Hello fine folks of pigeonwatch,
I have recently acquired a Greener PG MK III, and I have been trying to piece together its history. You all seem to know quite a bit about Greeners so I figured I'd ask for your help.
What I have been able to determine so far is:
5000s serial number, which means it should be a 1924 gun (incidentally, for anyone else trying to date their greener --> info.pdf (wwgreener.com))
Proofed in Birmingham (the proof marks are either 1904-1925 or 1925-1954)
Sadly deactivated in Birmingham in 2001...(barrel plugged, rivet driven through chamber, large slice of barrel removed, front face of breech block ground off at 45 degrees, firing pin face ground off, screw to remove firing pin assembly welded in place)
And the things I am unable to make sense of:
Sold as a 13 bore, for the proprietary "triple firing pin" cartridge: The proof marks indicating bore and chamber size seem to disagree? I didn't think the proprietary cartridge existed for 2.75" chambers
This greener was sold as a Section 58(2): Why would it have been "deactivated"? (quotes because there is no deactivation certificate - but the barrel, body and breech block are all marked correctly)
Not sure what the T133 marking on the barrel means
Has an E.G. marking on the lever, like some purported Egyptian contract PGs, but nowhere else
Any information would be appreciated thank you