Indeed Fernando!
We come full circle and wonder why French marks.
In "An Essay On Shooting" (1797) we read that fake marks were common and very hard to tell from the real thing, so it appears that the faked marks were nearly perfect. This takes me back to the conclusion that the marks on these barrels are fakes.
The big trouble with this conclusion, is I must then wonder why make a perfect forged mark, ....then give the game away with French writing!?!
Sometimes things just do not make sense.
It's like forging perfect banknotes, then putting Mickey Mouse on one corner...
I like the gun very much, and a bit of mystery never hurt.
Thank you my good friend, for all your help on this.
Richard,
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