SMOOTH BORE WEAPON MARKINGS
The Weapon markings, in particular of smooth-bore weapons, are extremely important to go back to the year of manufacture of the shotgun and to be aware of the technical characteristics of the weapon.
Knowing exactly what you can shoot with a rifle will be extremely important, first of all, to avoid the risk of damaging the weapon and, above all, to avoid more serious problems to itself.
Year of manifacture
Before 1953, the year of manifacture was marked showing the complete year with all four digits.
Since 1954 it has started, however, to indicate the year with a Roman numeral, starting with X.
Over the years, however, they realized that entering the figure in Roman numerals would require too long markings: from 1971 it was decided to use Roman and Arabic numerals, like XX7 for 1971, XX8 and XX9 for 1972 and 1973, ending with XXX in 1974.
Since 1975, they abolished the Roman numerals and it was decided to indicate the year with a two-letter code starting with the letters: AA, AB in 1976 and so on.
The problem is that some letters have been skipped, so only by placing a complete list of codes you can find the manufacture year of the weapon.
Below, the list updated to 2007:
X = 1954 XX8 = 1972 AZ = 1990
XI = 1955 XX9 = 1973 BA = 1991
XII = 1956 XXX = 1974 BB = 1992
XIII = 1957 AA = 1975 BC = 1993
XIV = 1958 AB = 1976 BD = 1994
XV = 1959 AC = 1977 BF = 1995
XVI = 1960 AD = 1978 BH = 1996
XVII = 1961 AE = 1979 BI = 1997
XVIII = 1962 AF = 1980 BL = 1998
XIX = 1963 AH = 1981 BM = 1999
XX = 1964 AI = 1982 BN = 2000
XXI = 1965 AL = 1983 BP = 2001
XXII = 1966 AM = 1984 BS = 2002
XXIII = 1967 AN = 1985 BT = 2003
XXIV = 1968 AP = 1986 BU = 2004
XXV = 1969 AS = 1987 BZ = 2005
XXVI = 1970 AT = 1988 CA = 2006
XX7 = 1971 AU = 1989 CB = 2007
Testing and certification
All firearms are subject to testing and certification, imprinting on the barrel and on the bascule the serial number, the manufacturer's mark and caliber.
Smooth bore shotguns must have impressed in addiction:
- The chamber length (example: cam.70 or 70)
- The diameter of the chamber (example: 18.7)
After the visual inspection of the weapon and the firing test, the National Proof House gives the marks on the weapon supplied by the Mint.