Mr Hebbes - How can one discern a barrel that has been back-bored for choke? This seems like a real can of worms in the safety dept.
Measure the bores at the muzzle, find they are not choked and assume they are all original.
But then to unwittingly shoot the gun with no knowledge of the barrels being back-bored to create choke amd run the risk of accident with the barrels therefore being out of proof 9 inches from the breech? A genuinely scary sete-up.
I imagine the only way to determine if the barrels have been back-bored is to remove the breech plugs first, a daunting task for the amateur gunsmith if ever there was one. I'll be the first to admit the prospect of doing so scares the hell out of me. But the possibility, no matter how slim, of losing fingers scares me to death.
Does an easier way impossibly exist? If not, could you please explain how best to find out if your muzzleloaders' barrels have been back bored?
