"Jerry V. Lape," your experience with the Gambel's quail when using your Parker 20-bore gun comports with my field experiences with that bore, and also respecting the cited choke borings, sizes of shot, and shot weight choices.
I agree as well regarding simple choke designations when such markings are compared to actual results determined by patterning the barrels and witnessing the demonstrated effectiveness of all selected elements afield. I too believe that to-day's "modified" or 1/2-choke constricted guns shoot "as well at distance as most full chokes." My bore size selections for use in the field, whether that day's selection is a 20-, 16- or 12-bore, intentionally use, as nearly as possible, the same dram equivalence, as well as charges of shot size and shot weight, in combination with 1/4-choke and half-choke constrictions, which, if all is approximately equal, will deliver very similar results through whatever bore employed. Perhaps some machine or a published table could reveal a difference, but in actual use and result, I cannot.
It may be that sometimes those of us who once used older constructs of shot-cartridges for upland game employing less efficient felt wads and overshot cards forget that modern one-piece plastic wads surrounding and fully protecting the shot as all passes down the barrel is known to increase the percentage of pellets striking a game bird within effective range and / or a patterning target at 30- or 40-yards. The improvement in my shooting and successes afield, I am persuaded, is mainly attributable to my beginner's use some years ago and continued use to-day of the one-piece plastic wad, and must therefore prefer it to nostalgia-imbued ammunition. Moreover, if we possess an 'older' (shot)gun manufactured before the introduction of the plastic wad during the 1960's, the manufacturer's choke marking (if we assume such stampings were ever truly indicative of pattern percentage) will not realistically indicate the level of choke achieved when using the modern plastic-wadded cartridges. Though it is not known to me whether the manufacturers ever changed their designations to match the mechanical, practical effects caused by the modern one-piece plastic wad or not.
In most cases, use of the now common and ubiquitous one-piece plastic wad will have the practical and obviously positive ballistic effect of effectually increasing the gun barrel's constriction or choke and will thereby increase the effective range of the gun using it. So when we say the gun's choke is such and such points or degree of, perhaps we should also 'ratchet-up' the word designation for the affected constriction from, say, "modified" to "improved modified" to accord with true performance. Just food for thought.
Best of luck to all during the upcoming hunting season! Please enjoy your vintage and antique side-by-side guns to the maximum by taking and using them afield!
Best regards,
Edwardian
