Proof Marks

[jeburf]

I've just bought this lovely little Tolley 12 gauge from wabbitbosher Tolley

 

 

I've taken a few pictures of the proof marks - could anyone have a look and see what you can make of them - particularly a rough date and what the crossed swords with T 6 2 around them

 

Pictures

 

Looking forward to shooting it!

[Graham M]

Colonel Playfair died in 1941 and the marking system seems to have fallen into disuse until the present Proof Master, R.P. Lees, was appointed. He modified the old mark and reintroduced it with effect from 1 January 1952. This time the mark was used for a calendar year. The letter on the left segment gives the year code and the letter B in the right segment stands for Birmingham. The numeral in the lower segment indicates the "rank" of the viewer. The letter code used from 1950 to 1974 is as follows:

 

Code Year

A 1950

B 1951

C 1952*

D 1953

E 1954

F 1955

G 1956

H 1957

J 1958

K 1959

L 1960

M 1961

N 1962

O 1963

Q 1965

P 1964

R 1966

S 1967

T 1968

U 1969

V 1970

W 1971

X 1972

Y 1973

Z 1974

The marks are T B 2

It looks like your gun was made in 1968

Edited April 27, 2012 by Graham M

[Cranfield]

There is some useful stuff here, https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/Firearm/Proofmarks.pdf and here http://www.hallowellco.com/proof_date_codes.htm .

 

BNP is British Nitro Proof.

2 3/4" is the chamber size.

[guinty1]

Are you sure it is not t b over a 2, if is then that is the birmingham proof mark for 1968.