Gentlemen,

My 14yo son a.k.a. The Heir Apparent a.k.a. The Bean Pole, announced a few days ago that he was ready to 'move up a calibre' from his .223. So, being a dutiful father with a family trip to Africa coming up in 2009, I located a used Parker Hale Safari De Luxe in .243W with open sights, Mauser 98 action and 5/8" dovetail two piece scope mounts at the local gun shope a.k.a The Toy Store.

The rifle is original except for the scope mounts and a retro fitted recoil pad.

My question relates to what I beleive are proof marks on the left side of the original barrel.

(A Crown) .243*WIN 2.00"
BNP 44 Grns Nc (Then N 2 B in a St Andrews Cross type of set up)
100 " BULLET

44 Grns of what ? I will be useing Mulwex 2209 to re-load the rifle but I'm interested in these original markings.

I haven't shot it yet so I hope the barrel is still good. I've shot some very accurate rifles with sections of rifleing missing so don't judge a barrel from its looks even though this one is pretty good.

Cheers