I went through the stock books looking for the time period that different patterning specs were used. The earliest patterning was in the 1500 to 4200 S/N range. They used 45 yards and a 18 x 24" target with size 7 or 8 shot being the most common. The pellet counts are listed however it's not known what the weight of the shot was or the brand of powder used. There were also some that were 45 yards in a 24" circle and a few that were 40 yards in a 24" circle however these were the exception to the 18 x 24" specs.
Next, between 4500 and 86000 we see the 45 yards, 24" circle.
Last, starting at 8600 they switched to the now standard 30" circle at 40 yards. These specs were from 10 to 28 gauge. I've heard that for some of the small gauge guns, they may have used shorter distances but I haven't seen examples of this. This is the time frame of the introduction of the hammerless gun.
If we know the pellet count for each barrel, the weight of the shot, and the brand of shot (not all manufacturers had the same pellet count per 1 oz), you could figure out the percent of shot in the circle to figure out the choke.
Parker used Tatham shot quite a bit but did they use other manufacturers shot? Tatham #8 shot had 399 pellets per 1oz, Merchants Shot Tower had 365, and .Thos Sparks Co had 426. These differences may have been due to there being no standard for shot sizes at that time or may be due to the amount of antimony contained in the shot.
|