Here's another intresting page which raises more questions. Louis de Tousard (then either Major or Colonel) has submitted a bill for over 8600 pounds of cannon powder used in proving cannons at four foundries then supplying cast-iron cannons to the US, namely Hope, Hanover, Eagle, and Cecil furnaces.

What was the particular cannon proof regimen used in 1801, as far as how many shots, how much powder and how many balls loaded for each shot?

Also, there's a notation that a number of 32 pdr. cannons at Eagle were "rebored." How do you rebore a cannon without increasing its caliber and windage, in this case, beyond what would be acceptable for 32 pdr? Were they rebored only a few thousandths of an inch to take out tool marks left by a dull tool earlier? Did the initial boring leave the bores undersized? We'll probably never know.

Interstingly, the guns at Eagle were listed as having been proved by both Foxall (the proprietor) and Tousard (the government,) which is a bit unusual. Usually the inspecting officer alone would be listed as having proved the guns as a sort of independent government review.

However, proving guns required a gun crew to load and service the guns, and this labor was always supplied by the proprietor, with the costs therefor being either directly or indirectly passed on to the government.