[Austin J Hawthorne Jr.]

Hey Guys, I'm looking for some input regarding Parker 10 gauge bore sizes. I tried wrapping layers of electrical tape around a 3/4 inch dowel one strip at a time....measuring the diameter.....and then inserting it into the breech end of an 1875 10 gauge lifter. If it slid all the way down the bore to the choke area, but did not exit the muzzle I figured it would give me the approx. choke for that barrel. Then I would add another layer of tape....measure it again... and slide it down the bore again. I repeated this until I had a snug fit midway down the barrel. This, I think, gave me an approx. bore size. What I found was a bore diameter or approx. .790 inches. I know that Parker overbored their early barrels but my question is was there a standard early 10 gauge bore size? Has anyone taken more precise 10 gauge measurements, and if so, what were the results? Thanks in advance for any info you would like to share.