Birmingham Proof House
The Birmingham Proof House is a facility for testing firearms and ammunition for safety. It is situated in Banbury Street in Birmingham, England.
Birmingham has a long history of arms manufacture, centred around the Gun Quarter. By the early nineteenth century, it had become essential to test firearms for safety, and in 1813 an Act of Parliament established a Gun Barrel Proof House, to be funded by the town's gun manufacturers. Guns were tested by firing them with a load which generated far higher pressures than would be generated by normal cartridges, and if they passed the test the barrels were stamped with a proof mark. The Proof House continues to provide the same service to gun manufacturers today. There is also a museum of arms and ammunition in the building.