Hi Raimey,
Well the royalties are not hard to figure out, they were already paid or at least invoiced when Whitworth delivered the tubes...They were not royalties per se, but tangible goods purchased...
I did not say that it was a PUN process, I said that it was similar to the PUN process in the sense that the maker was responsible for marking the gun with the proper number(s)
As for the raw tubes, it is not that difficult to believe. Purdey had a barrel shop with 7 "barrel makers" in 1912 and 9 in 1889. They had also made their barrels from scratch some time in the first part of the 19th century.
"Crossedchisles" should be able to shed some light on this matter.
I am surprised that nobody so far has kept track of the Whitworth numbers per serial number and manufacturing dates. A worthy endeavor no doubt.
Best regards,
WC-
