Following the development of choke boring, English gun makers produced the vast majority of their SxS game guns intended for sale "off the rack"; full choke in the left barrel and cylinder in the right".Customers always had the option of opening up the left choke to suit their personal preference.In my experience, most were left as produced.The reasons for which have been clearly explained in earlier posts. We should not overlook the fact that Victorian and Edwardian, big shots, such as Lord Walsingham and the Marquess of Ripon, used nothing but cylinder bore guns. This fact may well have influenced makers and sportsmen of the era into wide acceptance of guns bored cylinder in at least one barrel.

Roy Hebbes