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OLReliable
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Peabody proof mark identity sought
Jul 29th, 2020 at 11:47pm
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Can anyone identify this proof mark on my Peabody rifle?
Gary
  

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oneatatime
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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #1 - Jul 30th, 2020 at 12:38am
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Well, things were complicated back then. There was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. The French needed rifles. They bought .43 Spanish rifles from the Spanish (or they may have been rifles that the Spanish had ordered from Peabody but failed to pay for so Peabody sold them to the French). The Germans captured them and then when the proof law of 1891 came along proofed and marked them. That's one story. Another story is that the Spanish then got them back and doled them out to the Cubans for the Spanish-American War of 1898. Guns and rifles built in Germany and the German principalities before the 1890s typically did not carry proof marks, but the 1891 proof law “grandfathered” these arms [whether or not they had been made in Germany] by mandating that they be submitted to the proof house and marked with a crown-over-V, the V standing for vorrat or “on hand”.  Any German gun or rifle carrying a crown-over-V dates to 1891 or earlier. Naturally, the US arsenal was unable to blow up a Peabody in extensive testing so there was no way one would have failed the standard German proof;-)
« Last Edit: Jul 30th, 2020 at 12:51am by oneatatime »  
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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #2 - Jul 30th, 2020 at 5:05am
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Thank you, "one". 
Wow ..... just, Wow !!!!
  

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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #3 - Jul 30th, 2020 at 7:20am
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I've said it many times and will undoubtedly say it again: it's just plain amazing what the people who hang out here know!

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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #4 - Jul 30th, 2020 at 9:27pm
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The most widely accepted story is that the French purchased 39,000 Model 1870 Spanish Peabody rifles from the Providence Tool Company, in an attempt to replenish the rifles they lost after their defeat by the Prussians during the Battle of Metz in the fall of 1870. 33,000 were delivered to the French but not issued in time, before their final defeat in 1871. Somewhere I had found the serial number range of those sent to France, but wasn't able to find it now. The Prussians captured them still in unissued condition, which is why most that are encountered on the market are in that condition. Kept in storage by the Prussians and never used, as they were adopting the Mauser 71 rifle. Proofed in 1891 as mentioned above. While they converted Bavarian Werders and captured French Chassepots to 43 Mauser in the early 1870s, they apparently didn't bother with the Peabodys

I have one, as I collect items from that war, and have been shooting it for several years.
« Last Edit: Jul 30th, 2020 at 9:53pm by JägerWilhelm »  

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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #5 - Jul 31st, 2020 at 12:58am
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And this is what mine looks like now. I've had it since I was a boy and was given another one when I was a teen. There seemed to be a lot of them around in South Florida back then (Cuba connection?). I saw a picture of a Peabody sporter in Grant and decided I would make mine into something similar. In high school, and while it was still a 43 Spanish, I shot it a lot starting with vintage ammo (also a bunch around back then) and reloading by using an icepick to pluck out the fired Berdan and then using a vise to seat a new Berdan (also around) and bullets pulled from the old ammo that failed to fire. The vintage 43 Mauser ammo in its GI boxes always fired in my 71/84. The serial number of my Peabody is 91199.
« Last Edit: Aug 8th, 2020 at 4:48pm by oneatatime »  
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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #6 - Jul 31st, 2020 at 12:56pm
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some numbers on that Peabody order:

39000 ordered by the French "gouvernement de la Défense Nationale", of which 33 000 were delivered (the remaining 6000 stayed in the US and were acquired by several national guards and rechambered in 45-70.)

the serial number range of these 33000 is comprised between 65000 and 115000.

most (not all) were captured by the Prussians, stored and proofed as stated before.
the remaining ones were sold as surplus by the French gvt after the war.
  
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Re: Peabody proof mark identity sought
Reply #7 - Jul 31st, 2020 at 8:26pm
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Thanks for adding that information. The serial number range represents the 50,000 Spanish Peabodys which were made. Those that did not go to France were sold to Spain and Mexico.
  

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