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Crown over G

German proof marks · 1891-1939.
What it looks like
A crown with a capital G beneath it.
Where it is on the gun
Barrel.
Date range
1891-1939.

What it tells you

What this mark authorises you to say

Geschoss — proved for a solid (single) bullet, which in practice means a rifled barrel. The companion marks on a shotgun are crown-S for a shot load and crown-W for a choked bore, so this mark is the quickest way to tell a rifle barrel from a smoothbore one on a gun whose other markings are worn.

What it does not tell you

What this mark does NOT say

It does not name the calibre, the bullet weight or the powder. Those were stamped separately as numbers and abbreviations next to the mark.

Sources for this page

Every claim above is attributed. The class of source is shown with each one, because a national proof house and an anonymous forum table are not the same evidence — and on proof marks the difference matters.

Reading marks to identify and date a gun

Proof marks name the test and the era. The serial number, where a maker published a browsable chart, can name the year. The lookup cites the threshold behind every result.

Open the serial number lookup

Other german proof marks

Mark descriptions observed and verified 2026-10-14. Proof marks are stamped by hand on guns up to a century old; a photographed stamp and a description in a book are not the same evidence. If a mark on your gun does not match anything here, that is a real answer — see the notes on unidentified marks.