And it has been discussed ad nauseam that Matska's wares do not wear the full contingent or regiment of English proofs:


400NE-
>>No. That's the point, the full set of London marks aren't there. This gun was never sold in the UK.

The provisional London mark on your gun, John, is the first mark on each barrel flat nearest the breech (the rest of the marks are from later London definitive proof). British provisional proof is conducted on barrels only, when they are raw tubes, before they're finished and joined, and before they're fitted to an action. That's why a foreign gun made with British tubes can have this provisional mark on the barrels without any other British marks on the gun, as Geno describes.

British definitive proof (the second, final proof) is conducted on guns (functional barreled actions), not barrels, and any gun sold in the UK must be definitively proven in the UK, unless it's of foreign manufacture AND proven in a foreign proof facility recognized by the UK proof masters. Simple importation of an unproven gun does not require reproof, but it's illegal to sell it in the UK without it. Whether of domestic manufacture, or of foreign manufacture for sale in the UK, definitive proof is the same. By law, successful definitive proof of breechloaders must be marked on both barrel and action. At the time that your barrels were proven in the UK, the mark required for the action was the view mark, one for each barrel. These were impressed on the water table of the action that your barrels were proved with at the same time the other definitive marks were impressed on each of the barrel flats. Since your action has no such marks (maybe I'm blind, or maybe it's the lighting of the photo, but I can't see any), it has never been through proof in the UK, and your barrels seem to be dancing with a new partner. Further, as previously mentioned, that number on the barrels is somebody's serial number, and it obviously isn't Matska's.......<<

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=130190&page=3

Cheers,

Raimey
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