What to do? GHE 20 ga

[Quail1]

On my honor, I will not alter this gun.

However
It is far too tight "as is" for quail. I've torn up a few already.
I will immediately load some spreaders and report on how they work out for me.
But regardless, I won't sell this 20 gauge. It feels to me, far "livelier"
than any of the 20 repros that I've owned or handled. I really enjoy shooting it.
My thanks to Dean Romig for his advise, and giving me the confidence to originally make the purchase.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Fred,

For your handloads not only add a spreader but cut the petals off the wad. The lead shot will scrape the bore slightly causing each shot pellet that scraps to become a little less round. These will in theory fly toward the outside of a normal pattern.

Another method to negate the venturi effect ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect ) of choke is to insert a section of drinking straw in the center of the shot column. Close the ends of the straw shut so that no pellets can slip into the area.

The effect of choke is caused by the shot pellets being "squirted" out of the barrel at a higher velocity than the shot moving through the barrel (just like water our of a garden hose). Giving those squeezed pellets an unpopulated area in which to move (inside the section of straw) pellets are not squirted out at a higher velocity.

This is also why the shot string is longer for a full choke than for a skeet choke. Think of water out of a garden hose.

Mark

[Autumn Daze]

Mark and All, Austin and I discussed this choke mystery many times. All the Meriden era guns that Austin and I measured had to a lesser or greater degree the ogee choke configuration. After Remington started making guns in Illion the choke configuration was changed to a more conventional style and the ogee choke went by the wayside. It is very time consuming to measure an ogee choke accuratly.

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Mark Ouellette

Fred,

For your handloads not only add a spreader but cut the petals off the wad. The lead shot will scrape the bore slightly causing each shot pellet that scraps to become a little less round. These will in theory fly toward the outside of a normal pattern.

Another method to negate the venturi effect ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect ) of choke is to insert a section of drinking straw in the center of the shot column. Close the ends of the straw shut so that no pellets can slip into the area.

The effect of choke is caused by the shot pellets being "squirted" out of the barrel at a higher velocity than the shot moving through the barrel (just like water our of a garden hose). Giving those squeezed pellets an unpopulated area in which to move (inside the section of straw) pellets are not squirted out at a higher velocity.

This is also why the shot string is longer for a full choke than for a skeet choke. Think of water out of a garden hose.

Mark

This is actually some good advise, from Mark. As we all know, the classic guns we shoot now were bored and choked way before the advent of shot cups and collars. Handloading with old-school components would help, spreader loads are the ticket.
I would never mess with Parker chokes. (this is coming from a guy who Briley choked a circa 1900 Royal Sidelock Ejector gun)

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Dave,

Based on the data you collected via all the ogee measuring, what percentage of Parkers have a parallel section at the muzzle?

Mark

[Autumn Daze]

Mark, To a greater or lesser degree all of them. Very early hammerguns were often bored with a full taper in the bore. It's my belief that Parker Bros. did quite a bit of experimenting with choke before settling on the ogee configuration. When did the ogee choke come into full time use? Good question...but I suspect somewhere in the 1880's.

[Dean Romig]

Of the Parker chokes I've measured I find most of them have the ogee choke taper anywhere from 2 1/2" in length to as much as almost 6" in length and the parallel section at the muzzles anywhere from non-existent to 1/2" in length but most are between 1/8" to 3/8" in length.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

After discussing choke measuring with brother Dave I remeasured all the unaltered chokes I have on hand to find the elusive parallel section at the end of the ogee. This is what I found:

(10) Damascus barreled 10 gauges NONE had a parallel section.
(1) Parker Steel 10 gauge PHE made in 1925 HAS a parallel section.
(3) 12 Gauge to include (1) Titanic Steel HAVE a parallel section.
(3) 12 Gauge all Damascus DO NOT have a parallel section.
(1) 20 Gauge Damascus DOES NOT have a parallel section.

I hope to see the spreadsheets of data on the chokes. It will be interesting since my small sample set listed above in NOT statistically significant.

[charlie cleveland]

does this parrallel boring help with a tighter pattern or does itopen up the pattern.charlie

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Originally Posted by charlie cleveland

does this parrallel boring help with a tighter pattern or does itopen up the pattern.charlie

Hi Charlie,

I didn't mean to ignore you.

A parallel section at the muzzle end of the choke is believed to stabilize the shot leaving the gun. Modern target chokes use them as it seems so did Parker.

Mark