Quote Originally Posted by Surpmil View Post
To my eye if someone faked it up they went to the trouble of polishing off the original electric pencil markings and redoing them after the paint went on. The proof marks on the barrel look like they went on top of the paint, but that on the receiver ring does not,
I can't agree. I have one of those engravers (as they are called now) and with a little practice I could follow the original marking under a re-finish to achieve exactly that effect.

However to me it is the London Proof marks that are the clincher that this rifle has been refinished. The "Armed Arm" holding a Seax on the barrel is is part of the London Proof mark and it has clearly been applied prior to the current finish. There are just a few glints on some numbers on the rest of the Proof marks that seem to have been caused by loss of some finish.