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Gentlemen sorry to inform you but if that Bimingham private View mark is correct, and as it's stamped on the barrel there is no real reason to doubt it, then the rifle was not proofed in that condition until after 1950 when Birmingham first used the leters either side of the crossed lances. The private View came into use first in 1921 and it had a single letter at the top between the crossed lances.

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Brithunter,
I also think you are mistaken, and I think you are confusing the "private view mark" with the "Inspection mark".
These are entirely different proof marks.
The Inspection mark was not used after 1904, and the private view mark was introduced in 1921.

From what I can make of the photos showing the marks on the barrel of this particular Lee Speed rifle, I feel that the crossed sword mark is an inspection mark, not a private view mark.

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