In the old classic British gun fitting check, I understand that a one pound coin was placed on the breech end of the rib on top of the barrels. Apparently everything is correct if you can just see the bead lying just on top of the coin with the gun properly mounted. So say the Anglophiles. Maybe some of our good British friends could comment on this method.
That "fitting check" is much more recent than you think....In the days of classic British guns there was no such thing as the pound coin. There were sovereigns, coins worth 21 shillings, and these were much thinner. The pound coin is a recent invention, imposed on my neighbours in 1983. At that time there was a move to name it a “Maggie,” after Mrs. Thatcher, as it was "hard, thick, had rough edges and thought it was a sovereign."
I'm old enough to remember when 6d was a week's pocketmoney, a night out as a student could be had for 10/6 and a pound was a fortune!!
K.
