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 An Explosive Adventure by Mike Baines In Britain it is illegal to sell or offer for sale any unproved firearm. Proof involves a series of tests, designed to test the strength of the various component parts of a firearm, which if they failed in use could be dangerous to the firer. Following testing, the guns are marked and approved for sale. Material alteration of the firearm at any time during its life renders the original proof out of date and the arm must be re-submitted. Alteration which may render the firearm "out of proof" are such things as: lapping the bore beyond a pre-determined point to remove pitting, lengthening of the chambers or conversion to another caliber, the fitting of sound moderators and variable choke devices, conversion to ejector, certain repairs to the action and any other work which may materially weaken the firearm. All imported firearms must also undergo proof testing unless the arm has been proofed by a member state of the International Proof Commission. The following Countries are currently members, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Finland. Notice that the United States of America, Japan and Russia are missing from the list. All firearms imported for sale from these Countries must be submitted for proof at one or other of the two Proof Houses. Proofing involves the firing of a pre-determined charge in the firearm followed by a visual inspection for any signs of defect such as cracks or bulges in the barrel. It is far better to fail in the Proof House than in your hands. The proof charge is somewhere in the vicinity of 70% higher in pressure than the service charge for that arm. The gun is then marked and remains in proof unless work as mentioned above is carried out upon it. A gun undergoing manufacture in Britain will first be submitted as an unfinished barrel for what is called Provisional Proof, designed to indicate any defects to the Gunmaker before he embarks upon expensive work. The gun is duly marked with the Provisional mark, in the case of London that is in the form of a Lion Rampant above an Italic letter GP , and in Birmingham, a Crown above the Italic letters BP . After completion the gun is again submitted for Definitive Proof which indicates the type of ammunition for which it is intended and, in the case of a shotgun, the bore diameter at the time of proof. The various proof marks have undergone change over the years in response to the invention of choke boring and Nitro Powders and since 1989 have gone metric to satisfy our European cousins. Other functions of the proof house, other than the testing of small arms, is the testing of ammunition for which home loaders can, for a small sum, receive a detailed report as to pressure and velocity. It also serves as a place of study and research and as a prosecution body for persons accused of the sale of un-proved arms.  Upon arrival we were met by Bill Harding, curator and all round mine of information on all that relates to firearms and ammunition. He is responsible for the preservation of a large amount of the collection of exhibits held there. He was to be our guide and mentor for the next four hours. In a very civilized introduction we were shown to the board room, which had remained virtually un-altered since its inception, for coffee and biscuits. Laid out for our inspection were a number of interesting exhibits of the type of firearms for which the proof house is responsible for testing. These included such things as harpoon guns, line throwing guns, humane killers and nail guns together with some of the more interesting cases that come to light for their investigation. After a short introductory talk we were to commence our tour of inspection. Firstly, we entered the viewing room where all firearms submitted for inspection must first pass. All firearms are checked by visual inspection to ensure that they are safe and correctly prepared for the initial test, barrels must be fine bored to remove pitting and the action tight. After documentation they are either passed, in which case the "view" mark is added, or else rejected for further work to be carried out before the gun can be re-submitted. It was interesting to discover that some imported guns fail this test and one over/under shotgun had been rejected having arrived factory new without the bore being sufficiently polished to allow inspection. It was also interesting to note amongst all the sporting guns, a number of .30 M1 Carbines for testing prior to being exported to Germany. Also, of immense interest was a quantity of brand new Thompson Sub-Machine guns which had come in from Russia having been part of a shipment sent from Britain during the last war. For some inexplicable reason, the ammunition was aboard a different ship which sadly fell foul of a prowling German U boat and was sunk. The result being that the guns were never issued and remained in store before being bought back again still in their original packing grease.  The next stage of our tour takes us just across the cobbled yard and into the firing shed. This is a brick built shed about 10 yd. by 15 yd. with a high roof with vented slats at the top and windows covered by heavy iron louvered vents. The inside is smoke blackened and has a central isle with a sand bank on the left and a further sand bank on the right with a series of wooden grooves, about a hundred in number, and laid out in some of these grooves are five gun barrels carefully aimed at the left sand bank, behind them is a trail of black powder running in line up to the breech of each one. These are barrels shortly destined for Provisional Proof and each contains a carefully measured charge of gun powder, a wad and a precise charge weight of shot. Each is fitted with a breech plug. An electrical wire runs to a detonator at the start of the powder trail and continues on through a hole in the wall. Moving outside, there is a crude looking wooden trolley with a couple of automobile batteries fitted to it. Our firer, Lawrence, first closes the iron louvers over the shed windows by means of a heavily counterbalanced lever. Moving over to the trolley he blows a deafening blast on his whistle and couples up the batteries, this is almost instantly followed by five thuds from inside the shed. Wearing safety clothing Lawrence re-enters the shed and declaring everything safe, opens the louvers to allow the smoke to escape. Upon re-entering the shed it can be seen that the five gun barrels had recoiled back and are now half buried in the sand bank. Except for the electrical ignition, this process has remained unchanged since 1813.  We cross the yard again into another building and enter the viewing room which is where the recently proved barrels will shortly arrive to be cleaned and checked for any signs of defect. If all is well, a 'Provisional' mark is added to the View mark and the barrels will be returned, duly proved, to the gunsmith to be made into the finished gun before their return for Definitive proof. The Definitive proof takes place in another adjacent shed where the gun, minus stock work, is laid in a cradle and after being covered with a ballistic blanket, is fired by means of a lanyard into a sand bank at the far end of the shed. The proof cartridges are loaded on site with a carefully measured load of black powder and shot.  Critical to this is that the consistency of the powder quality remains the same for all testing. This is ensured by a most curious method. It is tested in a heavy iron muzzle loading mortar in which a half ounce of powder is loaded behind a 24lb. iron ball. The mortar is carefully set to an angle of 40 degrees and fired; the quality of the powder being determined by how far the iron ball is propelled. The distance required being set at 80 yards. In former times, the mortar was fired from the proof house but the building of a Railway line and further encroachment of the Urban sprawl now necessitates a change of venue for the test. The mortar stands at the entrance to premises to the right of the main reception doors. The next part of the tour brings us into what must be one of the finest re-loading set-ups in the world. There, boxes upon boxes of cases in about every size and configuration imaginable, stacks of boxes of dies, mainly R.C.B.S., containers of bullets in every caliber and weight. I couldn't help noticing the contents of the scrap bin over by the firing shed. A 2 Bore Rewa black power case, a real elephant stopper, a number of .470 Nitro Express cases and curiously a number of 12.7 mm. Russian rounds similar in appearance to the .50 Caliber B.M.G. as well as a host of more familiar cases. In the loading room are chambered barrels in a bewildering array of calibers for fitting into the special ammunition testing apparatus. In here, the proof loads are made and tested, the results being recorded by computer. This part of the proof house also provides a service to the home loader who, for a small sum, can submit home loads for testing and appraisal. Whilst there we were able to witness the testing of a sample of home loaded 28 bore shotgun cartridges. It was pleasing to see that all fell within accepted limits. In here was a mixture of the old and the modern. The building being original to the site but the equipment was state of the art technology. It seemed that the best was yet to come as Bill took us across to view the comprehensive museum that he had assembled in his time there. As a collector of ammunition I was like the proverbial "kid in a candy store" for here were some of the rarest exhibits that could possibly be imagined. The compilers of Barnes Cartridges of the World should visit here before compiling the next edition for here were 30 bore shotgun cartridges, a 15 bore pinfire and the almost unknown Cogswell & Harrison 14 3/4 bore shotgun cartridge; yes, there really is such a thing.  As if that was not enough, there were examples of what must be the smallest working shotgun cartridge in the world. The reason for it's existence is that in 1935 Purdeys made a pair of guns for presentation to King George V on the occasion of his Silver Jubilee, the guns were fully working miniatures 1/6th the size of his usual guns and measuring full length, a mere 7 inches. Obviously, a gun of Lilliputian proportions needs ammunition to fire, and here they were, made by Eley-Kynoch and barely a half inch long and loaded with 1.62 grains of E.C. powder and 2.02 grains of dust shot. Rifle and pistol rounds of all types including a brass 12 bore round with a thicker than normal rim used, believe it or not, in the process of injection molding false teeth! There was a Russian Special Forces assassin's round that was silent and capable of being fired at point blank range without leaving a powder residue. Just to add to its sinister nature, it could be loaded with almost any bullet type after first adding the correct rifling just to keep the ballistics experts confused as to its origin. The next room was a sort of 'Black Museum' of what can go wrong if firearms are misused, a P14 rifle split from end to end from carelessly leaving a cleaning patch in the bore, a 25/06 rifle that had had a .308 round fired in it. After looking at the exhibits here anyone with a shotgun that has interchangeable chokes will ensure that they are fully screwed home. Some of the more interesting examples were the result of some experiments carried out in the proof house on the effects of first loading a 20 bore shell ahead of a 12 bore round and firing it. The only gun that seemed capable of handling this appeared to be the Russian Baikel. High speed photography showed that the barrel bulged to release the pressure but was sufficiently elastic to return to its original form and suffering no lasting effects. Not to be recommended practice for Baikel owners all the same! The last part of the museum was back across the yard and the chance to examine a selection of rare firearms together with a representative collection charting their development. I never knew until then, that the Enfield Mark V Jungle Carbine had been made in 7.92 mm. Kurz. This was one of only five known to exist. American made firearms were also well represented with a variety of lever actions on display. All too soon it was time to leave but not before booking a return visit! The Proof House maintains a comprehensive library open to members of the gun trade. There is a small shop at the main entrance selling a selection of unique gifts such as Gunsmith's aprons with the proof house logo embroidered on the front, Bone China Mugs, Snap Caps and tools all bearing the logo in the form of a coat of arms. The Proof House currently handles around 20,000 guns a year compared to its busiest time when Birmingham was building guns for supply to both sides in the American Civil War; 1861 saw almost 625,000 guns go through rising to over a million the following year. The Proof Master is elected from the gun trade by the Guardians of the Proof House and past Masters read like a Who's Who of famous Gunmakers. This is an organization formed by Gunmakers for the protection of the public and their reputation as makers of a fine and safe product. Proof Marks are not in themselves an indication that the gun is 'in Proof' and any second hand gun should be checked by a competent Gunsmith who both understands and is capable of reading these marks inasmuch as they relate to the current condition of the gun. Birmingham was once the Gunmaking capital of Britain but sadly is now the Gun Crime capital of the country. There is no relationship between the two. A Hundred years ago it would have been a common sight to see young men on the streets with guns, taking them to and fro on handcarts between the various workshops in the Gun Quarter, some to the engraver, some to the stocker, and some to the barrel blacker and between Maker and Proof House. Then, there was little or no crime. Today, young men are still on the streets carrying guns but for an all too different and sinister purpose. Visits can be arranged for parties up to 10 for a small fee by contacting; The Guardians of the Birmingham Proof House, Banbury Street, Birmingham, B5 5RH England. Recommended Further Reading: · Notes on the Proof of Shotguns & Other Small Arms, available from the above address, cost about $8, which gives a guide to Proof Marks and Proof Law. · The History of the Birmingham Gun-Barrel Proof House, by Clive Harris, published by the above in 1946 and again in 1949. This one may require some tracking down. · The Gun and its Development by W.W.Greener 9th Edition of 1910. Numerous re-prints exist and little difficulty should be experienced in tracking down a copy. A copy of this book should be in every gun enthusiast's library.  |
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