What it comes down to is this: proof and proofmarks, European style, answer a lot of questions relatively quickly and easily that can't really be answered on vintage American guns, without a fair amount of research and some tools. Personally, I prefer having it all spelled out, right there on the barrel flats. But for some, I guess, having more information is a bad thing. Not sure why, but to each his own.
L.B., You never cease to amaze me......what world do you live in....?.....
American guns you say...1. Quality American guns can be lettered which will show the factory specs, barrel length and choking as delivered from the factory. LOP, DAH, DAC...etc.
2. Intelligent people will research specific brands and know the dimensions (and measure) that a specific company used to manufacture a specific gun during a specific time frame, i.e. chamber lengths by gauge etc.
For American Manufactured guns.....
3. The Cody Firearms Museum will, for members, forward a "worksheet" prior to purchase with basic information on a specific gun by serial number....i.e., chokes, barrel lengths etc....
It is very easy to then apply this information to a potential purchase......
4. AGAIN....YOU CANNOT PROTECT ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME...."ANYWHERE".....even in a perfect world, Joe DA Hunta will still plug his bore with mud or use the wrong ammo and blow/bulge barrels.......BTW...this happens in proof house nations as well......the point being that more damage and injury takes place from "operator error" than from flawed guns...even with the butchered ones.......
What you are suggesting is controlling the sporting public through regulation so you can have a set of stamped numbers or re-stamped numbers on your guns.....and requiring us to follow suit.....
5. Years ago American manufacturers didn't even put the gauge on shotguns, they figured people were SMART enough to know what gauge of gun they were shooting.........
6. What you propose is a no-common sense approach to a problem that does not exist......
7. Intelligent people don't buy butchered guns, foreign or domestic.....with so many original, unaltered guns available, why buy the butchered ones....?.....
8. PEOPLE WHO require proof plus wanting a holy blessing so they can shoot modern Walmart ammo while having no mechanical apptitude themselves, should buy ONLY MODERN NEWLY MANUFACTURED guns and blast away.......
The wood on the old guns won't take the constant pounding of modern ammo and lengthened chambers anyway.....that's a fruitless misinformed adventure......
