doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Adding choke to cut barrels

Well . . . as noted below, you don't need any choke for skeet, especially for a 12ga. And Brister points out that cylinder bore throws a very effective pattern (matter of fact, typically the same 70% pattern) at 25 yards that a full choke throws at 40 yards. Figuring that your pattern will usually lose about 10% for every additional 5 yards, you've still got a 50% pattern at 35 yards. Assuming that old H&H will handle 1 1/8 oz reloads at appropriate pressures and moderate velocity--and it was likely proofed for 1 1/8 oz--that load of 6's will stone a pheasant at 35 yards. And shooting wild roosters over dogs, you're not all that likely to need more "reach" than that. Wouldn't be my choice for a trap gun, nor for waterfowl, nor for something like late season prairie chickens/sharptails. But other than that, it's still a pretty darned versatile gun when fed appropriate loads . . . IMO.

I love cylinder chokes for almost all my upland shooting. One ounce out to around 30 yards produces game getting patterns. And remember, a lot of driven birds in England were shot with cylinder in the early years. Shot cups have improved performance dramatically too. Use it before attempting anything else. I shoot a 1870's Charles Daly hammer gun with cylinder in both and I call it my "Infallible" on flushing quail! And its hell on skeet too. Also have a W & C Scott 10 gauge from about 1870 that is pure cylinder and with 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounce shot is deadly on decoyed geese. And remember, the most common boring I've seen in English guns is cylinder right and some degree of choke in the left. Choke is way overblown in American folklore. Guess it goes along with our mentality for magnum this and that--more, MORE, MORE!

This gun was built just at the close of the MZL Era and shooters were used to shooting with cylinder and cylinder so adding the new chokes just might not have been a plus to some.

I've killed a lot of ducks and grouse with a MZL with cylinder bores.

I agree, at this point 90% of my shooting, which is over a setter, is CYL/SKEET. That said other types of shooting really do benefit from choke

I worked at a high end gun store in Bethesda, MD, the name which you would recognize. We took in a lovely 28" Holland Royal to sell. It was bored cylinder and cylinder, obviously bored out. We priced it at $5000, thinking someone would accept a bored out gun if it were pretty enough. I contacted H&H about the chokes and waited for a reply. In the meantime, we sold the gun for somewhat less than $5000. The reply came days later. The gun was originally bored cylinder and cylinder. If we weren't interested in the originality of a shotgun, we wouldn't be buying ten thousand dollar shotguns.

I'd go with the the screw in chokes....cylinder bore is practically useless in the real world of hunting.

jOe, I have the book "Olly" a biography of the life of Frederick Oliver Robinson, 2nd Marquis of Ripon by Rupert Godfrey. He was supposed to be the greatest game shot of his time. His guns were cylinder, much to the surprise of the author...Geo

Joe, your statement is wrong as with any universal that fails to account for the variety of situations bird hunting and target shooting can generate. While your hunting does not need it mine without question does

Thank you gents for the opinions! I have not patterned it yet with various loads, and I agree that cyl is a great skeet gun! I primarily on clays and ducks... probably could leave it this way and see what patterns best.

As a side note, this was made 1875, but I have another that was made in 1866 that is about IC/Mod. Combined right abut the figure listed above.... and both are pretty

I won't argue with what a man likes, but I will take one exception, Joe ....... cylinder ain't choke.

SRH