Quote:
Originally Posted by Mk VII
If it passed directly to a Commonwealth army there's no reason for it to be viewed/proved.
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None of this happened to any guns shipped to Britain either. No proofing occurred and no marks were applied to any BSR's that were shipped to Britain and issued to British troops.
The proof marks and view marks commonly found are all the result of commercial proofing initiated after the war by whichever entity purchased these guns from the British government as surplus. Contrary to popular misconception, these guns did not need to be proofed to be sold by the government, but only if sold by a licensed dealer to a private customer. This is most clearly illustrated by Cogswell & Harrison's conversions, which were not proofed until after they had been converted to .38 Special, and bear the markings for that proof load.