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It's the flat side of the bottom of the barrel. A gunsmith in London tells me that "39 bore" is .493

Your thoughts ???

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Your pictures don't come up for me, although they did before.

Sounds like the normal marks for a .500 BPE proved before 1887. The flats of a .500 BPE proved in London before 1887 would bear the Definitive Proof Mark (crown over the letters "GP" interlaced in a cypher), the "view" mark (crown over the letter "V"), and the number "39". These marks on the flats are from Definitive (final) proof, not Provisional. Bore diameter of rifles was marked in gauge prior to 1887, and "39" indicates a .500.

Although likely built by W. & C. Scott and from the same period, it didn't look like a 7 Patent Scott action (which Holland retailed under the name "Climax") to me.

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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

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