Given the results I got with my gun, after opening the very tight L barrel from .040 to .025, I had confidence in that gun at those ranges as well . . . even though I don't often find the need to take really long shots at pheasants.
What we need to remember is that .040--typical for full in Brit doubles--is no longer the industry standard. That's because modern shells with plastic wads have tightened patterns quite a bit. The result being more choke than you need, which can be pretty destructive if you do happen to center a bird with a quick 2nd shot. And again, the 2 3/4" chamber/ejector combination just isn't that rare on Brit guns seen in this country. Webley & Scott made about 30,000 guns in the 700 series which came out post-WWII, and most we see in this country were imported by companies like A&F, Harrington & Richardson, Navy Arms, Service Armament, etc. And whatever the engraving may or may not indicate, BSA's were ALWAYS--contrary to the British trade--machine-made guns. That's why they didn't sell for a lot of money. Engraving would certainly add to the cost, but that doesn't change what's inside the gun or how it was made.
And unless one has the factory records on a particular gun, there's no way of knowing--other than if the gun is marked "choke", which means some relatively minimal amount--how it was originally choked. Someone working carefully isn't going to leave any indication of an alteration--especially since someone looking at the gun is going to be comparing to the other barrel. Which, in this case, has no choke and thus offers no comparison of an original choke to a modified one. Maybe an English gunmaker would be able to notice. Otherwise, likely not.
