Test fired at the factory? Pietta revolvers

[Loyalist Dave]

A couple of clarifying points please....

While the CIP signature nations all maintain proof houses, the standards for black powder proofing are NOT identical as they are with modern cartridge guns. Each nation is free to set it's own standards for black powder proofing. Thus the Italian standards are very different from the English and the German. It's not, in many cases, simply the load, ... for example, in Germany a flintlock may not have a touch hole larger than 1.5mm for testing purposes or it fails without being fired.

Folks read the proofing requirements for modern, smokeless, cartridge guns, and assume that these standard apply to anything that comes through the proof house doors. They do not.

Second, the proofing test is only good when the barrel leaves the proofing house. Folks seem to be under the impression, once proofed ; always safe. This is not so. The lack of proper care of a black powder firearm might erode the interior of a barrel, while the exterior did not appear to show excessive corrosion... and the barrel with the proof mark might not actually be safe.

Lastly, a manufacturer outside of a CIP participating country cannot proof their barrels. A person cannot DIY proof a barrel; a gunsmith cannot proof a barrel. They may be tested, and one could probably come up with an equal if not more detailed test of a barrel, but if it's not being tested at a CIP Proof House...it's not being "proofed". It's a very specific term, and folks that say they had a barrel "proofed" and it's not marked with a certified proof house mark....are bending the truth, though probably by ignorance not guile.

LD

 

[Jim Watson]

My books are not up to date, I don't know any source of information comparable to the Gun Digest articles by Baron Engelhart in the 1950s or Lee Kennett in the 1970s, so I don't know what Common Europe and the CIP mandate for black powder.

But since Italy is still using the PN black powder proof on these percussion repros and I doubt it is much different from what they did when Val Forgett first struck a deal.

England is interesting. If you have your gun messed with, it must be reproved. They don't have much idea of "honest wear" and will have their Purdey "reblacked" when it starts looking shabby. If the polishing takes the already lightweight barrels down too thin, it is "out of proof" and must be retired. They don't mind nitro proving and shooting Damascus barrels, either.

 

[BigHunt 1981]

My Newest Pietta 2014 has CIP Blackpowder proofs not the old PN proofs.

So it looks like Italy is following the newer CIP Standards now.

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

My new (CM/2014) Pietta 1861 of navy caliber (from Midway that is still advertising it with a 7.5 inch barrel when it really has an 8 inch one) has a cryptic mark on the bottom of the barrel under the loading lever.

It took a while but I finally realized it was (duh!) "2014."

Because the font is so big, it is not completely stamped on the curved surface of the barrel.

Imagine the bottom third of each number in the date missing.

Is this part of the new proofing or just Pietta's attempt to take the "fun" out of dating Italian reproductions?

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Again, as a matter of product liability, major American makers proof test their guns with an overload as is done by law in Europe. The little triangular VP symbol on a Colt is their proof mark.

Howdy Again

Just a minor clarification. The VP symbol in the inverted triangle on the trigger guard of a Colt stands for Verified Proof. It was introduced somewhere around 1901 to 1904, sources vary. It means the gun is has been proofed for Smokeless powder. Prior to 1900, Colt did not factory warranty the SAA for Smokeless powder.

Here is a photo of the Colt Verified Proof mark on the trigger guard of a Bisley Colt made in 1908.