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martini proof marks?
MIKE WISKEY
Member Posts: 10,043 ✭✭✭✭
trying to identify a time period for a small action martini rife, the only thing I can find
are these proof marks
Comments
no German proof mark references here so don’t depend on this but I think a Crown “G” signifying a rifled barrel was added in 1924 usually on the barrel. ( can you determine if that is the original barrel?)Lacking that proof maybe pre-1924. The Crown “B” and “U” are definitely pre- ww2 German proofs.
this was a 5.6x35r Vierling but was rebarreled to .22 hornet so no help there.
I was looking at English proofmarks and couldn't find any and now I see they are German proof marks. The crown over the B…..Proof for guns which are only tested once (foreign arms). Another source is ….Zeichen fur Waffen, die nureinmaligen BeschuB unterworfen sind (auslandische Waffen). Waffen refers to a gunmaker.
The crown over the U is a final proof mark or a final inspection mark. I have no idea of the years they were used, sometimes I see up to 1951? Hope that helps.
I don't know a close date but the scope base looks like a good trick.
Mike, I played a hunch, and it paid off with good news, and bad. I remembered Jacks best friend Will wanting the twin to this one because Jack had chambered it in .22 WCF Single Shot. Will had a LoWall chambered for it, and brass and dies. .
Found his old landline number, and his wife answered. Sadly Will had passed a few years ago, and she had sold all his guns on consignment. The Good news is, Will kept detail records on all his guns thinking ahead for her. In his notes, It's a Martini clone, made by a German Gunsmith, circa 1893-1894. That jives with the German proof that was used from 1891 to 1951. Also in his notes, Martini Cadet parts won't fit. He had Jack install scope blocks and a Unertl scope on that one.
If anyone runs across this rifle, I want to buy it, and I'll make it worth your while to give me a heads up on it.