Quote Originally Posted by Surpmil View Post
IMHO proving/proofing is mostly a money-mine, left over from the days before legal remedies for negligence when many guns, and probably not always the cheapest ones, were made from horseshoe nails or whatever bits of iron the "rag & bone" men etc. scrounged up.
It does go back to well before NDT

"The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1637 to promote and regulate gunmaking, a role it still fulfils today".

"It is still done as it has been since the Company was established in 1637: by firing the gun with an over-pressure charge of powder. If the gun survives undamaged, it will be safe to shoot. If it doesn’t, it is deemed unfit for sale "