Krakow kid, Further to my earlier posts on this Subject I thought that you may be interested in knowing why "Not for ball", was abandoned in 1887 in favour of the word," choke."
The prime reason was; some individuals decided to increase the spread of shot in their guns by reducing the degree of choke as compared to the "not for ball proof marks". In so doing they could render the gun out of proof based the the rules applicable between 1875 & 1887!
Consider the example a 12G shotgun with the following mark
"12B 14M NOT FOR BALL" what this means is; the maximum proof diameter[9 inches from the breech]is .739 and the maximum diameter[choke] at the muzzle is .699 the difference in diameter for this example is equivalent to full choke. If a sportsman decided that he needed to enlarge the muzzle to give an improved cylinder choke of .005 [increased shot spread] the net result was that the barrel at the muzzle was out of proof by almost .035! The proof diameter was of course not increased during the change to the choke and thus remained in proof and the gun was safe to use. Unfortunately the choke section was technically,"out of proof" under the rules applicable between 1875 & 1887! As a result a gun with a none conforming choke diameter was deemed illegal to offer for resale! In order to resolve this dilema the gun makers and the proof authorities abandonded the "not for ball mark" and changed the rules of proof, substituting the word choke. Choke has had no size limitations within the rules of proof since 1887.Choke stamped on gun barrels is only present to indicate that there is some degree of constriction at the muzzle of the gun that could cause a hazzard if solid ball is used. It is my understanding that after the change in rules of proof in 1887, resale guns made prior to 1887 bearing the "not for ball" mark were no longer rejected because of over size choke diameters.
Last edited by Roy Hebbes; 04/20/11 10:29 PM.
