500Nitro

It wasn't illegal in Belgium to rebore or rebarrel. It was to do it and not reproof. It may have been illegal to counterfeit the Brit. proofs. I'm not sure who you would report to to close the gunsmith down.

As for the gentleman from the US. His reputation for honesty was already pretty poor. It was known over here that you needed to double check any of his rifles and be particularly observant on any old rifles that may have been BP.

I saw .577 2 3/4 that had hammers, BP rear site and nitro proofs at a gunshow about 5 years ago. The gun had been totally refinished and there were no BP proofs even though it was made in 1895. (20 serial #'s before a 450 express I had at the time). It was on the table of a big dealer from Alaska and when I pointed it out to him he told me that it was none of my business and to leave his table.

I asked him if it bothered him to sell a fraud and all he said was buyer beware.