Whoa!! A whole lot of stuff going on after the initial question that related to a Merkel shotgun. I don't think the chokes on Elsies, pumps etc. are relevant to that issue. I own or have owned a fair number of German guns and a couple of Austrian guns, mostly pre-war but some as late as the 50s and early 60s, and mostly pretty high grade, almost all of which were choked full and fuller. I have to think that even when manufactured, it was contemplated that these guns' chokes would be opened up to meet the customers' needs. There simply were not enough pigeon shooters to want these super full chokes. There is really no question that keeping these guns' chokes in their original super full configration makes a whole lot of sense today, other than for collectors who value mint condition.
