doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com William Evans from Purdey shotgun ????

Wouldn't those be black powder proofs since Nitro is not stamped anywhere? 1896 or thereabouts? The 13/1 indicates the bore should be around .719. At least, that's how I read them. Get the bore diameter and wall thickness if possible.

Looks like one of Mr Webleys guns and yes it is black powder proof .

Is it common for a gun well into smokeless powder era to have BP proofs only?

I know that many Brit sports did not trust nitro powders at first and that up to WWI cartridges which were bought in bulk for big shoots were almost invariably BP, so high was the chance that some of the shots didn't or couldn't (older guns) shoot smokeless. But for a gun, with an essentially mass-produced action, not to have nitro proofs?

Did it have to be specified by the customer in the order, 'gun to shoot black powder only' or some such?

13/1 indicates the bore was somewhere between .719 and .729 when proofed...

Nitro proof was not the standard until 1904 after 1896{?} it was optional . After 1904 black powder proof would have been to order . Many guns that went to the colonies where BP was still used in quantity would have been BP only .

In this case we may never know .

Thank you!