What if any choke options were available on a 12 ga. Trojan made in 1930
 

I have a Trojan 12 Ga. made in 1930, with 28 in. barrels. It was listed as having F/XF chokes. Was this standard for that gauge/length of barrel combo or were there other options? I don't have a proper gauge, but a new dime will just barely go into one barrel and will not go into the other barrel.

David: this is a hardware store catalog page not long after the Trojan introduction in 1912. As the bottom states, you could have any 12g barrel length and choke combination your heart desired as long it was 28" M/F or 30" F/F ;)

https://photos.smugmug.com/US-Makers...%201912-XL.jpg

In the hard times of the depression, Parker Bros. would entertain custom barrel length and choke. I'd be interested in knowing when that 'flexibility' took place.

I have a 1930 Trojan 12 gauge with 28" barrels choked modified and full. Nearly 30 years of exemplary service in the field.

I think that is the standard chokes for 28 inch barrels, but how common are
F/XF?

The XF probably was within the pattern parameters and was considered F at the factory.

From the 1930 Parker Bros. catalog --

Attachment 140652

So it could have been special ordered with Full and extra full?

If a dime goes in, it is almost assuredly modified. The unaltered 28" barreled Trojans I have are modified and full.

I was taught by my father the dime method. As you describe it that would be mod and full. I have a VH that a dime fits the same way as your gun does and it is mod /full. It also letters that way. That gun was my first Parker and since then I have started using a bore gauge instead of a dime. It is not uncommon for vintage guns to be choked tighter than today’s standard. Case in point, my VH has .023 and .041 constrictions for its chokes which by today’s standards would improved modified and extra full. I would believe you gun is modified and full by the standard used when it was produced. I would bet the listing was just referencing modern standards.

I thought if a dime just barely went in it was full choked. Guess I learned something new today.

What really constitutes full choke? My Super-Fox 12-gauge 3-inch was of course targeted with the 1 3/8-ounce loads of 1928 and has .053" right and .051" left. My 1960 Model 12 Heavy Duck is marked full and mics .035" probably based on the 1 7/8-ounce loads in vogue then. Doesn't matter what it mics, it is what it patterns.

i have had 2 28 inch trojans with f/f in both barrels, onw was a 20 ga and the other was a 12 ga. and i just sold a set of f/f 12 ga barrels too. all guns made in the 20s

I learned to shoot a SXS shotgun from 1960-1964 on a friend’s grandfather’s 1916 28” Trojan 12 gauge. It was factory choked at M/F and the ‘determinant’ dime would go into the right barrel but NOT in the left at all.





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For reference, a dime diameter is .705" = about .025" choke constriction IF a standard .730" bore.

I had a Trogan 12 2 barrel set a couple years ago and it seems to me that gun had barrels of 26 and 30 inches . All other 12 Trogan I’ve had were 30” .

I’ve never had a 30” TroJan but have had two 26” 16’s and a 28” 16 and I have a 26” 20.
And as I said previously, I learned on a 28” 12.






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