In England, Teague determined that a straight tapered choke, whose minor dimension was at the muzzle, gave a better, more consistent pattern than chokes which terminated in any parallel wall ending at the muzzle. This coincided with Bert Becker's observation.
Early Remington guns were know to have tapers which began at the barrel midpoint.
I find it hard to believe that choke restrictions as little as a few thousandths of an inch, had a tapered section anywhere near approaching 1 1/2"
I put one of J Hayes 16ga. reamers between centers and any 2.5" section of the reamer, measure from either end, tapers .035" ( .0175" per side) This reamer has a date stamped on it of 1901.
In order for any reamer to have a terminating section with parallel surfaces, it would require a vast number of reamers for the variety of chokes offered, so I have to conclude, that if there is a parallel wall section from the muzzle, going back some amount, it had to have been done with a separate tool. None of the dozen Hayes reamers in my possession have any parallel cutting surfaces. These reamers came from Charlie Parker.
Draw your own conclusion. I am confident in my measurements of this reamer.
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