to 12G.I would be interested in knowing what the bore and choke diameter is on the left barrel.Choke may be excessive if the origional 14G barrel was full choke.

Thanks Roy,yeah you're right about that choke. It would be a shame to bulge the the barrel the first time he shoots it.
An alternative narrative could be the gun is older than we think,let's say from before 1875. The gun has 14gauge chambers, no choke and bores of .693. Around 1890 the chambers are cut out to 2&3/4" and the barrels cleaned of black powder residue leaving the right barrel's bore opened up a bit. So the proof house stamps the 12c in the diamond and the choke stamp contemporary to that time period goes on the right.
What do ya think? I know this line of research is hardly relevant,but I find the inner workings of the proof system fascinating.
GUNSAHOLIC,please post the bore and muzzle diameters. Thanks

The problem as I see it is that the reproof mark did not come into existence until 1925, at which point they would have marked the chamber length, especially if the chambers had been altered.

I don't really think that the mark on the barrels is a reproof mark. Firstly, it is not the place where it would normally be placed, secondly, I can't see a crown over the R, perhaps it is a maker's mark and thirdly, if the gun was reproofed in Birmingham after 1925, it should have a date stamp.

Well fellows, the only caliper I have on hand right now is a digital caliper and I don't know how accurate. I will take the gun to my dads this weekend and get a proper measurement. The readings I get though are 0.69 which I guess confirms that it was a 14 gauge at one point. And from what I get with my caliper the chokes were opened to cylinder because I get the same reading. Which I guess puts it at xtra full choke for a 12 gauge. However, I am going to make 1/4 length 20 gauge reducers for this gun.
However, I will try and get a more accurate reading.

WOW,Ian,What do you think is going on then? Are the chambers original and the gun is younger than we thought? Maybe it is my senior moment and Roy was right.
Or maybe the gun is all screwed up and should not be shot

Would it not be that the gun is older than we thought and that it started out as a 14 gauge? At some point it was reamed to 12 gauge with the chokes opened up at that point to make it more suitable for the 12 gauge shells.?

Guns, please measure the bores and muzzles and we should know what's what

I did, at least as good as I can for now. Go up 4 posts to see.

Well then all that work would have been done here and the gun did not pass proof afterwards and would be very dangerous to shoot

But the 12/C in a diamond is an English proof mark designating it 12 gauge. So it had to have been done in England. It also has the crossed sceptres by the 12/C. If you note though, the crossed sceptres by the number 14 just has the letter V at the bottom. This is also the way it is on the water table. But the crossed sceptres by the 12C have the letters B on the left, C on the right and V at the bottom.