doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reproofing guns

We seem to be one of those countries who destroys its heritage in the name of so called progress or that coverall quote �on the grounds of health and safety�. Guns Cars and on certain occasions old buildings, I dread to think of how much of our Brit heritage has been lost caused by those misguided do gooders and the not so hidden face of British bureaucracy. And what makes my blood boil is you cannot ask the idiot faceless ones why!!!!
Sorry gentlemen. Rant over���..

There are a lot of us who feel for you, trust me.

Good luck.

Best,
Ted

That was not a rant so much as a statement of facts. We all have seen too much informed leaders with agendas forcing thing down our throats and telling us the foul tasting medicine is for our own good. People need to think for themselves and stop being so passive when informed leaders try to fix what is not broken.

The CIP is based in Belgium and governments sign up to it.

It specifies chamber sizes and pressure testing for proof and all ammunition makers have to conform to corresponding regulations on cartridge size and pressure. This means all CIP stamped ammo is going to fit in and be safe to use in all CIP proof tested shotguns and rifles.

I can see the logic. You don't want to turn up in Portugal for a shoot and find the rim depth in your gun is too shallow and you cant close it on the local ammo etc.

However, it does seem that gunmakers no longer make guns and the proof house test them as fit for purpose. Now gun makers make guns that suit the proof house. This will lead to guns being made heavier than desirable to build in insurance against more stressful proof testing.

My meeting with the proof master is tomorrow.

http://www.triebel-guntools.de/en/products/chamber-gauges/

The proof house recently purchased these new gauges, which conform exactly to CIP schematics.

Here are some questions I would like answers to.
Why does the proof house when it comes to nitro reproof make a gun go through all the stages and standards as if it were manufactured yesterday, rather than taking account its age which may be a hundred plus years old. Why not put the gun through exactly the same nitro proof test it was given on the last occasion if it was right to undertake the test then why is it not now and just resize the barrel. I also believe that the proof houses are performing what is becoming age destructive tests which can only have one outcome, older and historic guns tested in the future will eventually fail because they keep increasing the height of the bar, and in doing so is destroying our historic sporting gun heritage, and as far as I can see they have no plans to devise a valid proof to enable us to keep vintage and veteran guns in use.
To make my point we test all automobiles each year after the third year of manufacture for emissions braking efficiency and constructional soundness though only to the standards that where in force at the time of the vehicle�s manufacture. So on this side of the pond we have automobiles that where built pre 1900 with wire breaking systems no indicators and oil lamps quite legally using our roads so why can�t the proof houses do the same thing for vintage and veteran guns. The reason I feel for this is that the motor vehicle lobby here in Brit land is far more powerful and will not take any bureaucratic nonsense unlike the backed into a corner shooting fraternity.
Finally I must ask why the Birmingham Proof house is purchasing Gauges manufactured in Germany.
Firstly the gauge manufacturer TRIEBEL have no traceable standards that I could see on the web site and that should be the first requirement I would have expected their manufacture to have traceability to DIN though I would prefer BSI Standards, with sizes traceable to the NPL well it is the Brit Proof house system when all said and done. And finally I cannot truly believe that the gauges could not be manufactured here in the UK fulfilling all the tractability requirements.

Looking forward to hear how your meeting goes Dig...go get'em mate..:)
cheers
Franc

Finito, that word on Italian proofed guns now assumes a deeper meaning. I sat through a day of proofing at Gardone, and one more at the Proof house set up by the Italian authorities in the Benelli factory. All but two guns that went through proof were in their finished, as in ready for retail sale finished, state. None failed proof. The two sent in minus stocks and barrels in the white were two Beretta SOs rebarreled at the factory.

The UK practice of overtightening a gun and removing the stock for proof is interesting. The proof process seems to be a step before final finishing rather than a final test of the whole gun in the state the client will receive it.

Adding weight is one way to boost strength, another is a higher strength steel. I wonder if we will see UK guns with Boehler Super Blitz in response to the strict application of the 1989 rules.

And one wonders why some of us get so upset at the mere mention of instituting a "Government" controlled proof system here in the US. We've made it quite fine without one since we've been a nation, no need to muddy the waters now. it is often stated as a necessity to protect the unlearned & un-knowledgable. "IF" it is not made retroactive active to include every gun which will chamber a readily available shell it will not protect the ignorant. Nuff Said, I don't want all my 100+ year old guns proofed to SAAMI specs.

If a gun has already been liberated from the UK and is 'out of proof', that means exactly nothing - at least in the US.

Why anyone would even consider a 're-proof' is beyond me.