I wouldn't expect it to wear the full regiment of Belgian marks as the mechanics time & again fought against >>Trade Guns<< falling under the Proof Law. The mechanics did everything under their power to make an exception for >>Trade Guns<< to the point that although they could not be circulated within the Kingdom, they were permitted to be exported with proof from an export sourcing point.(Somewhere in the law is an exception for shipping >>Trade Guns<< to a Foreign Proof Facility like Birmingham - but I just have not been able to find the reference again.) Seemingly every maker had their own >>Proof Facility<< There they used an alley or garden and there were strict rules for proofing where they had to be covered w/ so much earth along with a smattering of boards, etc..... Maybe PPE like Wooden Safety Shoes¿¿¿¿ Then there were 2 Proof Houses under French Rule and one, which was a huge point of contention as each mechanic wanted it next door to them. So under French rule via the Prefect of the Department of Ourth, the 1st Official Proof Facility based on St Étienne rules was under the command of Jean Henri Laloux and barrels were proofed on Wednesdays & Saturdays from 1 pm to till nightfall and all private proof facilities were to be destroyed. But that just wasn't enough time for the volume of barrels so the barrel proving effort was on each Tuesday & Friday from 10 am until nightfall from October 1st till March 30th(I do wonder if this was a Daylight Savings thing¿¿) And from 1 pm till nightfall between April 1st & September 30th. But this still wasn't enough.


The Germans were doing the same thing & fought the 1891 rules and too wanted an exception for >>Trade Guns<< as they were peddling cheap muzzleloaders and pocket pistols to China, Egypt & Turkey that would not even make it thru the Proofhouse door much less the actually proof effort.

Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse