Shane, from the serial number this gun is from sometime in 1896. At this time the convex ribs on the receiver bottom were discontinued, and they started listing the guns now as No. 3 instead of Quality 3. Mine have 20 lpi checkering and the wood is very nice on most that I have seen.
The chokes in some of the written literature state that the area of choke was 1" long and parallel and then it tapered 1 1/2" to bore, and this is what Dr. Drew was stating saying the choke started 2 1/2" from the muzzle. This would give you a good idea if the barrels were cut, but as also stated, you don't know what someone might have done to the choke area. Catalog of 1906 states "all chokes will be full and full unless otherwise ordered".
Still a good deal at $500. This grade was done away with in 1912. It was a very nice hand made and fitted gun.
