Because IMHO there are a lot of snide BA rifle around being passed off as things that they are not.

I have seen stuff pass through auctions at prices that indicate that for the current condition of the gun, the only way the price would be justified is to retain maker engraved items and to replace (fake) the rest.
This situation can only be made worse by the lack of access to some makers records. As Peter published the other day, he put the serial number of this Bonneville moter bike into Westley Richards site and got a manufacture date!!

I did not understand from the origional post that the vendor and purchaser were known to each other so this cannot apply here.

Regards