Lock, stock and barrels
not the gun is still “in proof”.
Proof in this country dates back to 1637, when the Gunmakers’ Company of London was granted its royal charter.
It requires the statutory compulsory testing of every new shotgun and small arm before sale and involves firing through the barrel a load far heavier than that in normal use in order to disclose weakness.
Reproof is also compulsory if the bore of barrels has been enlarged above certain limitations or weakened in any way through damage and subsequent repair.
Many shotguns proved before 1904, when nitro proof marks were introduced and some proved before 1925 when nitro proof became compulsory were proved only for use with black powder.
The latter are unsuitable for use with modern cartridges until they pass nitro proof and it is illegal to sell a gun that is out of proof as anything other than a decorative ornament. The Purdey hammer rifle presented by the Prince of Wales to Maharajah Sir Jung Bahadoor (£5,000-£7,000) A rare .410 shotgun umbrella by London maker John Wilson, now a curiosity item and not intended for use (£800-1,200)
Some shotguns are purchased by collectors and investors who have no intention of ever firing the things. A case in point was probably the pair of Purdey 16-bore guns built around 1913 for the future King Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor after his abdication), which sold for £120,500. They are probably on display in a collector’s glass-fronted cabinet somewhere, still in their original leather case embossed “HRH The Prince of Wales”.
The fashion for pairs of guns harks back to when thousands of birds were slaughtered at one drive. Kills were possible because each person shooting had a loader standing next to them, priming the guns in turn.
The fashion for elaborate engraving to a gun’s action is mocked by serious sportsmen, although scenes of gun dogs, landscapes, flowers and other fripperies are highly sought after by some, particularly foreign buyers keen to own examples of the finest British guns. They are works of art.