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Crown over S

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

What it tells you

What this mark authorises you to say

Schrot — proved for a shot load. It identifies a smoothbore barrel, and because the mark is struck on the barrel itself it survives on a gun whose receiver markings have worn away entirely. It is one of a trio of marks that describe the barrel type in one character: G for a solid bullet (rifled), S for shot (smoothbore), W for a choked bore. With the crowned proof marks beside it, this trio describes the barrel as proved without any of the descriptive text a modern gun would carry.

What it does not tell you

What this mark does NOT say

It does not give the gauge or the chamber length, which were stamped separately. Nor does it tell you whether the barrel is safe for steel shot, a question no pre-war proof answers.

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.

Related on this site

Makers whose guns carry marks like this:

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.