Can any decipher the markings on Greener shotguns?

[regress]

Looks like some Greener shotguns just came onto the market.

I understand this model saw use in the British overseas colonies, but might anyone be able to decipher the stampings on the example photo for a history on location? (I assume the entire batch Royal Tiger Imports are selling off, are from the same source country?

Taken fron the Royal Tiger Imports website: Store

Greener Mk. 3 Police Shotgun, Martini Action (14GA)













We've just received a small shipment of these unique and historical firearms! C&R Eligible!!! Own a piece of history when you purchase one of these exceptional shotguns featuring a Martini single-shot action. NOTE: These shotguns are 14GA, not 12GA.

These are collectable firearms and do not function with 12GA shells. We have found a source who can produce 14GA shells for these rifles, but we do not sell their products on our website. You can contact Rocky Mountain Cartridge via their website for more details.

Read on for more on the history of these unique firearms:

The story of the Greener police gun began shortly after the WW1, when British colonial police forces requested a weapon, suitable for riot control and prison guard duty. Another request was that the gun should use proprietary ammunition, not available through commercial channels. This was requested to make illegal use of guns which were stolen or taken away from police more complicated for criminals. This request was fullfilled by famous British gunmaker W.W. Greener, who developed a single-shot shotgun, based on the long-obsolete but rugged Martiny single-shot action. This new gun fired proprietary 14 gauge shells, loaded with shot, and featured very rugged wooden full stock with steel nose cap and buttplate, so it can be safely and routinely used not only as a gun, but also as a club, banging doors and occasional hot heads in the course of upkeeping the law and order.

Greener police gun mark I appeared in around 1921, and tens of thousands were delivered to organisations like Egyptean colonial police etc. However, it was soon discovered that criminals, who managed to get hold on Greener guns, used standard 16 gauge shells, tightly wrapped into paper or tape to fire from Greener guns. To made commercial ammunition completely unusable, Greener responded with improved design, Greener police gun mark III. This gun used proprietary ammunition with bottlenecked case made of brass, with thick rim. Base of the case was roughly same as standard 12 gauge case, but toward the forward end of the shell it has reduced diameter equivalent to 14 gauge shell size. To further complicate illegal use of its police shotgun, Greener provided its Mark III guns with trident-shaped strikers. Greener police shells had grooved base and recessed primers, and attempt to fire any commercially available shell from Greener gun would fail every time as the side projections of the striker would hit the flat base of the shell, stopping the central part (the firing pin itself) before it can reach the primer. Some Greener Mark III police guns were also made to fire standard, commercially available 12 gauge ammunition or Mark I 14 gauge straight case ammunition.

Information

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[Patrick Chadwick]

Can any decipher the markings on Greener shotguns?

13 over (should be a C) = the (nominal) caliber
- in this case, considerably more complex that usual - see the explanation above!
crown over BV = view mark applied after final proof
crown over BP = final black powder proof
crown over SP = voluntary special proof with extra heavy load
All the above "crown over..." are Birmingham proof marks
The standard load is given here as 1.5 ounces = 41.524 grams or 656 grains ***

NP= nitro proof

*** of shot (load) - not powder (charge)

[muffett.2008]

I would have thought that the 1.5 referred to the shot, not the powder.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I would have thought that the 1.5 referred to the shot, not the powder.

Yes it does. I wrote the load, not the charge.

A specified charge would also require a powder to be specified. And even for the most extreme "hot load" freaks - who are, of course, using the word inaccurately - a 656 grain charge would seem a trifle excessive. The confusion arises from indiscriminate use of the verb "to load" for both the charging of the case and the loading of the projectile (or projectiles, when shot is used).

[regress]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

So it would appear we have no means to determine in which colony this particular shotgun was likely stationed?

[Patrick Chadwick]

So it would appear we have no means to determine in which colony this particular shotgun was likely stationed?

For that, we are looking in the wrong place! If there are any unit/ownership marks they are most likely to be on the butt. Stamps were commonly used on the wood - it is much easier to mark than the metal - but the marks get smoothed out over the decades. A close investigation of the right side of the butt or under the wrist might reveal something.