To choke or not to choke?

[Jack Hancock]

A few months back I purchased a Parker 16 ga DHE, circa 1928. It is not in original condition: it has been re-blued, wood re-finished, and its original 30" tubes have been cut down to 28".

Whoever re-worked the gun did a FANTASTIC job - as good as I've ever seen - but still, it is not original.

It is choked .003 and .005; all of the original choke was cut out of the barrels but it was replaced by back-boring the barrels, thus creating the slight constriction. Once again, this was primo work.

I am thinking about having Briley look at it and installing thin-wall chokes. With all of the previous work, I feel certain that it is simply a "very nice shooter". What do you Parker experts think? Would the added Briley chokes hurt it any?

Thanks,
Jack

[Chris T.]

In this case I don't think it would hurt the value any. It would be alot more useful if it had some choke. I also heard of a company that could solder sleeves into the ends of the barrels, but don't recall who it was. That would probably requre a reblue too.

[King Brown]

I'm just a gunner like yourself and if it were me I'd leave it as it is. It looks good. It is not original. It's a 16. It's a Parker. You may be surprised and pleased with how well you shoot with it. Cylinder on grouse or over decoys works great ---providing the gun fits properly.

[nid-28]

Because it's been backbored to provide a bit of choke--I'm guessing there will not be enough wall thickness to screw choke the gun. But--you never know!! Good luck. I see no reason not to do it on this particular gun--if you feel you want more choke!

[Ed Blake]

Have you put it on the pattern board to see how those chokes shoot? What sort of shooting will you do? I'd use it awhile and see how it does; it will probably surprise you.

[Don Kaas]

Listen to Ed B. Unless you are pass shooting geese, you have all the choke you need in the gun for upland shooting...PATTERN it...btw, all backboring did was weaken the barrel wall thickness, it was not a "primo" thing to do to a Parker. You bought a Parker with cut barrels, they won't get either longer or thicker...

[Jack Hancock]

I have taken it to the sporting clays range and did well on the closer stuff; I've also taken about a dozen quail around here and some Huns in Canada. I shot a Speckle-bellied goose close and over decoys (two shots of Bismuth).

I have not patterened it but intend to this weekend. My concern was mainly hunting pheasant, where I like a little more choke. For several years, I've shot my Elsie or my Model 12 (both 16s and both very original and with a some choke)...I'll tinker with the pattern board and take it on a pheasant hunt next weekend and see. Perhaps, it will shoot tighter than I think.

Don - when I spoke of the back-boring being "primo", I was not alluding to it being the correct thing to do. Rather, I was stating that whoever did it, was a good craftsman...not just some knot-head with a vise and a reamer. I would rather they not have re-finished it, cut the barrels off, or back-bored it but that was before my time. However, had it never been altered from its original condition, it would have been too "pricey" of a collectable for me.

Thanks all,

Jack

[Ed Blake]

Jack - It sounds like that gun has it nailed. How much more could you want out of a 16? From personal experience I tend to think a lot of how shooters "feel" about chokes is a between the ears kind of thing. Once you've established confidence in a gun's capabilities and know it will get the game or break the target, choke is secondary. Enjoy.

[Wes Stueber]

Hi Jack,
Check it out on your patterning board first, you may be surprised at the results - you never know?
Briley may be able to do the work you're thinking of, at least after they look at it. Best of luck in the field with it this fall - put it to work!
Regards,
Wes

[Austin W Hogan]

The .003 and .005 chokes you note are probably the remaining initial choke tapers after 2 inches was removed from the muzzle. You should pattern the barrels to be sure the point of impact has not been disturbed by cutting.
I would recomend this before changing chokes.
Find a friendly skeet club that will allow you to shoot some stations in reverse order, or shoot the outgoers and incomers at the point you choose. Take a few boxes of field 7 1/2 shot and try this.
Wait until high house 1 and 2 start to drop before shooting. You can get 35 to 45 shots by doing this. Reverse the order of shooting the doubles on sta 1,2,6 and 7. You can get 25 - 30 yard incomers, and 30 - 40 yard plus outgoers. Face the high house and ask for a double on sta 8. You will get a 10 yd incomer and 40 plus yard outgoer. Breaking these birds indicates no need for changing choke.

Best, Austin